Coyote Gulch

Friday, June 16, 2006

North Side Croquet Club
North Side Croquet Club: "There's no doubt about it now, Dom's definitely on the roids. Either that or his fancy high end mallet gives him an unfair advantage. Someone should break it. Again. And hide all his electrical tape. But anyhow, the bastard won again..."

8:01:02 PM

National Lightning Detection Network

This is cool. From the Cortez Journal: "If weather in Cortez from a relentless lightning storm June 6 is a season indicator, firefighters may need to keep their boots on all day. Local fire departments responded to seven lightning-related fires that day. Now, with nearly 75 percent of all Montezuma County-area wildfires from 1985 to 2004 caused by lightning, fire management officials at the San Juan Public Lands Center are taking no chances. They're in step with every naturally caused wildfire that starts because of a lightning detection system licensed to federal agencies to mark the location and time when a cloud-to-ground lightning strike occurs...

"The NLDN, licensed to several federal agencies, sets up about 100 sensors evenly spaced across the 48 states. When a cloud-to-ground lightning strike occurs, it emits a unique electromagnetic signal, which is detected by any sensors within 400 miles of the lightning strike. The sensors, often located at small airports for their flat ground and security presence, then send information via satellite about the lightning strike, including time and location, to the Vaisala command center in Tucson, which then forwards the data to users on the network."
"colorado water"
7:42:13 PM

SB 1848

Here's a report on the hearings for the Good Samaritan Bill introduced by U.S. Senators Ken Salazar and Wayne Allard from the Durango Herald. From the article, "A bill he introduced to protect 'good Samaritans' from the liability involved in cleaning abandoned hard-rock mines - such as those in the upper Animas River watershed - would award rehabilitation permits on a case-by-case basis, Sen. Ken Salazar, D-Colo., said Wednesday. There would be no blanket liability protection, Salazar told the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works during a hearing in Washington. 'The lack of liability protection under the Superfund and Clean Water Act is a major disincentive to mine cleanup,' Salazar said later in a telephone conference. Salazar's SB 1848 is co-sponsored by Colorado's senior senator, Republican Wayne Allard, and others. There are 22,000 abandoned and inactive hard-rock mines in Colorado and some 500,000 so-called orphan mines nationwide, Salazar said. They are mines with no identifiable owner or operator responsible for cleanup. Many of them contain mercury, copper, arsenic, zinc and lead that leach from mines or tailings to pollute water and soil and harm aquatic life. Under SB 1848, federal, state and local authorities would have to agree on the technical and the end-result viability of a specific cleanup. The permit process would require the public be notified of hearings and be given a chance to comment.

"In speaking to the Senate committee, Salazar said that under SB 1848: Good Samaritan permits could be authorized to clean mines in which the individual or company responsible for cleanup doesn't have the financial resources to do the job; No one liable for mine cleanup under federal, state or local law would be eligible for a good Samaritan permit; New mining at a cleanup site would require a mining permit in keeping with environmental regulations. Individuals or companies would be allowed to exploit residual minerals at the site."
"colorado water"
6:32:12 AM

Bear Creek impaired?

Bear Creek in Jefferson County is the subject of this article from the CanyonCourier.com. They write, "Bear Creek, that picturesque body of water that flows from the mountains through Evergreen Lake and down Bear Creek Canyon past Morrison, is once again in the news ... and not for all the right reasons. During the drought of 2002, stream flows dropped to a trickle, the water heated up, and fish were decimated. Since then they have returned, but not close to levels of 2001, which was a record-setting year, according to Gerry Shulte, head of the Evergreen Metro Water District. As a result, Evergreen Trout Unlimited, Friends of Bear Creek, and others have asked the EPA to list the stream as 'impaired' rather than the 'monitoring and evaluating' status it carries today. The case for an impaired designation can be found at Trout Unlimited's local website: http://www.coloradofishing.net/etu/epa2006.html. Currently a study is being conducted by the Colorado Water Quality Control Division that will attempt to set standards for the creek; meanwhile, Shulte opposes designating the stream as impaired because he disagrees with comparing data from a record-setting year (2001) with the years since then; however, he does agree that this summer's outlook for the creek is dire...

