Water for mastodons, mammoths and a whole lot of humans.
In the Ice Age, prehistoric animals relied on water from the area around Snowmass. Today, these water resources support millions of people. That’s because Snowmass is part of the Roaring Fork watershed, which feeds into the larger Colorado River Basin.
[DESIGN NOTE: PHOTO OF RIVER OR SNOWY MOUNTAINS HERE.]
Wait, what’s a watershed?
A watershed is an area where all the precipitation funnels to a single point. The Roaring Fork watershed includes snow from the Sawatch, Collegiate and Elk mountains. It all melts into the Roaring Fork, Crystal and Frying Pan rivers, which make their way to the Colorado River.
[DESIGN NOTE: USE ONE OF THE MAPS FROM PAGES 11 OR 12 OF THE CONTENT PACKET HERE.]
A small but mighty region.
While the Roaring Fork watershed covers only 0.5% of the Colorado River watershed’s area, it contributes 12% of its water. That’s 279 billion gallons every year! The Colorado River supplies water to Texas, New Mexico, California, Nevada and Arizona. That means it is at the center of intense policy debates. And it makes protecting it important for people all across the Southwest.
