Coyote Gulch

Tuesday, June 6, 2006

Marriage amendment
Captain's Quarters: "Unfortunately, E.J. Dionne paints a fairly accurate picture in his column today regarding the sudden reappearance of the Marriage Protection Act. While Bush has always supported the traditional definition of marriage, he has not pursued the Constitutional option with much vigor until his polling numbers showed significant erosion among his base. Suddenly, the MPA has received front-burner status."
"2008 pres"
6:58:17 PM

Weblogs in politics
Wash Park Prophet: "You can't get the right answers about the political impact of blogs, unless you ask the right questions.

"In his May 26, 2006 article in the Chronicle of Higher Education, 'Political Blogs: the New Iowa?' (B6-B8), David D. Perlmutter, an LSU Baton Rogue associate professor of mass communication who blogs at Policy By Blog commits the cardinal sin of political scientists. While his analysis and evidence in support of that evidence is solid, his assumptions and the questions he is asking are the wrong ones.

"His biggest blunder comes when he states: 'Probably the most important area of research on blogs today is what role they will have in the presidential election of 2008.'

"If there is any place where blogs will be particularly unimportant, it is the 2008 Presidential election. Why?

"Blogs are tools for communicating information. The information conveyed may have collateral impacts, and the information communicated may have spillover effects, but fundamentally, what happens when you write a blog is that you send information to someone, and fundamentally, what happens when you read a blog is that you receive information."
"2008 pres"
6:02:53 PM

Ritter or Holtzman for governor?
I like Coloradolib's meme this week - All Positive, All The Time Week. He writes, "Democratic gubernatorial nominee Bill Ritter has been endorsed by a veterans' group. The Colorado Democratic party has nominated veterans Bill Winter in CD6, Jay Fawcett in CD5 and Joe Rice in HD38. And two Colorado Democrats - Diana DeGette and Mark Udall - received perfect ratings from Disabled American Veterans in 2005. Democratic Senator Ken Salazar isn't far behind, with a 92%."

Colorado Pols: "Republican (sort of) gubernatorial candidate Marc Holtzman held a press conference today to announce his campaign's response to last week's news that he did not gather enough petition signatures to make the primary ballot."

Denver Post: "A Democratic political group Monday requested documents and communication related to Gov. Bill Owens' appointment of Secretary of State Gigi Dennis to determine if Dennis disqualified gubernatorial candidate Marc Holtzman for personal gain. John Willard, spokesman for Clear Peak Colorado, said he filed the public-information request because of rumors that Dennis is a potential running mate of Holtzman's Republican rival, U.S. Rep. Bob Beauprez. Owens supports Beauprez."

Colorado Pols: "Republican Marc Holtzman's campaign is moving ahead with attempts to validate signatures that Secretary of State Gigi Dennis through out in his efforts to make the primary ballot. But as Colorado Pols discussed yesterday, Bob Beauprez's camp is planning a legal challenge to some of the Holtzman signatures that were allowed."
"denver 2006"
5:52:03 PM

Ritter or Beauprez for governor?
Bill Ritter and Bob Beauprez were both stumping in Salida this week, according to the Mountain Mail. From the article, "Front running candidates for Colorado governor made campaign stops in Chaffee County Friday and Saturday. Republican Bob Beauprez met Friday with local water officials and Democrat Bill Ritter stopped in Salida Saturday for an interview by KHEN Radio and to meet residents. Ritter continued to Gunnison for a meeting of the Gunnison County Stock Growers Association. He is the lone Democrat running for the job.

"Beauprez may face Marc Holtzman in the August primary, although petitions submitted by Holtzman to include his name on the ballot were found invalid last week. Officials with the Holtzman campaign said they plan to appeal the decision. Friday, Beauprez was asked to find a way to fast-track reservoir expansion and was told construction projects should be a priority. He began a western Colorado water issues 'listening' tour at the Poncha Springs ranch of state Rep. Tom Massey. Beauprez heard primarily from current or former directors of the Upper Arkansas Water Conservancy District. He was asked to find a way to speed the process of government approval for water storage projects in the upper Arkansas River basin."

Bob Beauprez knows how to get west slope voters on his side. He's come out against new water transfers to the Front Range, according to the Montrose Daily Press. From the article, "Republican Gubernatorial candidate Bob Beauprez said Friday he opposes any Western Slope water transfers to the Front Range. 'Nobody has convinced me we need trans-mountain diversions,' Beauprez said in a campaign stop in Gunnison to speak to local supporters. He said each basin in Colorado must deal with its own water needs within the basin. Until Front Range municipalities exhaust local resources, they should not look at places like the Gunnison River...

