Submit Your 2026 Drought Story

This year's historic drought has resulted from record-breaking low snowpack and record-breaking high temperatures throughout the water year (October 2025 - present). The impacts of this drought are complex and wide-ranging, impacting many communities and sectors across the state.

On March 16, Governor Polis activated Colorado's Drought Task Force. Comprised of state agency representatives, the Task Force is charged with better understanding and elevating the impacts of drought on communities, water providers, ecosystems, local economies, and more.

Governor Jared Polis then activated Phase 3 of Colorado’s Drought Response Plan by issuing a statewide Drought Emergency Proclamation on June 4, 2026, in response to worsening drought conditions and early and low runoff, driven by record-low snowpack and prolonged warm temperatures across Colorado. The declaration follows recommendations from the Colorado Drought Task Force at the June 1 meeting and from the Water Conditions Monitoring Committee, after months of monitoring water and worsening drought conditions statewide.

Please use the tool below to submit your 2026 drought story. The Task Force is interested in getting a sense of how drought is affecting you and your community, and how you or your community are responding and adapting to this year's unprecedented conditions.

To highlight local and community drought impacts and response measures, any submissions that cover other topics will be transferred from this platform and routed to the appropriate state recipient at the CWCB’s discretion.

Stories

Submit Your 2026 Drought Story

Please share how drought conditions are impacting you and your community, along with how you and your community are responding and adapting to this year's unprecedented conditions.

Thank you for sharing your story with us.

Winter Park ResortSnowmaking More Vital than Ever

by Winter Park Jen, 5 days ago

Winter Park Resort and Colorado's tourism economy is reliant on consistent and abundant snow fall. The 2025-26 winter season was challenging and impacted guest behavior and overall skier visits all season long. Two seasons ago Winter Park completed a $37 million snowmaking upgrade, which helped us build our base and salvage a season with historically low snowfall. Even with the snowmaking upgrade however, warm temperatures in the fall made it hard for us to make snow consistently, which delayed opening terrain across the whole mountain. Warm temperatures in the spring accelerated melting and ultimately cut our season short. The result... Continue reading
Winter Park Resort and Colorado's tourism economy is reliant on consistent and abundant snow fall. The 2025-26 winter season was challenging and impacted guest behavior and overall skier visits all season long. Two seasons ago Winter Park completed a $37 million snowmaking upgrade, which helped us build our base and salvage a season with historically low snowfall. Even with the snowmaking upgrade however, warm temperatures in the fall made it hard for us to make snow consistently, which delayed opening terrain across the whole mountain. Warm temperatures in the spring accelerated melting and ultimately cut our season short. The result was fewer skier visits and less revenue. Winter Park wasn't alone in experiencing a down year. Colorado's ski industry reported a nearly 20 percent drop in skier visits for the 2025-26 season.
Winter Park Resort sits at the headwaters of the Fraser River, which feeds into the Colorado River only about 20 miles downstream. Less snow on our slopes means less water in the rivers, which impacts far more than people's vacations. Our snowmaking upgrade included a retention pond and more efficient water pipes and guns. We can more efficiently put snow on the ground if it's not falling from the sky, but we still have limits. Future seasons rely on snowmelt to replenish the pond and the rivers downslope in the spring. The more snow we can put on the hill in the fall, the better we are in the spring.
We will continue to invest in our snowmaking system, and work with the State on the weather modification program. And we will continue to advocate and support the work of water conservationists and preservations.
Grand County Community Water Supply Limits

