Dear Action Line,
I’ve always wondered what the concrete dam-like structure is on Junction creek by the river trail where Junction Creek comes into the Animas River. Is it some type of device to stop fish from swimming up Junction Creek from the Animas River? – Signed, Fishing for answers
Dear Fishing for answers,
Your instinct is correct! The dam indeed has to do with keeping fish out of Junction Creek.
We won’t judge those who enjoy the scenic attributes of concrete in the middle of a stream, but we were pretty certain the dam-like structure isn’t there just for show.
It turns out that the “roller dam” as it’s called belongs to Colorado Parks and Wildlife. John Livingston, CPW’s Southwest Region public information officer, said the dam does have a use other than a hangout spot for high school students who want to ditch class and enjoy the soothing sounds of flowing water while they’re doing ... whatever they do.
Junction Creek is home to naturally reproducing rainbow trout. The dam – which used to provide surface water to the Durango Fish Hatchery – now acts as a fish barrier to stop whirling disease-positive fish from swimming up Junction Creek and infecting the rainbow trout.
“We actually recently tested those (Junction Creek) fish for whirling disease, and they came back negative,” he said. “For now, we don’t want to remove it.”
Now that’s what we call a dam good answer.
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Action Line also recently received a question about the electric vehicle chargers at Durango-La Plata County Airport:
Why are there EV chargers in the long term parking lot at the Durango airport? What’s stopping someone from plugging in and then flying away for three weeks?
We reached out to Aviation Director Tony Vicari at the airport for insight, who said the six EV charger parking spaces were installed as a trial last year.
“As adoption of electric vehicles continues to increase, we saw this as a low-cost way to provide a viable charging option for a subset of our parking lot users who may otherwise be reluctant to utilize our parking facilities,” he said.
These chargers are classified as level 1, the slowest rate of available charging. Most vehicles need six to 20 hours for a full charge. Vicari said the average long-term trip out of the airport is three to five days, and “there is nothing stopping someone from plugging in a vehicle and leaving it for multiple days.”
He recognizes that extra long-term chargers could be a problem, but that’s part of what the airport is hoping to test with the trial run. If that happens, it may add more chargers to meet the demand.
Submit questions to actionline@durangoherald.com or mail questions to Action Line, The Durango Herald, 1275 Main Ave., Durango, CO 81301.
