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Colorado - Mon. 06/08/26 |
A Free Business Publication from Alpine Bank
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WITH NO PLAN IN PLACE, BUREAU OF REC WILL IMPLEMENT ONE FOR COLORADO RIVER
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On Thursday at the annual Getches-Wilkinson Colorado River conference at the CU Boulder law school, Scott Cameron, acting commissioner for the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, outlined a program for managing the Colorado River after the seven states that comprise the Colorado River Compact could not come to an agreement of operating guidelines for the river. “I wish I could tell you that we have a solution,” Cameron told the crowd in Boulder, which included several of the state negotiators. “As you are very painfully aware, we do not have a solution, at least at this point.”
The Lake Powell new water year begins Oct. 1 and Lake Mead's starts in December. Because there is no agreed upon plan, the federal bureau will implement a plan for management that will be renegotiated every two years for the next 10 years. The Bureau of Reclamation leaders plan to publish their plan for the next two years by midsummer so that it can be finalized before the Oct. 1 start of the next water year. “It’s not like we can just keep talking indefinitely,” Cameron said, later noting that 40 million people across the basin are looking to river managers to find a way forward.
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AS PLANS FOR MANAGING LAKE POWELL CONTINUE, OTHERS ARE STUDYING ITS CANYONS
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From 1956 to 1964, the Bureau of Reclamation built the Glen Canyon Dam which formed Lake Powell from the Colorado River and its tributaries. It took more than 15 years to fill and form Lake Powell. At full capacity, it holds about 25 million acre-feet of water, enough to cover the entire state of Kentucky in a foot of water. But the reservoir is not full, has not been full since 1999 and will not fill in the near future. As of June 2, the reservoir was at 24 percent of capacity, and its water level was 172 feet lower than it would be if it were full. What has reemerged with the fallen water levels are the long-submerged red slot canyons and sandstone amphitheaters. It has opened an opportunity to study life in Glen Canyon, especially in view of the fact that little scientific work was completed in Glen Canyon before it was flooded.
With more than 100,000 acres of rugged terrain out of the water now, a group of scientists formed by the Glen Canyon Institute are studying the emerging ecosystem. Headed by Eric Balken, the executive director of the Glen Canyon Institute, the organization’s Community Science Initiative includes two aquatic ecologists from Western Colorado University, birders, an ecologist and a documentarian. Seth Arens, the research ecologist in the group, who has been leading a four-year study of vegetation in the canyons, notes nobody really knows what’s in Glen Canyon and its tributaries. “It’s this unknown, unstudied place, and that makes it unknown and unvalued in management decisions,” according to Arens. More information on the Glen Canyon Institute's study at glencanyon.org/community-science-initiative.
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MAY JOBS REPORT: MUCH STRONGER THAN EXPECTED
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The U.S. Dept. of Labor Friday released its May jobs report which showed U.S. employers added a seasonally adjusted 172,000 jobs in May. That was far more than the 80,000 jobs that analysts polled by the Wall Street Journal had expected to see. The unemployment rate remained unchanged at 4.3 percent, which was in line with economists’ expectations. Payroll increases have averaged 188,000 over the past three months, a pace not seen since March 2024. The leisure and hospitality sector added 70,000 jobs, perhaps in expectation of a strong summer season with the upcoming World Cup. Local government hiring increased with 55,000 new jobs, the biggest monthly gain in two years.
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THE BIGGEST IPO EVER: SPACEX, THE BASICS
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Elon Musk’s SpaceX is expected to start trading on the Nasdaq on Friday, June 12, in what could be the largest IPO of all time. Last week, the company made a highly unusual move by setting a price for its shares more than a week in advance of its planned listing. Normally, companies set a range and refine it after days of meeting with investors. SpaceX announced its plans to sell 555,555,555 shares at $135 apiece, raising close to $75 billion or potentially even more. That would give it a valuation of around $1.77 trillion, roughly doubling the company’s valuation from six months ago.
SpaceX, however, could still adjust the price before the IPO. SpaceX, which was founded in 2002, hasn’t raised new capital since a 2022 round that valued the company at $125 billion. Two years before that, in 2020, it was valued at $36 billion. Going back to 2015, it was worth just $12 billion. SpaceX made $18.7 billion in revenue in 2025, including sales from xAI. That means it is priced at about 93.6 times its sales. If Musk gets the valuation he is seeking, it would make SpaceX one of the most valuable companies in the world, surpassing Meta Platforms, Berkshire Hathaway and Musk’s electric-vehicle company, Tesla, which had a market capitalization of $1.3 trillion last week.
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DISC GOLF IS BIG…IN THE U.S. & COLORADO
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Disc golf, the game where players hurl discs into metal baskets, is growing in Colorado, the U.S. and worldwide. There are more than 320 courses in the state, 11,165 in the U.S. and more than 17,000 worldwide. Colorado, however, ranks first in the nation for disc golf availability, according to the UDisc 2026 Disc Golf Growth Report. Disc golf has a much smaller footprint, requiring less land, and affords a faster round than traditional golf. Disc golf courses generally include either 9 or 18 strategically placed baskets, varying in difficulty and length. The goal of the game is to spin a variety of discs, with each specifically weighted as drivers and putters, through sometimes technical terrain and land them in chain-draped baskets. The fewest throws win, just like with strokes in regular golf.
Of course, part of the appeal in Colorado is the scenic views of the courses. Of the more than 320 courses in the state, 144 are full-length, 18-hole courses. The Johnny Roberts course in Memorial Park in Arvada recorded 21.2 million rounds last year, making it the busiest course in the U.S. The park is named after Johnny Roberts, a member of the World Disc Golf Hall of Fame and a beloved teacher at Arvada West High School. To find a course near you, go to udisc.com.