by Adam Cwiklin, 5 days ago

Grand County communities are facing unprecedented drought impacts. The Town of Kremmling is currently navigating an unprecedented water supply crisis driven by historically low snowpack, depleted runoff, and critically low river levels. This year, neither of the Town’s primary supply reservoirs filled, leaving one below deadpool. With primary storage exhausted, the Town’s backup supply—the Colorado River intake—became a vital municipal lifeline. However, a structural failure within the infiltration gallery, compounded by historically low river elevations and heavy sediment deposition, rendered the intake unreliable. To prevent a complete loss of municipal water, emergency crews are urgently rehabilitating the physical intake infrastructure... Continue reading
Grand County communities are facing unprecedented drought impacts. The Town of Kremmling is currently navigating an unprecedented water supply crisis driven by historically low snowpack, depleted runoff, and critically low river levels. This year, neither of the Town’s primary supply reservoirs filled, leaving one below deadpool. With primary storage exhausted, the Town’s backup supply—the Colorado River intake—became a vital municipal lifeline. However, a structural failure within the infiltration gallery, compounded by historically low river elevations and heavy sediment deposition, rendered the intake unreliable. To prevent a complete loss of municipal water, emergency crews are urgently rehabilitating the physical intake infrastructure while simultaneously installing a temporary surface-water bypass pump to manually draw water directly from the open river channel.
In response to this acute shortfall, Town leadership and residents have acted decisively. Kremmling implemented strict Phase 3 water restrictions in March, prohibiting all non-essential water usage, including lawn irrigation, residential car washing, and bulk water sales. Concurrently, the Town is aggressively pursuing emergency financial assistance and technical support through close coordination with the Colorado River District, the Department of Local Affairs (DOLA), the Colorado Water Conservation Board (CWCB), and the Grand County Drought Committee. Kremmling’s situation underscores the cascading operational vulnerabilities that mountain communities face during extreme climate events, highlighting the critical need for rapid-response infrastructure funding and regional collaboration.
Difficult days in the Rafting Industry

by Ryan, 10 days ago

The current drought conditions have had a severe affect on our whitewater rafting outfitting business. We have seen a drastic reduction in visitors. However, more damaging is the reduction in the length of our season. We have already ceased operations on our most productive sections of river with roughly a 30% loss in our season length. Unfortunately, this part of the season tends to be the busiest for tourism. We anticipate that this will lead to a much greater than 30% loss of revenue. To offset this, we have already begun to focus our trips on Colorado's last stand for... Continue reading
The current drought conditions have had a severe affect on our whitewater rafting outfitting business. We have seen a drastic reduction in visitors. However, more damaging is the reduction in the length of our season. We have already ceased operations on our most productive sections of river with roughly a 30% loss in our season length. Unfortunately, this part of the season tends to be the busiest for tourism. We anticipate that this will lead to a much greater than 30% loss of revenue. To offset this, we have already begun to focus our trips on Colorado's last stand for rivers, the Colorado River. The reservoirs are keeping it flowing, but each day the reservoir levels drop. We stay optimistic and guide customers to what rafting opportunities are still available.

My family has built our lives around the Colorado outdoors and the amazing experiences it has to offer. However, without much needed water, these experiences will cease to exist. We have seen a reduction in staffing, visitors, and income that is very hard to manage. We look forward to and pray for a big winter, because without that, the results would be dire for our families and communities.
Arkansas River 2026

by Andy, 11 days ago

2026 will mark my 40th consecutive year on the Arkansas River here in Colorado. As a river outfitter, I live around, on, and quite literally in the river, and I am so proud to be able to say that. This river has been my life for over 2/3rds of my lifetime, and I cannot think of a better way to spend a career, and what a great way to raise a family. My wife and I are from Colorado; we met in Gunnison at Western State College in the 80s. Our three kids all graduated from the Colorado State University... Continue reading
2026 will mark my 40th consecutive year on the Arkansas River here in Colorado. As a river outfitter, I live around, on, and quite literally in the river, and I am so proud to be able to say that. This river has been my life for over 2/3rds of my lifetime, and I cannot think of a better way to spend a career, and what a great way to raise a family. My wife and I are from Colorado; we met in Gunnison at Western State College in the 80s. Our three kids all graduated from the Colorado State University system, and I can literally say I paid tuition for my kids with half-, full-, and multi-day river trips in Colorado.

