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Colorado - Tue. 04/21/26 |
A Free Business Publication from Alpine Bank
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FEDS PROPOSE CUTS TO LAKE POWELL RELEASES AS COLORADO RIVER DROUGHT WORSENS
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Federal and state officials are weighing steep drought responses to stabilize reservoirs that serve 40 million people - the Bureau of Reclamation is likely to cut releases from Glen Canyon Dam to 6 million acre-feet this water year and to move additional water from Flaming Gorge to bolster Lake Powell - a move that could hasten declines at Lake Mead, threaten hydropower generation and raise the prospect of forced cuts and legal fights among basin states. Powell’s inflow is forecast at about 2.78 million acre-feet - roughly 29 percent of historical average - and Powell and Mead hold about a quarter and a third of capacity respectively. Reclamation has already held back nearly 598,000 acre-feet and plans further upstream releases while avoiding taps on low reservoirs such as Blue Mesa and Navajo. Officials and governors urge quick action and coordinated recovery plans as existing operating agreements expire and the Interior Dept. readies post-2026 operations.
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TIM COOK TO STEP DOWN AS APPLE NAMES NEW CEO
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Tim Cook will step down as Apple’s chief executive and become executive chairman on Sept. 1, handing the CEO role to John Ternus, the 50 year old head of hardware engineering. Ternus, a 25 year Apple veteran who helped lead the switch to Apple designed chips and has overseen iPad, Mac and AirPods development, inherits a company that grew its market value by nearly $3.7 trillion under Cook. The Journal says Ternus must rekindle Apple’s innovation amid rivals’ heavy AI investments even as Apple leverages its 2.5 billion active devices and rising App Store AI revenue to buy time. Critics note mixed post iPhone results — strong wearables sales but setbacks such as Vision Pro and a shelved self driving car project — while colleagues praise Ternus’s collaborative, steady style similar to Cook’s.
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DENVER WATER TO DRAIN ANTERO RESERVOIR & CLOSE IT TO RECREATION
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Denver Water will empty Antero Reservoir this summer, moving the water downstream to minimize water lost to evaporation during a record-setting drought. The utility, which serves 1.5 million people across the Denver metro, on Monday announced its plans to drain the Park County reservoir, located on the Middle Fork of the South Platte River south of Fairplay. Recreation at the reservoir will close through the end of the year, including camping. The water in Antero Reservoir will be moved downstream to Cheesman Reservoir, southwest of Deckers. The move will save 5,000 acre-feet of water from evaporating from the surface of Antero Reservoir, which has the highest evaporative rate of Denver Water’s reservoirs. An acre-foot of water equals the approximate annual water use of three to four households. When full, Antero Reservoir can hold more than 20,000 acre-feet. It was 88 percent full on Monday.
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CDOT TO TAP INTERSTATE EXPRESS-LANE TOLLS TO HELP FUND BUSTANG
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Scrambling to sustain Bustang, Colorado transportation officials plan to use excess toll revenues from I-25 and I-70 express lanes — about $62 million a year — to support the intercity bus service that costs roughly $50 million annually and would otherwise require about $30 million a year in deficit spending over five years once initial grant funding expires in July. CDOT director Shoshana Lew said Bustang is a backbone of interstate transit. A 2009 state law permits express-lane tolls to fund transit projects along tolled corridors though federal rules limit use to the roads where tolls were collected. Bustang ridership has tripled since 2019, with 385,248 boardings in 2025, up 24 percent from 2024, and officials are meeting local leaders to secure support while noting higher-cost routes such as Denver–Grand Junction may need additional funds.
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HOW PROBLEMS FOR COLORADO’S CATTLE INDUSTRY WILL RIPPLE THROUGH THE STATE’S ECONOMY
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Drought and a record low snowpack are forcing ranchers to scramble for hay and face possible grazing limits on public lands, threatening Colorado’s beef industry and wider economy. Problems for Colorado’s cattle industry will ripple through the state’s economy. Snowpack, the source of at least 70 percent of the state’s stream flows and water in reservoirs, is the worst on record. Ranchers report hay prices rising from typical levels of $150 to $175 a ton to as high as $300 to $350 a ton, and federal grazing permits may be curtailed where BLM and Forest Service lands are in severe to exceptional drought. Producers are stockpiling hay, moving cattle, or considering herd sales - options complicated by drought across much of the West, wildfire damage to pastures, and sharply reduced snow water equivalent that leaves little buffer for summer forage.
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COLORADO BOASTS TWO OF THE BEST COFFEE SHOPS IN THE AMERICAS, ACCORDING TO NEW RANKING
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The World’s 100 Best Coffee Shops list placed Sweet Bloom Coffee Roasters at No. 43 and Queen City Collective Coffee at No. 61 among North, Central American and Caribbean shops — a recognition based on public and expert nominations and votes that weighed coffee quality, barista skill, ambiance, sustainability and innovation. Sweet Bloom, founded in 2013, helped spur Denver’s fourth wave coffee scene and expanded from a Lakewood roastery to locations in Arvada and Westminster. Food & Wine named its Westminster shop Colorado’s best in 2022. Queen City, which opened its first retail spot in 2018, has grown to seven locations across Denver and nearby suburbs, signaling strong local support for its coffee and community focus.
