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Colorado Edition: If In Doubt, Stay Out

Cardboard recycling
Kyra Buckley
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KUNC
KUNC host Kyra Buckley's paper, paperboard and cardboard recycling.

Today on Colorado Edition: what's next for the negotiation over the management of the Colorado River. Plus, what algae blooms mean for humans and animals. We'll also learn about Colorado's Safe Haven Law, and look back at some of our reporters' favorite stories from 2019.

Colorado River Management

Lake Mead’s light-colored “bathtub ring” of mineral deposits towers above a speeding boat on June 29, 2022, near Hoover Dam.
Credit Joe Futrelle / CC BY-SA 2.0
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The Water Desk
Lake Mead’s light-colored “bathtub ring” of mineral deposits towers above a speeding boat on June 29, 2022, near Hoover Dam.

After years of negotiation, water managers in the Southwest finally signed off on the Drought Contingency Plan, a temporary patch to the region’s long-term imbalance between water supplies and demands. Starting next year, they’ll be tasked with an even tougher lift: renegotiating overarching guidelines for the Colorado River’s management. 

That’s the topic of debate at the Colorado River Water Users Association Conference this week in Las Vegas. KUNC’s own Luke Runyon is there, and joins us to get us up to speed on the negotiations. 

Algae Blooms

An algae bloom sullies the Eden Reservoir in Sweetwater County, Wyoming.
Credit Wyoming Department of Health

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They grow rapidly and are increasingly popping up in lakes, ponds and other bodies of water in our area. They're called toxic algae blooms.

The harmful toxins they produce can devastate fishing and tourism economies, make your drinking water unsafe and — as Maggie Mullen reports for KUNC — they can also be harmful to humans and deadly for animals.

Safe Haven Law

Credit Juhan Sonin / Flickr - Creative Commons
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Flickr - Creative Commons

After a pair of similar, infant homicide cases unfolded in Colorado in the '90s, state lawmakers passed a law that sought to bring an end to the abandonment of infant children. But since 2000, only 66 infants have been turned over to authorities under the Safe Haven law.

And despite the promised anonymity and success stories under the law, babies in Colorado are still being abandoned, including two high-profile newborn deaths in Denver in recent years — deaths that could have been prevented had the mothers in question turned over the newborns under the Safe Haven law.

All of this led Erin Udell, a reporter for the Coloradoan, to take a larger look at the law and the battle to keep it in the minds of Coloradans. She joins us to explain what she found. 

Looking Back At 2019

 

Credit Kyra Buckley / KUNC
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KUNC
KUNC's Desmond O'Boyle speaks with Tyler Bandermer, superintendent for solid waste for the city of Loveland.

As the year comes to a close, we are going to look back at some of our reporters' favorite stories from 2019.

Today, we hear from KUNC's Morning Edition host, Kyra Buckley, and KUNC's All Things Considered host, Desmond O'Boyle, about their favorite reporting, including a story about housing in Steamboat Springs, and a piece about recycling

Colorado Edition is made possible with support from our KUNC members. Thank you!

Our theme music was composed by Colorado musicians Briana Harris and Johnny Burroughs. Other music this week by Blue Dot Sessions:

  • “Song One” by 
  • "Song Two" by 
  • "Song Three" by 

Colorado Edition is hosted by Erin O'Toole (@ErinOtoole1) and Henry Zimmerman (@HWZimmerman), and produced by Lily Tyson. The web was edited by digital editor Jackie Hai. Managing editor Brian Larson contributed to this episode.

KUNC's Colorado Edition is a daily news magazine taking an in-depth look at the issues and culture of Northern Colorado. It's available on our website, as well as on iTunesGoogle PlayStitcher, or wherever you get your podcasts. You can hear the show on KUNC's air, Monday through Thursday at 6:30 p.m.

Stories written by KUNC newsroom staff.