2026 has presented our industry with challenges we have overcome before, but this drought has introduced an entirely new level of complexity. Native flow has subsided to the point of making many sections of the river impassable to guided raft traffic. Guides who are charming, upbeat, and positive people are feeling the pressure physically and emotionally. Their passion for the river is being tested daily. There is the economic side of the commercial river industry and the fact that we are a primary driver of visitation for the river communities that dot the path of the Arkansas. As this may live on in posterity someplace, it should be noted that things are awful and operations are literally crippled. Combined with the fires that accompany droughts, we have even more headwinds with dwindling visitation to the state in general. The commercial river industry will be forced to change and evolve, but there will be losers along the way. Our industry is based on passion, but we have to meet certain criteria in order to pursue that passion, and things like insurance, payroll, compliance, advertising, utilities, and bank loans are not subject to drought and will continue to flow our way. As an industry, we provide access to a unique Colorado experience that I can only hope will remain a hallmark of why we choose to live and play here.
It must be mentioned that we are just one facet of a complex water ecosystem. Looking at my peers in agriculture, I feel I know what they go through on a daily basis. The challenge of wondering what tomorrow will hold, let alone a year from now, which feels very far away. Municipal and industrial uses are also pinched, and we are all in this together. Then there is the health of the riparian corridor and the habitat, wildlife, and fishery that depend on it. We can only hope for a return to a more normal precipitation pattern, but those of us keeping score know the resource continues to feel the stress of ongoing development, rising temperatures, and a host of other nuanced scenarios that just keep unfolding.
Hoping for rain is not a strategy. Increased storage, continued cooperation, embracing new technologies (LIDAR), and thinking outside of the box while trying new ideas should be embraced.
When the River Runs Thin

by Browns Canyon Rafting, 12 days ago

The Arkansas River has always been the heartbeat of Buena Vista — the reason people find this small mountain town in the first place. This summer, though, that heartbeat is faint. The drought has pulled the water down to levels the rafting community has never seen, and for Browns Canyon Rafting, it's changed everything.
Business is down 60%. That number doesn't just live on a spreadsheet — it shows up in empty seats on the bus, guides checking the schedule board and finding fewer trips than they hoped for, and a growing unease about what the rest of the season... Continue reading
The Arkansas River has always been the heartbeat of Buena Vista — the reason people find this small mountain town in the first place. This summer, though, that heartbeat is faint. The drought has pulled the water down to levels the rafting community has never seen, and for Browns Canyon Rafting, it's changed everything.
Business is down 60%. That number doesn't just live on a spreadsheet — it shows up in empty seats on the bus, guides checking the schedule board and finding fewer trips than they hoped for, and a growing unease about what the rest of the season holds. The crew that shows up every morning ready to work is now facing thinner hours and an uncertain paycheck, through no fault of their own. It's hard to watch people who love this river and love this job feel the strain of something completely out of their control.
The water itself has become the daily obstacle. What used to be a smooth, predictable run down the canyon is now a maze of exposed rock and skinny channels. Boats are getting hung up mid-trip, guides are having to walk clients through sections they'd normally float, and delays have become part of the routine rather than the exception. Every trip takes more effort, more caution, and more time than it used to — and there's a real chance the season ends early if the flows drop much further.
An early shutdown means refunds going out the door instead of revenue coming in. It means letting go of seasonal staff before they expected it, cutting short both their income and the community that forms every summer among the guides. And it doesn't stop at the put-in. Buena Vista's restaurants, hotels, gear shops, and gas stations all feel the ripple when fewer rafters roll into town. The river draws visitors here — when the river struggles, so does everyone downstream of that decision, literally and figuratively.
Still, the boats keep launching each morning that the water allows and guests who do come out are having a blast. There's a resilience in this town and in the outfitters who call it home — an adaptability born from years of reading conditions and adjusting on the fly. This year is testing that resilience more than most. But Browns Canyon Rafting, like the rest of Buena Vista, is finding ways to keep moving forward, one lower, harder, more determined trip at a time.