Spring runoff in one western Colorado valley is worse this decade than the Dust Bowl era

Spring runoff in one western Colorado valley is worse this decade than the Dust Bowl era

OLATHE — Water engineer Bob Hurford has a chart he often shares with communities in the Gunnison River Basin to drive home the seriousness of the region’s water conditions. It shows that the basin’s runoff in the 2020s, so far, is worse than the Dust Bowl era of the ’30s. “That’s the position that everybody’s in right now,” said Hurford, Colorado Division of Water Resources division engineer for the Gunnison River area.  This Fresh Water News s…