"Evergreen Metro District is already diverting flow of Bear Creek into Evergreen Lake closer to the dam in hopes that water will pass through the lake faster, thereby keeping it cooler and lowering temperatures in the creek. The district is also siphoning water from 5 to 10 feet below the surface in a further effort to drop temperatures in the creek. The good news is that all sides want the same thing: a vibrant Bear Creek that is hospitable to fish ... and fishermen. But Trout Unlimited makes the case that the stream has lost its margin of safety, and the EPA has stated twice that Bear Creek should be listed as impaired even if current data do not indicate with absolute certainty the source of all the creek's problems."
"colorado water"
6:24:43 AM

Colorado Springs Storm Water Utility

Colorado Springs is running behind in establishing a storm water utility, according to the Colorado Springs Independent. From the article, "A year after a single incident sent 317,000 gallons of sewage from Colorado Springs down Fountain Creek to Pueblo, the city 40 miles to the south is still waiting for Colorado Springs to get its act together. With a delay in the creation of a stormwater enterprise and a holdup in the lawsuit over the sewage spills, Colorado Springs has Pueblo residents and environmentalists clamoring for a resolution. Since 1999, an estimated 73 million gallons of sewage have been discharged into the waterway that runs through Colorado Springs to Pueblo -- much of it released when floods washed out a sewage treatment plant six years ago. The stormwater enterprise, a taxpayer-supported, city-run business that would raise money to pay for improving and building new infrastructure, was approved by City Council last November. The city originally intended to vote on a fee structure on April 25, but postponed the vote to Aug. 22 after local business owners protested they had not had the chance to prepare for the additional cost in their yearly budgets...

"[Ross Vincent of the Pueblo-area chapter of the Sierra Club] maintains he is concerned that the proposed stormwater fee will not raise enough money to create an effective infrastructure. The fee has been projected at an estimated $7.50 per month for private households, with some large local businesses paying as much as $69,000 per year."
"colorado water"
6:12:23 AM

Death by a thousand cuts

Here's an article about coping with the drought from the Fort Morgan Times. From the article, "Irrigated farmers who have approved water rights to ditch water or irrigation wells are again facing shrinking water supplies much like they saw in 2002. Consequently area crop and livestock producers are looking for ways to cope with this drought. Colorado State University cooperative extension agents are now being asked to serve as the independent third party in insurance related claims for prevented planting on dryland crops and for water diversions on existing fields where irrigation supplies have been reduced. Prevented planting arises when soil moisture during the normal planting period of a crop is not adequate for seed germination as well as for providing sustaining moisture for the developing crop. Water diversion decisions arise as a result of low irrigation well capacities and/or limited water allocations in irrigation ditches and severe heat stress conditions. Concentrate available irrigation water on smaller acreage in an effort to salvage the remaining crop is an acceptable crop management strategy. In addition, the abandonment of a field or portion of a field in order to minimize additional production costs and labor are acceptable crop management strategies. Differential allocation of limited water to fields on the basis of the critical growth stages of crops in each and their relative potential economic returns are also acceptable crop management strategies."

Here's a good summary of drought news from the Colorado Springs Independent. They write, "Boasting high water reserves, Colorado Springs Utilities says City Council has no need to implement watering restrictions in town this summer. Elsewhere, residents in Pueblo may water their lawns and gardens as they please. So can homeowners in Boulder and Fort Collins. In Denver and Aurora, they're allowed to water up to three days a week. Sure doesn't sound like a state of emergency. But that's exactly what Gov. Bill Owens has declared for some of the state's farmers, who are watching their crops wither to dust because they lack water. Owens' measure allows farmers all over the state to apply for disaster loans they'll have to repay. Don Ament, Colorado's agriculture commissioner, says farmers would simply rather have water. 'It's just depressing,' he says. In the northeastern part of the state, recently planted crops on 200 farms that rely upon well water are drying up. The thirsty Front Range cities are vying for the water in a protracted court battle, asserting their senior rights to the South Platte River, a major source of northern plains water. Ament sees the situation as a foreboding sign for the future of agriculture, Colorado's third-largest industry. The state's overall water outlook is murky, and farmers, despite the importance of their industry, were expected to be the first to feel the pinch, according to a water study released two years ago predicting major water shortages throughout the state by 2030. Lately, cities, utilities, tract home builders, kayak parks, federal endangered species and a long list of other interests are gulping down increasing amounts of the water upon which farms depend. 'It is death by a thousand cuts,' Ament says...

"Frank Schmidt, who runs the Old Colorado City Farmers' Market and three others in Colorado Springs, says the farmers he works with, most near Pueblo, have so far survived several years of drought. And he predicts they will again this year. But their anxiety about water supplies and money are growing as the drought continues. The feeling is that the 'farmers' [water] allotments can be cut at any time,' he says, pointing to the situation in northern Colorado. The statewide economic impact related to the farming crisis there is difficult to measure, Ament says. However, he notes that two large farms are hard-hit this year, sucking $25 million in crops, jobs and related economic activity from the state's economy. The fewer farms there are in Colorado, the farther produce will travel to local supermarkets, he adds. Diesel gas is about $3 a gallon, the high cost of which will be passed along to consumers. He adds that relying on imported food is an idea Americans should scrutinize before blindly accepting. Producers in South America, he says, follow fewer regulations regarding pesticides and fertilizers than those in the United States. And without strong domestic crops, Americans could be as vulnerable to sudden price spikes at the grocery store as they now are at the gas pump, he adds. 'No other country in the world eats for less than 10 percent of their income,' he says."
"colorado water"
5:56:34 AM

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