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by Will Grant, Aspen Daily News Staff Writer

Every time it rains in Aspen, the Roaring Fork River gets a dose of whatever washes off the city streets. But thanks to the Jenny Adair wetlands, that dose of toxic runoff is smaller than it used to be.

Recently the wetlands have been more useful than ever. Small rain events, like we’ve seen for the last two months in Aspen, are the most harmful to the river. The frequency of the showers means more regular street washings and more consistent doses of pollutants for everything in the river.

The city of Aspen’s Jenny Adair Regional Stormwater Quality Project is an artificial wetlands area off N. Mill St. intended to reduce pollutants into the Roaring Fork River by channeling stormwater runoff through a series of filters. The city built the wetlands in 2007 and says the wetlands have saved the river 144 tons of trash, sediment and oil in two-plus years.

“We’re so impressed with the project,” said city of Aspen stormwater manager April Barker. “It’s only been here two years, and already it’s doing exactly what we wanted.”

Read entire article.

News Source: Aspen Daily News

ENVS Faculty: Diane McKnight

ENVS News Category: Media Story

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Darin Toohey

Kinetics, spectroscopic, and field measurements of trace species in the troposphere and lower stratosphere; design and fabrication of fast-response in situ instrumentation.

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Rachel