© 2024
NPR for Northern Colorado
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Colorado Edition: Home repairs one year after the Marshall Fire and Colorado forcing farmers to reduce irrigation

A blue tarp covers the spot where the roof used to be before it was blown off during the Marshall Fire. Residents whose homes need to be completely replaced, like this one, are working with Boulder County to get that done.
Leigh Paterson
/
KUNC
A blue tarp covers the spot where the roof used to be before it was blown off during the Marshall Fire. Residents whose homes need to be completely replaced, like this one, are working with Boulder County to get that done.

On this episode of Colorado Edition, we learn about how one mobile home community is rebuilding after the Marshall Fire’s winds devastated its community and we discuss Colorado Parks and Wildlife’s plan to eliminate acres of irrigated land.

Featured segments

Wind repair: While the Marshall Fire was burning down over 1,000 houses last December, the 100-mile-an-hour winds that day were also damaging nearby mobile homes.

Roofs, siding, windows and doors were blown off and smashed. In the freezing days that followed, pipes burst. KUNC's Leigh Paterson reports on the rush to finish repairs almost a year after the fire and before winter arrives.

Eliminating acres of irrigated land: Colorado Parks and Wildlife has pledged to eliminate thousands of acres of irrigated agriculture in a focused region on the eastern plains as a part of an agreement with the states of Kansas and Nebraska to conserve water used from a shared underground aquifer.

The burden falls mostly on private landowners, but as KUNC's Rae Solomon found, the state also has irrigation wells there. Local farmers say they shouldn't be the only ones to sacrifice their water rights.

This story is part of the "America Amplified" initiative. America Amplified is a national public media collaboration focused on community engagement reporting.

Our theme music was composed by Colorado musicians Briana Harris and Johnny Burroughs. Other music in the show byBlue Dot Sessions.

Credits

Colorado Edition is hosted by Yoselin Meza Miranda and produced by the KUNC newsroom, led by news director Sean Corcoran. Web was edited by digital editor Megan Manata. 

The mission of Colorado Edition is to deepen understanding of life in Northern Colorado through authentic conversation and storytelling. It's available as a podcast oniTunes,Spotify,Google Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.

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