{"id":493876,"date":"2026-02-27T15:42:16","date_gmt":"2026-02-27T15:42:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/493876\/"},"modified":"2026-02-27T15:42:16","modified_gmt":"2026-02-27T15:42:16","slug":"with-no-end-in-sight-to-dry-days-and-high-wildfire-risk-colorado-eyes-task-force","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/493876\/","title":{"rendered":"With no end in sight to dry days and high wildfire risk, Colorado eyes task force"},"content":{"rendered":"

Colorado has begun planning for a multiagency drought task force to help cope with what most experts fear will be a summer seriously low on water and high on wildfire risk.<\/p>\n

The task force will include agencies focused on water, agriculture and emergency management, among others, according to Emily Adrid, water planning and climate impact specialist at the Colorado Water Conservation Board. Her comments came at a meeting of the state\u2019s Water Monitoring Committee this week.<\/p>\n

\"Fresh<\/a><\/p>\n

This Fresh Water News story is a collaboration between The Colorado Sun and Water Education Colorado. It also appears at\u00a0wateredco.org<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The last time such a task force was\u00a0called into action was in the 2020-21 drought<\/a>, according to the board. If needed, the task force can work with ad hoc groups and the governor\u2019s office to coordinate release of state emergency funds.<\/p>\n

The news comes as Colorado continues to struggle with a deeply dry and warm winter and forecasts showing the trend continuing this spring<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Colorado measures its water supplies using a calendar that runs from Oct. 1 through Sept. 30, a period known as the water year.<\/p>\n

The first four months of the 2026-27 water year are the warmest in 131 years, said Russ Schumacher, state climatologist at the CSU\u2019s Colorado Climate Center.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is breaking the record by a huge margin,\u201d Schumacher said.<\/p>\n

And there is little if any relief in the spring forecasts.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe might hope for a miracle this spring,\u201d he said, \u201cbut this is not what\u2019s in these forecasts.\u201d<\/p>\n

Statewide reservoir storage levels are holding steady above 80%, but streamflow forecasts indicate Colorado is likely to receive just 63% of its normal water flows, and possibly less, according to the Natural Resources Conservation Service in Lakewood.<\/p>\n

In response, cities will also coordinate efforts to alert the public to the potential for water and fire emergencies. Their hope is a unified approach to watering restrictions will reduce water use.<\/p>\n

The city of Westminster is among cities gearing up for an ultradry summer. Drew Beckwith, the city\u2019s water resources manager, said getting plans in place early and encouraging everyone to share the same message will be critical this year and next.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe haven\u2019t had a big drought since 2002,\u201d Beckwith said. \u201cWe\u2019re all out of practice.\u201d<\/p>\n

Even if major spring snowstorms occur that could lessen water shortages and fire risks, 2026 is still expected to be strikingly dry and warm.<\/p>\n

And that is not as worrisome as the prospect of a follow-on drought in 2027, Beckwith said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not the one-year drought that is our Achilles\u2019 heel,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s multiple dry years in a row when things get concerning. Since we don\u2019t know what next year\u2019s snowpack is going to look like, we don\u2019t want to not do anything. Instead, we\u2019re saying, \u2018Hey, we don\u2019t know what\u2019s going to happen so let\u2019s all get on the same page now.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Corrections:<\/p>\n

This story was updated Feb. 26, 2026 at 4:13 p.m. to clarify the funding structure of the drought task force if it is launched.<\/p>\n

Type of Story: News<\/p>\n

Based on facts, either observed and verified directly by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Colorado has begun planning for a multiagency drought task force to help cope with what most experts fear…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":493877,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[47],"tags":[3832,226146,226147,192,79,6322,6399],"class_list":["post-493876","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-environment","tag-colorado","tag-colorado-drought","tag-drought-plan","tag-environment","tag-science","tag-wildfire","tag-wildfires"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/493876","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=493876"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/493876\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/493877"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=493876"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=493876"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=493876"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}