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NEW CASTLE WINS BEST PLACE FOR SMALL COMMUNITIES AWARD
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The town of New Castle was named Best Place in the small community category at the 2026 Colorado Downtown Excellence Awards on April 2 after being nominated by the Associated Governments of Northwest Colorado for downtown improvements. Town officials say the Main Street Revitalization — highlighted by Burning Mountain Park, concrete gaming tables for ping pong and cornhole, an ice rink that drew skaters and hockey players, and a newly purchased and revitalized historic home slated to become a park — transformed how people experience downtown and helped support local restaurants and businesses. Officials note new outdoor seating approvals, a growing food truck court and eight dining options on Main Street, and say constraints remain because Main Street is also Colorado Hwy. 6, so planned improvements focus on sidewalks, signage and parks rather than roadwork.
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FIRE & WATER THE FOCUSES OF CLUB 20 SPRING CONFERENCE
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Legislation, wildfires, water and energy dominated the Club 20 Spring Conference at the Grand Junction Convention Center, where roughly 65 members, many elected officials and business leaders, heard a series of briefings and took part in audience Q&A. U.S. Rep. Jeff Hurd discussed a surface reauthorization bill, his Small County PILT Act, concerns about grid reliability and the Craig Power Station reactivation, the economic implications of AI and data centers, and efforts to unfreeze a $40 million federal award tied to securing Shoshone water rights amid Colorado River Compact complications.
U.S. Forest Service Incident Commander Dan Dallas warned that a roughly 20 year drought and rising vapor pressure deficits are drying fuels and raising wildfire risk, while Xcel’s Steve Roalstad highlighted 130 Pano AI cameras and timelapse footage from the Lee Fire used to protect communities. U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet noted shrinking federal support for fire mitigation, cited a half empty Blue Mesa Reservoir and urged long term state budgeting to address rural infrastructure and transportation needs.
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$600,000 AVAILABLE FOR FLOOD & DROUGHT RESILIENCY PROJECTS IN SOUTHWEST COLORADO
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The Nature Conservancy is offering up to $600,000 in grants to support flood and drought resilience projects across Southwest Colorado, with awards ranging from $25,000 to $100,000 and applications open to state, local, tribal and other public entities — including schools, conservation districts and nonprofits — through 5 p.m. on May 22. Awardees will be notified by June 15. Eligible projects include healthy forest initiatives, watershed resilience improvements and measures to increase agricultural water use efficiency.
Mickey O’Hara, the Southwest Colorado freshwater project director, said the funding is a responsive effort amid an extreme drought that has left areas such as Montezuma County facing expected agricultural water cuts, minimal snowpack and heightened wildfire risk after March was the county’s third driest on record. A second funding round of up to $600,000 is expected to open in 2027 for projects planned to finish by mid 2028. Applicants can request the online form or email swcofunding@tnc.org for questions.
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EARTH DAY WILL KICK OFF WITH A PLANETARY CONJUNCTION BEFORE DAWN & WILL BE CAPPED BY THE LYRIDS METEOR SHOWER AFTER DARK
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Colorado stargazers can catch two celestial events on Earth Day - a pre-dawn planetary conjunction of Mars, Saturn and Mercury visible to the naked eye with Neptune reachable by binoculars - and the Lyrids meteor shower after dark that peaks April 22 and runs through April 29. Astronomy guide Mark Laurin links focus on the sightings to renewed public interest after NASA’s Artemis II and to Earth Day’s environmental message. For the conjunction, look east just before sunrise - around 6:30 a.m. in mountain locations where terrain blocks the horizon - and spot Mars as a soft pinkish-red, Mercury as faint peach, Saturn as muted gold and Neptune as pale blue with optics. For the Lyrids, expect up to 10 meteors per hour though a one-quarter moon and Jupiter will wash out fainter streaks; best viewing may be about 3 to 4 a.m. on April 23 when the moon sets.
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TRAVELERS TO YAMPA VALLEY REGIONAL AIRPORT DOWN 13% IN MARCH
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Yampa Valley Regional Airport recorded a 13 percent drop in passengers in March 2026 versus March 2025, falling from 93,433 to 81,195 travelers as construction staging appeared for a major expansion; airport director Tinneal Gerber said March is typically the busiest month and noted April usually sees a steep falloff, illustrated by an April 3 American Airlines flight that deplaned roughly 25 people from a 172 seat aircraft two days before Steamboat Resort closed two weeks early. Non winter seat capacity has grown 300 percent since Southwest added year round service and officials tout a 12 percent boost in non winter seat capacity this spring, with Southwest adding daily Denver service through Oct. 31 and United Express offering seasonal direct Houston flights June 5–Aug. 15. Direct LAX service will not continue.