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COLORADO HAS SOME TOP PET-FRIENDLY CITIES
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Colorado had three cities ranked among the top 20 on a list of the most pet-friendly cities in the country compiled by HonestPet.com. Fort Collins was No. 8, Boulder No. 10 and Denver No. 18 on the list that ranked 76 of the largest cities in the U.S. by population. Rankings were based on four factors that contribute to a pet-friendly environment: park access, walkability, the number of veterinarians and median rent. Those factors were then scored, with cities ranked by a final index score. Fort Collins, home to one of the top-ranked veterinary medicine programs in the country at Colorado State University, had the highest score among the 76 cities ranked for veterinary access with 80.09 veterinarians per 100,000 residents. Minneapolis, San Francisco and Portland, Ore. were the top three in HonestPet ranking.
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SNOW SECURE: KEEPING SNOW ALL WINTER
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Snow Secure is a patented technology for insulation mats that are designed for use at ski areas to cover man-made snow and preserve it through the summer. Aspen Snowmass is the first location in the state to use Snow Secure, and now it has been applied to terrain parks at both Buttermilk and Snowmass to cover and insulate patches of man-made snow to prevent it from melting over the summer. Last week, Senior Vice President of Sustainability at Aspen One Chris Miller said the temperature under the blanket at Buttermilk was 32.6 degrees Fahrenheit. He noted that covering the snow that was made during the 2025/26 winter season will reduce the amount of snow that will need to be made in the early part of the 2026/27 season, meaning the amount of water to make new snow and energy to blow that snow will also be notably reduced.
According to Antti Lauslahti, CEO of Snow Secure, the insulation mats, which are enhanced with integrated rain covers to also prevent melting, only lose about 3 to 4 1/2 feet of snow over the course of a summer. Lauslahti noted that pilot programs for the insulation mats typically begin around the size of a high school basketball arena, starting the summer with around 14,000 cubic meters of snow and ending in autumn with about 10,000 cubic meters. Snow Secure’s portfolio is growing quickly, he added, and the company is in discussion with 80 total ski resorts across North America, with 15 beginning to use the technology. The company has already run about 150 pilot programs.
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PITCO LAUNCHES CONSTRUCTION OF MCCLURE PASS TRAIL
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Last week, Pitkin County Open Space and Trails officially broke ground on the McClure Pass Trail, the new natural surface trail which will run from Colorado Hwy. 133 to the top of McClure Pass. It is the first construction phase of the 83-mile trail project to connect Carbondale and Crested Butte. This first phase will cover 2.52 miles and climb approximately 1,295 feet in elevation. The construction of the trail will include a new trailhead and parking lot off Hwy. 133 at the base of McClure Pass and climb to a tunnel under Hwy. 133 to connect to Ragged Mountain Road at the top of McClure Pass.
Construction of the tunnel and trailhead is expected to be complete by Oct. 3, and Pitkin County Open Space and Trails is coordinating closely with the U.S. Forest Service and the Colorado Dept. of Transportation for the project. While Hwy. 133 and McClure Pass are currently scheduled to remain open throughout construction, motorists can expect single lane closures at midday when traffic is at its lowest.
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BROADWAY SHOWS WILL HAVE A SECOND SEASON AT THE ASTERIA THEATRE AT CMU
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Last year, the Asteria Theatre on campus at Colorado Mesa University in Grand Junction launched its inaugural Broadway Series, which featured: “Mrs. Doubtfire,” “TINA – The Tina Turner Musical,” “The Book of Mormon,” “Hadestown,” “Chicago,” and “Mark Twain Tonight!” The six productions each had two showings and were sold out. With that success, the Asteria Theatre will have a seven-show lineup for its 2026-27 season. The series will open in November with “The Wiz,” and will continue with “Legally Blonde: The Musical,” “Stomp,” “Clue,” “Mystic Pizza,” “Waitress,” and wrap up with the comedy musical “Shucked” in April. Tickets for the newly announced season, starting at $62.80 or $86.80, are on sale now at cmustages.com/tickets.
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COLORADO CITIES NOT VERY HIGH IN U.S. NEWS & WORLD REPORT BEST PLACES TO LIVE
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The listing of the 250 Best Places to Live in the U.S. in 2026-2027 from U.S. News & World Report is based on four factors - quality of life, value, desirability and job market.
The top three cities in the ranking were:
- Carmel, Indiana
- Fishers, Indiana
- Flower Mound, Texas
The top city in Colorado in the ranking, Parker, did not come in until No. 87.
Here are the Colorado cities making the top 250:
- Parker (No. 87 nationally)
- Centennial (107 nationally)
- Castle Rock (133)
- Arvada (247)
Other Colorado cities in the Top 500:
- Littleton (273)
- Colorado Springs (315)
- Thornton (317)
- Commerce City (341)
- Westminster (369)
- Grand Junction (398)
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MARKET UPDATE - 06/05/2026 Close
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(Courtesy of Alpine Bank Wealth Management*)
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Canadian dollar (per U.S. dollar)
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Mexican peso (per U.S. dollar)
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30-year fixed mortgage rate (Freddie Mac 06/04/2026)
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*Not FDIC insured. May lose value. Not guaranteed by the bank.
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Alpine Bank is an independent, employee-owned organization with headquarters in Glenwood Springs and banking offices across Colorado's Western Slope, mountains and Front Range. Alpine Bank serves customers with retail, business, wealth management*, mortgage and electronic banking services. Learn more at alpinebank.com.
*Alpine Bank Wealth Management services are not FDIC insured, may lose value and are not guaranteed by the bank.
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