VIDEO: Cities along the Front Range are bracing for potential water quality problems stemming from last year’s wildfires.
The Cameron Peak Fire burned in watersheds that supply water to Greeley, Fort Collins, Loveland and others, where utilities are preparing for significant problems this spring and summer.
One major concern involves snowmelt and spring rainfall pushing ash and debris into the Cache la Poudre River, which supplies about half of the water used in Greeley.
“Having that whole upper watershed burn, is of great concern to us,” says Sean Chambers. “We fundamentally can’t treat some of the really bad water that’s going to come off of this fire.”
Chambers expects that ash and debris to begin arriving in Greeley in the next few weeks, as the annual snowmelt takes shape.