Coyote Gulch

Thursday, December 15, 2005

HR 4437 - The Border Protection, Antiterrorism, and Illegal Immigration Control Act of 2005
TalkLeft: "The ACLU reports that the House as early as today will take up James Sensenbrenner's doozy of an anti-immigration bill. (HR 4437 - 'The Border Protection, Antiterrorism, and Illegal Immigration Control Act of 2005,' which also includes HR 4312, the 'Border Security and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2005.' )"

Walter In Denver: "I'll note this isn't the first time Tancredo's gotten the facts wrong."

The Cherry Creek News: "While it is very early in the 2008 presidential sweepstakes, the poll shows Sens. McCain and Clinton ahead in primary match-ups against others. McCain narrowly leads former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice among Republicans, while Clinton laps the Democratic Party field, more than doubling the support of second-place John Edwards, the former senator from North Carolina. In a McCain-Clinton presidential face-off, McCain wins easily, 52% to 37%, with 11% either unsure or favoring another candidate."

Category: 2008 Presidential Election

6:00:25 PM

Hope for their government
Harry Reid: "The elections in Iraq are an historic moment and another important milestone. Americans salute the courage and dedication of our troops who made the elections possible and the brave Iraqis who cast their ballots. By voting today, the Iraqi people expressed hope for their government and their country."

5:56:40 PM

Iraqi Parliamentary Election

Iraq the Model: "It's 7:45 am now in Baghdad and the voting centers inside Iraq were open on time 45 minutes ago. The first news clips broadcast on local TV showed people voting as early as 7:05! Also politicians and government officials have started casting their ballots in a special station located inside the Green Zone. The first politician we saw vote on TV were Mithal al-Alusi who leads a list of his own and Dr. Hussein al-Shahristani from the UIA."

Juan Cole: "From all accounts, the voter turnout is likely to be good, given that more Sunni Arabs are going to the polls this time than last. Still, a lot of polling stations could not open in Anbar Province, a severe problem for the legitimacy of the voting outcome. (Aboveboard elections of a sort that can be internationally certified require that security permit people throughout the country to vote if they want to.)"

7:00:29 AM

Flow meters on the South Platte

Sterling Journal Advocate: "All along the Lower South Platte River basin, irrigation well owners are installing flow meters to measure the water used in augmenting their wells. Now, water conservancy districts and the state are working on a pilot project, developing a plan to make the data from the flow meters immediately available. 'We'd like to be able to get every ditch headgate on the Web in real time,' Manager Joe Frank said at the Lower South Platte Water Conservancy District meeting Tuesday. Accomplishing this would make the flow of water in the river basin easier to monitor for the river commissioner and the conservancy districts."

Category: Colorado Water

6:51:42 AM

Colorado River Annual Operating Plan Approved

Mohave Daily News: "A plan that governs the distribution of Colorado River water and the operation of Colorado River reservoirs was approved Wednesday by Gale A. Norton, Department of Interior secretary.

"The Annual Operating Plan (AOP) states that releases from Lake Powell to the lower Colorado River basin in water year 2006 (Oct. 1, 2005 - Sept. 30, 2006) will be made to meet the minimum objective release of 8.23 million acre feet."

Category: Colorado Water

6:42:16 AM

Lower Arkansas Valley Water Conservancy District vs. Bureau of Reclamation

"The Lower Arkansas Valley Water Conservancy District voted unanimously Wednesday to draft a resolution and letter to federal and state lawmakers challenging Reclamation as it continues an environmental assessment of Aurora's request for a 40-year storage contract," according to the Pueblo Chieftain.

From the article, "For 20 years Aurora requested and received temporary storage in Lake Pueblo. When the lake is full, Aurora's water is the first to be released. It needs the storage to exchange the diversion point of water it purchased in Otero and Crowley counties to Twin Lakes near Leadville. From there, Aurora moves the water into the South Platte Basin through the Otero Pumping Station, operated jointly with Colorado Springs.

"Aurora's request for a 40-year contract includes a 10,000 acre-foot storage pool in Lake Pueblo and a 10,000 acre-foot contract exchange that would let it move water from Lake Pueblo to Twin Lakes without a drop hitting the Arkansas River in the reach in between.

"If Reclamation denies the request, Aurora has an option to buy a gravel pit storage site east of Pueblo.

"The Southeastern District raised the question of Reclamation's authority to enter contracts with Aurora in 2001, citing several previous legal cases to back its conclusion that the federal agency has limited authority to issue contracts with outsiders."

Category: Colorado Water

6:36:27 AM

Talkleft
The Denver Post is running an article about Jeralyn Merritt and her weblog TalkLeft. It's cool to see her get some recognition. Coyote Gulch links often to TalkLeft (428 times according to Google) and we depend on Ms. Merritt for a calm, rational, approach to issues of the day, along with well-researched opinions.

Update: Coyote Gulch forgot to mention that TalkLeft will (or has already) get the 10 millionth hit today.

