Residents in Paonia look to Mount Lamborn every year to gauge whether there will be enough irrigation water in the summer. But with a winter that never came and the earliest, driest spring on record, residents are preparing for drought. Yet 2011 saw record snow and rain? iSeeChange has been talking to citizens and scientists about what's driving extreme weather in the Western Slope and what declining irrigation water means for farmers, ranchers, and residents.
Produced by Julia Kumari Drapkin, the iSeeChange project at KVNF is part of Localore, a nationwide production of AIR designed to accelerate transformation and extend public service media to all Americans. KVNF was selected as one of only 10 Localore stations across the country—learn more at airmediaworks.org. Localore is funded by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, the Wyncote Foundation, the John T. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, and the National Endowment for the Arts. Interactive storytelling partner Zeega co-produced TheAlmanac.org with iSeeChange.