{"id":291233,"date":"2021-07-05T17:51:41","date_gmt":"2021-07-05T14:51:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/amid-drought-colorado-rafters-flock-to-oases\/"},"modified":"2021-07-05T17:51:41","modified_gmt":"2021-07-05T14:51:41","slug":"amid-drought-colorado-rafters-flock-to-oases","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/amid-drought-colorado-rafters-flock-to-oases\/","title":{"rendered":"#Amid drought, Colorado rafters flock to oases"},"content":{"rendered":"

“#Amid drought, Colorado rafters flock to oases<\/strong>”<\/p>\n

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FORT COLLINS, Colo. \u2014 Across Colorado, parched rivers are at some of their lowest levels on record. But on one still spared by the drought, boisterous children and guides bob along as water splashes into their blue inflatable rafts.<\/p>\n

The summer activity on the Cache La Poudre River in northeastern Colorado reflects the precarious situations of rivers and lakes in dry regions, with rafters and boaters eager to enjoy the remaining oases while they can and businesses hoping to eke out a season threatened by drought.<\/p>\n

\u201cAny time that you make your living off of Mother Nature, you definitely partner with a pretty turbulent environment,\u201d said Kyle Johnson, whose whitewater rafting company, Rocky Mountain Adventures, has been fully booked seven days a week.<\/p>\n

Johnson said the booming demand on the river is a \u201credemption\u201d from the last rafting season, which was cut short by the pandemic and wildfires. But the healthy water levels on the river might not last much longer. Johnson notes the\u00a0drought<\/a>\u00a0could end this season prematurely as well.<\/p>\n

\"Dylan
Dylan Dems, a rafting guide for Rocky Mountain Adventures, takes a group down a whitewater section of the Cache la Poudre River near Fort Collins, Colo., Wednesday, June 23, 2021. <\/figcaption>
AP<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a little bittersweet,\u201d said Savannah House, a Fort Collins resident who was recently rafting on the Poudre, noting the extreme conditions in other parts of the state.<\/p>\n

For years, those who rely on rivers and streams for their livelihoods have struggled with the hotter, drier weather brought on by climate change.<\/p>\n

The rising temperatures have meant dwindling and less reliable amounts of the mountain snowpack that normally drains from high altitudes to replenish water levels. What does trickle down is more likely to get absorbed by the dry, thirsty ground before it reaches the river \u2014 a predicament many places were already experiencing this year.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe really are seeing the impact of the dry conditions last year impacting all of our watersheds and water resources,\u201d said Karl Wetlaufer, a hydrologist for the federal Natural Resources Conservation Service.<\/p>\n

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