The Steamboat Air Program, funded one third by the ski area and two thirds by the Local Marketing District, helped secure flights and may pay up to $3.8 million this year as preliminary winter arriving passengers are estimated at 154,000, about 5 percent below the prior winter; officials urged locals to use added capacity and warned of construction delays on U.S. Hwy. 40.
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THERE’S AN ENDURING LEGACY OF FEMALE LEADERSHIP IN ONE COLORADO MOUNTAIN COUNTY
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Summit County’s election of Breckenridge’s first woman mayor in 2024 is presented as the latest chapter in a 110 year pattern of women stepping into local leadership that traces to Colorado enfranchising women in 1893; women now hold two of three county commissioner seats and majorities on some town councils in the county seat of about 5,000 people. The article recounts a 1916 episode in Frisco when seven women took over and reformed a stalled town government after male leaders abandoned it, and it highlights contemporary officials who emphasize mentorship, practical service and visible role modeling rather than symbolism.
Breckenridge Mayor Kelly Owens says seeing girls light up at the idea of becoming mayor matters, and Town Manager Shannon Haynes — who rose through law enforcement to serve as police chief — stresses the importance of preparing and supporting future leaders; historian and documentary co producer Laura Hoeppner frames the 1916 takeover as civic responsibility in crisis.
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FRONT RANGE PASSENGER RAIL DISTRICT SCHEDULES APRIL TOWN HALLS
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The Front Range Passenger Rail District is holding community meetings this month to gather public input on the proposed Colorado Connector intercity passenger rail service along the Front Range. The events give residents a chance to learn about the project and share feedback directly with district officials following the April 6 naming announcement by Gov. Jared Polis. CoCo, short for Colorado Connector, emerged as the top choice in a statewide vote that drew nearly 26,000 ballots. The service is planned as an express train using existing freight rail corridors to connect communities from Pueblo in the south to Fort Collins in the north, with potential future extensions to New Mexico and Wyoming. It aims to offer a reliable, climate-conscious alternative to driving along the congested Interstate 25 corridor.
Starter service targeting Denver, Boulder and Fort Collins is slated to begin as soon as 2029 with an initial schedule of three daily round trips. That phase carries an estimated $333 million capital cost, to be split primarily between the Regional Transportation District and state transportation funds, plus roughly $30 million in annual operating expenses. The April town halls continue the district’s public engagement effort.
Four scheduled events are:
- Wednesday, April 22, 6 to 7:30 p.m., Denver South High School cafeteria, 1700 E. Louisiana Ave., Denver
- Saturday, April 25, 1:30 to 3 p.m., Rodolfo “Corky” Gonzales Branch Library, 1498 Irving St., Denver
- Tuesday, April 28, 2 to 3:30 p.m., Senior Resource Development Agency, 230 N. Union Ave., Pueblo
- Tuesday, April 29, 6 to 7:30 p.m., Westminster City Hall, 4800 W. 92nd Ave., Westminster
Additional information is available at mobilize.us/ridethefrontrange.
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POLIS ADMIN AWARDS $12.4M FOR GEOTHERMAL PROJECTS
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The Polis administration is awarding another $12.4 million in state energy tax credits and cash to advance geothermal energy development in Colorado, supporting seven new projects for building heating and cooling systems as well as electricity generation. The funding, announced by the Colorado Energy Office in a news release, brings the state’s total investment through two dedicated programs to $42.6 million. The money comes entirely from state resources authorized by the state legislature. Five awards come from the Geothermal Energy Tax Credit Offering, a 2023 program of refundable state investment tax credits authorized up to $35 million. The remaining two are the final round from the Geothermal Energy Grant Program, which provided $12 million in direct cash grants from the state general fund.
- Aspen School District received $5 million to install a thermal energy network serving more than 400,000 square feet of middle and high school buildings
- Adams State University received $4.3 million for a new geothermal system serving student buildings
- McKinstry Essention LLC, $1.3 million to expand a downtown Vail thermal energy network
- The Town of Hayden, $970,000 in ground-source heat pumps at its utility park
- The Memorial Hospital in Craig, $18,000 for pre-feasibility study
- Fervo Energy received $494,000 for a geothermal resource assessment in the Denver Basin and northwest Colorado
- ZGEO Energy received $306,000 to advance an exploration well in Montrose and San Miguel counties for potential utility-scale power
The tax credit program remains open for its fifth cycle, with applications due by June 30. The grant program has closed to new applications. For more information on these and previously awarded projects, see the Colorado Energy Office Geothermal Incentive Award Tracker.
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MARKET UPDATE - 04/20/2026 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 04/16/2026)
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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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