"He said 'money always finds the water' and the state must try to find a way for everyone to share in Colorado's future. Beauprez said if water issues are not addressed around the entire state, the Front Range, where all the money is located, will end up with all of Colorado water assets. 'If we don't keep the land wet, we are done,' Beauprez said. He said Colorado must increase its storage capacity to prevent the state's share of water from flowing out of the Colorado. Beauprez was a supporter of Referendum A, a previous statewide ballot measure that proposed billions in bonds to build more reservoirs but was soundly defeated in 2004...

"Bob Drexel, who is with the Upper Gunnison River Conservancy District, said he was wary of the notion that everyone should work together to solve Colorado's water problems. He said the Gunnison Basin has been fighting Front Range and other interests for years to protect its water resources. He said the entire state must be concerned about the recent drought and a potential call on the Colorado River, which would impact trans-mountain diversion in the upper Colorado River. Drexel said the issue is not just a Front Range issue and could have an impact on the Gunnison Basin...

"Gunnison resident Mark Schumacher said there is a lot of skepticism about the statewide roundtables. He said the short-term threat in the Gunnison Basin is Front Range interests and the long-range challenge is the increasing demand for water by states like Nevada and Arizona. Beauprez said he would represent all of Colorado's water interests, not just the Front Range, if elected governor. He said he has been a dairy farmer and understands the needs and concerns of rural Colorado."
"denver 2006"
6:17:01 AM

Farm disaster on the South Platte

Here's an article from the Fort Morgan Times about the deal for Windy Gap water for South Platte aquifer irrigators that collapsed last week. They write, "A plan to bring water from the Western Slope to the South Platte River and allow wells along the basin to pump has collapsed. Objectors to the plan -- including the Cities of Sterling and Boulder and several irrigation districts and ditch companies -- did not withdraw their objections, and the plan fell apart Friday. 'I am so disappointed about that,' said Don Ament, Colorado commissioner of agriculture, 'why we would play such hardball when it wouldn't hurt anybody on the South Platte.' The plan had called for bringing about 10,000 acre-feet of water from Windy Gap Reservoir on the Western Slope to Front Range areas and exchanging it for water those areas would then release down the river to allow wells to pump. Western Slope people were not wild about the idea but went along, Ament said; he noted that the Colorado River is running about 14,000 cubic feet per second to the South Platte's 140. Fort Collins, Thornton and some other Front Range entities stepped up to allow the exchange, but five of the original 36 objectors -- Boulder, Sterling, Henrylyn Irrigation District at Hudson, Centennial Water and Sanitation District and the DuCommun Business Trust at Leadville -- stuck to their position. Sterling, Ament said, was spending city money to pay an attorney to oppose a plan that would not have a negative impact and possibly a positive impact on the river."
"colorado water"
6:12:07 AM

Dillon reservoir fills and spills for second year in a row

Reservoir levels are the bright spot for Coloradoans this year, as compared to 2002. Dillon Reservoir has filled and spilled two years running, according to the Summit Daily News.

From the article, "With inflow into Dillon Reservoir reaching a healthy 1,700 cubic feet per second (cfs) on Monday, Denver Water's big High Country bucket filled to capacity and started to overflow through the glory hole for the second year in a row. That's a relief for Colorado water managers after several years of sustained drought, but this season's runoff didn't bring the anticipated high water levels in local streams. An unusually dry spring - one of the driest on record in parts of the state - evaporated some of the snowpack before it had a chance to melt. Denver Water managers Marc Waage and Bob Steger said they expect outflow from Dillon Reservoir to peak at somewhere between 600 and 1,200 cfs, between June 9 and June 12. After that, the flows should slowly decline through early July. Raftable flows of 500 cfs or more in the Lower Blue may last for a few weeks in the middle part of the month, according to Steger. Monday's inflow was tempered by diversions through the Roberts Tunnel. Denver Water is sending about 500 cfs under the Continental Divide into the South Platte drainage, said Silverthorne public works director Bill Linfield."
"colorado water"
6:06:19 AM

Snowpack

Last winter's snowpack is virtually gone, according to the Rocky Mountain News. From the article, "Warm weather and a dry spring have melted the Colorado snowpack down to 26 percent of the statewide average. A June 1 measurement by the federal snow survey marks the second sharp decline in the past two months, down from 94 percent of average on April 1. It stood at 65 percent of average on May 1. The early meltdown means that most streams and rivers in the state will reach their peak flow earlier than usual, according to Allen Green, state conservationist for the Natural Resources Conservation Service, which conducts the survey...

Heres the current snowpack and reservoir readings from the Rocky: Gunnison - 38%, 133%; Colorado - 38%, 107%; South Platte - 16%, 83%; North Platte - 48%, N/A; Yampa-White - 45%, 103%; Arkansas - 51%, 63%; Rio Grande - 11%, 64%; San Juan, Animas, Dolores - 6%, 112%; Statewide - 26%, 99%.
"colorado water"
5:57:36 AM

e-mail John: