Your Daily Guide

💧 Is Aurora Trying To Steal Water From the Mountains?

After a year of record-low snowpack levels, shrinking mountain reservoirs, and more dry winters to come, the City of Aurora wants to build a new mountain reservoir to protect residents from drought.

• What’s the deal with Wild Horse? Aurora says the new body of water, Wild Horse Reservoir, is essential for supporting the city with “emergency water reserves.” However, some environmental activists are raising concerns over the plan, saying this could be the city’s sneaky attempt to divert water from Eagle County without all the proper permits.
• How does this concern Denver? Every year, 500 million acre-feet of water is diverted from the Colorado River and its tributaries on the Western Slope to residents along the Front Range. However, tensions over water rights are rising between Front Range communities and those on the Western Slope as the Colorado River faces critical lows.
• It’s time to think critically about water: Dick Cleveland, chair of the Eagle River Water & Sanitation District board, says Denver residents should know that half their water comes from the Western Slope: “Few, if any people in the Front Range think about where their water comes from…you turn the water on and you have clean, fresh water.” [Denver Water; Vail Daily]

🚪 More Signs Colorado’s Marijana Moment Is Over

After selling 15 of their retail dispensaries to Verdant Capital Partners, the cannabis company Native Roots will also close its Denver grow facility. Native Roots plans to lay off 141 employees as part of the deal. This closure is just the latest update in Colorado’s struggling cannabis industry, where market oversaturation, competition from other states, and tight regulations have led to a decline in sales and tax revenue since peaking during the pandemic. [9News; Washington Post]

🚙 DPD Wants To Improve Street Takeover Response

After recent street takeovers disrupted traffic and raised concerns over safety, the Denver Police Department has said it will improve its response to such incidents. According to an update from City Council member Flor Alvidrez, DPD will increase the number of officers available for nighttime patrol and raise the level of priority for street takeovers and street racing in Colorado. Anyone with information about illegal street racing can submit an anonymous tip. [CBS News; District 7 Newsletter]

🩴 Crocs is Based in … Malta?

The shoe company Crocs has devised a clever plan for evading income taxes: claiming residency in Malta. Crocs is headquartered in Broomfield, but joins multiple U.S. corporations using the smallest country in the European Union as a get-out-of-taxes-free card. [The New York Times 🔒]

• (I’m annoyed that there’s not a Crocs-specific emoji. I’m even more annoyed by yet another story of corporate greed making us ordinary taxpayers look like schmucks for paying up.)