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Rain could complicate repairs and recovery. About 4 inches of rain fell in the region over the past five days, Polis said, nearly double the average for all of July. And Colorado’s monsoon season is not over yet.
“We have to watch this closely for the next few weeks, months. It could get worse, ”he said.
The state of Colorado will issue a state disaster declaration, Polis said, and will also request a federal disaster declaration, which could provide federal help in cleaning up the mudslide.
Miguel Otárola / CPR NewsInitial investigations by CDOT teams revealed that “immense debris” damaged parts of the road and an overpass wall, agency executive director Shoshana Lew said. Elsewhere, debris displaced the flow of the Colorado River so that its waters covered portions of the lower deck of the eastbound road and damaged a retaining wall.
At the bottom of the canyon, the teams found quartzite, granite and limestone, three distinct types of minerals from different parts of the canyon walls.
“The fact that these samples all come together in the flow pattern shows you how fast the debris is moving,” she said.
The canyon’s 1,300-foot-high walls and sharp bends in the Colorado River made highway construction a technical feat in the 1980s and early 1990s. But wildfires, floods, and other events weather made more intense by climate change is straining the government’s ability to keep it open.
“Places like Glenwood Canyon are inherently fragile due to the nature of their uniqueness,” Lew said. “And respecting the landscape as we help it heal is something that I think is on all of our minds as we deal with these very, very, very deeply shocking and impactful events.”
Courtesy of Colorado Department of TransportationUltimately, plants that help hold soil and rocks in place should naturally take hold over the next several years. Limited efforts have been made to seed the burn area, but the steep canyon walls make this impossible in some areas.
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