Colorado's wet spring is helping native gardens and research facilities, but experts warn the recent rainfall does not solve the state's drought.
DENVER — Colorado's recent rainfall is bringing color to native gardens and filling research water tanks, but experts say it's not enough to end the drought.
James Warren and his partner are bringing to life a vibrant native plant garden in their Colorado backyard, but growing in Colorado means adapting to the dry conditions. Warren pointed out the two rain barrels that help provide needed water for the vegetation.
"It's been so dry and so I think the hardest part is especially with the newest stuff that we're trying to get on the ground, just making sure that they have enough water," Warren said. The rain barrel system has made water management more manageable and has helped during these dry months.
"So it's been really helpful for those few little instances of rain that we did get or precipitation that we did get, to again make sure that that kind of lasts a lot longer, because if it snows and then the next morning it all melts. It's like great, well, there's our precipitation for maybe the next month, but this helps us drag that on a little bit longer," Warren said.
Backyard gardeners are not the only ones taking advantage of the recent precipitation. Over at Colorado State University SPUR, the Water Technology Acceleration Platform , welcomed the precipitation to help fill their water tanks. Back in April, Denver7 visited the lab to understand how the team uses rainwater collection and learned the 10,000-gallon storage tank had no water.
► Watch Maggy Wolanske's report in the player below: Recent moisture helping CSU's water lab Sarah Millonig, director of operations for One Water Solutions Institute, shared the recent weather has helped fill both storage tanks outside.
"We have a 10,000 gallon storage tank that was completely empty the last time we got to see each other and then we have a 3,400 gallon tank behind me that is full of precipitation collected from the roof of this building and this morning when we got here, it was quite literally overflowing," Millonig said. She explained the water collected supports ongoing research at the facility both inside the labority and in the hydro backyard.
"Since the storm water tank was empty, we actually took the opportunity to completely clean it out," said Millonig. "So the sampling that we're going to be able to do now because the tank is halfway ish full, we'll give us a really representative sample of the real world conditions here outside of campus and at the National Western Center.
While this recent rainfall may be helpful for the plants and trees, Millonig explained there needs to be a lot more to help with our states current drought conditions.
"What I would say is though, this precipitation and cooler weather is really important and very critical for some of our early emerging plants. It does not solve our current drought situation," Millonig said. Dealing with the lack of moisture, is a little less challenging for Warren thanks to the rain barrel, who now looks ahead to more rain in the forecast.
"Yeah, just very excited to come out after every storm and just see that that thing is full of usually completely full 55 gallons," Warren said. This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
Denver7 | Your Voice: Get in touch with Maggy Wolanske Denver7’s Maggy Wolanske is a multimedia journalist who covers topics that have an impact across Colorado, but specializes in reporting on climate and environment, as well as stories impacting animals and wildlife. If you’d like to get in touch with Maggy, fill out the form below to send her an email.
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