6:12:18 AM

Southern Delivery System

The Pueblo Chieftain is reporting that Pueblo has filed for a change in venue with respect to the lawsuit filed by Colorado Springs over land-use requirements for the Southern Delivery System.

From the article, "The city [Colorado Springs] asserted that 95 percent of the land to be affected by SDS, a 43-mile pipeline which it proposes to build north from Lake Pueblo to the southern part of Colorado Springs, is in El Paso County.

"Ray Petros Jr., Pueblo County's water attorney, argues in his motion that the potential impact on Pueblo is much greater than Colorado Springs contends. But he said that isn't a material factor in determining venue for a case.

"Rather, he said, the court case must be heard in the county where the case arose, and that this case arose from official actions taken by the Pueblo County commissioners to regulate activity in their county.

"He cited cases filed by Denver Water in 1981 against land-use regulations adopted in Eagle and Grand counties.The cases were filed in Denver, and the Denver district court ruled that venue was proper there. But the Colorado Supreme Court ruled in 1989 that the cases must be tried in the counties where the action arose, by virtue of the official action of county commissioners adopting land-use regulations for their county."

Here's the link to the Southern Delivery System Environmental Impact Statement.

Category: Colorado Water

6:07:22 AM

Denver Water rates to increase 8%

Denver Water continues to ~~punish~~ reward conservation with rate increases and will raise rates 8% according to the Rocky Mountain News [December 15, 2005, "Denver Water approves 8 percent rate increase"]. From the article, "The Denver Water Board approved a $261.7 million spending plan for 2006, based in part on an 8 percent rate hike designed to offset lingering, drought-related reductions in water sales. The rate hikes takes effect Jan. 1. The giant utility, Colorado's largest municipal water supplier, has seen water use drop dramatically since the drought began in 2002. Even now, as the dry spell eases, its 1.2 million customers continue their drought-savvy ways. In 2005 the utility will sell an estimated $162.7 million worth of water, about $6.8 million less than it had hoped to collect, or 16 percent less than normal. Next year it projects it will sell only about $164.3 million worth of water. Those figures mean the agency must scramble to find ways to bring its finances in line with the lower revenues. The 2006 budget, even with the rate increase, will require the use of $9 million in cash reserves to balance the books, according to David LaFrance, finance director. The agency is delaying some capital projects, issuing debt and counting on the sale of water taps to help move back into the black."

Category: Colorado Water

5:42:54 AM

Romney for President?
Governor Owens is taking on immigration reform, according to the Rocky Mountain News [December 15, 2005, "Owens touts guest-worker plan"]. From the article, "At a forum Wednesday sponsored by the advocacy group Freedom Works, Owens touted a version of a guest-worker plan that would "outsource" part of the visa process to privately run employment agencies. The proposal, developed by the Vernon K. Kriebel Foundation, is meant as an incentive to encourage millions of illegal immigrants to return to their home countries. Once there, they could register with employment agencies certified by the U.S. government, undergo criminal and terrorism-related background checks, and then be eligible for guest-worker visas for jobs where no American workers are available."

Vincent Carroll thinks that Mitt Romney might be a good candidate for Republicans in 2008 [December 15, 2005, "On Point: The Republicans' un-Bush"]. Carroll writes, "Voters tire of any politician after eight years, even one who didn't lead the country into a controversial war. So if Republicans want to hold onto the White House in 2008, they may want to nominate an "un-Bush" to lead their party. And who could be more un-Bush than a Mormon governor of Massachusetts? Mitt Romney is of course a political conservative - an un-Bush must win GOP primaries, after all - but in most other respects he is a study in contrasts with the 43rd president.

"George W. Bush was an indifferent student; Romney was valedictorian at Brigham Young's College of Humanities, a Baker scholar at Harvard Business School and a cum laude recipient of a Harvard law degree.

"Bush floundered about in marginal business ventures for years, needing assists from his family's wealthy friends to finally get on track; Romney founded a venture capital firm that would expand worldwide, developed a knack for reviving troubled companies, and eventually deployed those skills to rescue the Salt Lake City Olympic venture from debt and scandal.

"Ah, but can a successful un-Bush be a Mormon so long as a small but crucial minority of Americans tell pollsters they wouldn't vote for a member of that church no matter what? We're apparently going to find out - because on Wednesday, Romney announced he will not be running for re-election in Massachusetts, a sure sign the man has bigger plans in mind."

Bull Moose: "The Moose ruminates a bit more on the similarities between the right and the left. Much is made of the political polarization in America. We are divided into right and left and red and blue. However, it has long been the Moose's view that most Americans are political hybrids - they are conservatives on some issues, liberals on others and fall into the middle on most. However, both parties usually play to their respective bases. The left and the right have more in common than is commonly recognized. They are both populated by those who Eric Hoffer described as true believers who inhabit a cozy world of political certainty. The right and the left are on constant guard for political heresy and correctness. They loathe the perceived heretic in their midst more than their political adversary. Some can make the transition from right to left effortlessly because they are so much alike."

Western Democrat: "... last day to sign this very important petition to the DNC."

Category: 2008 Presidential Election

5:37:56 AM

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