Can geothermal development and hot springs coexist?
Jake Buck Jake Buck

Can geothermal development and hot springs coexist?

Two thousand feet below Chaffee County's ranchlands, water heated by ancient granite rises slowly toward the surface, a journey that can take decades, sometimes centuries. It's the same water that fills the pools at Mount Princeton and Cottonwood, carrying with it the mineral warmth that has drawn soakers to this valley for generations. Now, as engineers map the county's geothermal potential for utility-scale power, the community finds itself weighing an unusual trade-off: trading a sliver of that ancient, unhurried heat for something the whole grid can share. The answer, it turns out, depends less on how much energy lies underground and more on how carefully we choose to take it.

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