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Sunday, February 18, 2007
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Iraq
TalkLeft: "Senate blocks Iraq war resolution."
TalkLeft: "On Hillary Clinton's website today, she unveils a new message on Iraq. 'U.S. Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, the early front-runner for the Democratic presidential nomination, has called for a 90-day deadline to start pulling American troops from Iraq.'"
Iraq the Model: "Since the multiple bombings in Shroja market district on the 12th, Baghdad hasn't seen any major attacks and there's a tangible decrease in all kinds of attacks. Not only official statements say so (Defense ministry officials said today that attacks are down by 80% in Baghdad). It's a reality I live in nowadays, at least in my neighborhood and its surroundings. It is also what I hear from friends and relatives in other parts of the city. We are hearing fewer explosions and less gunfire now than two weeks ago and that, in Baghdad, qualifies as quiet."
Captain's Quarters: "Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice made an unannounced trip to Baghdad to personally observe the start of the new surge strategy. Rice told reporters that she's 'pleased' with the initial implementation, and that the increased American troops will have a big impact on the city's security."
"2008 pres"
8:57:59 AM 
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? for president?
Oliver Willis: "Hillary Clinton wades hip deep into John Kerry territory."
Daily Kos: "The closer we get to the primaries, the more Hillary will realize that she can't escape her Iraq dilemma."
Colorado Lib: "John Edwards on healthcare.
"2008 pres"
8:51:56 AM
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Immigration
TalkLeft: "Almost a year ago, our nation's immigrants marched in cities across America, rightly proclaiming, 'We are America.' The New York Times takes a look at what's happened in the year since the marches."
"2008 pres"
8:43:19 AM
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Women and the presidency
Diane Carman looks at the chances of electing a woman as president in 2008 in her column in today's Denver Post. From the article, "The latest polls suggest that voters finally may have come to this realization. In what's either a sign of long overdue enlightenment - or utter desperation - overwhelmingly they're saying they are at last ready for a woman president. A CBS News/New York Times poll this month found that 92 percent of adults said they would vote for a woman for president if she were qualified. When asked about their perceptions of fellow voters, they're still somewhat skeptical. Fifty-five percent said they think the country is ready for a woman president, up from 40 percent in 1996. Marie Wilson, president of the nonpartisan White House Project and the country's leading advocate for electing a woman president, finds the numbers reason for cautious optimism. After the symbolic candidacies of Carol Moseley Braun, Elizabeth Dole, Pat Schroeder and Shirley Chisholm, a real chance at electing a woman just may happen in 2008. 'Women now are seen as having credibility on the key issues of foreign policy, security and the economy,' she said. 'This is a critical change.' It has occurred largely because of two women secretaries of state: Madeleine Albright and Condoleezza Rice. Women also are popular governors in Kansas, Arizona and Washington. Nancy Pelosi is the first woman speaker of the House, and Harvard University just named its first woman president. As a result, Wilson said, 'We haven't exactly achieved critical mass, but we're closer to making it not an aberration to have a woman in charge.' Maybe most significant this time is the fact that a woman is raising real money."
"2008 pres"
8:37:45 AM
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Arkansas Valley Conduit
Here's an article about why the Arkansas Valley Conduit should be built from the Lamar Daily News. They write, "The Arkansas Valley Conduit has been designed to bring a higher quality source of drinking water to the communities east of Pueblo. The need for this project is driven by projected population growth, the economically-disadvantaged nature of the lower Arkansas River valley, and increasingly costly water treatment requirements being experienced by certain water providers in the basin. The increasing cost of water treatment is a result of the poor quality of locally available groundwater and increasingly stringent requirements of the Safe Drinking Water Act. The local groundwater available from the Arkansas River alluvium has historically been high in total dissolved solids (TDS), sulfates, and calcium, and has objectionable concentrations of iron and manganese.
"The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE), in their most recent February 2002 report on the status of water quality in Colorado, states: The Lower Arkansas River in Colorado is the most saline stream of its size in the U.S. The average salinity levels increase from 300 parts per million (ppm) TDS east of Pueblo to over 4,000 ppm near the Kansas state line. The shallow alluvial groundwater along the River has similar salinity. The results of CDPHE-sponsored sampling of the Lower Arkansas River alluvial aquifer, July to December 1994, showed that 19 of 139 wells contained nitrate levels above 10 mg/l, EPA's drinking water standard. Additionally, various water suppliers have recently reported measurable concentrations of radionuclides in their water. This extremely poor groundwater quality, combined with increasingly stringent quality regulations of the Safe Drinking Water Act, has caused several local water suppliers to invest in expensive water treatment facilities to assure a reliable water supply for their customers. Reynolds outlined the purpose and need for the pipeline, touching on the study which was conducted in June 2003 to evaluate the feasibility of designing and constructing a water transmission pipeline (Arkansas Valley Pipeline) to supply water from Pueblo Reservoir to municipalities and water providers in the counties along the Arkansas River, from east of Pueblo Reservoir to Lamar."
Here's the second part of the series explaining how officials intend to build the pipeline, from the Lamar Daily News. From the article, "Based on the evaluation of the Investigation Study the SECWCD finds that there is enough water to supply the lower case since it is based on the average Fry-Ark yield. The upper bookend would require an additional 6,700 acre feet of water per year. Several options exist to aid in supplementing the water supply in addition to water right purchase including native water right acquisitions, reuse of available supplies, exchanges, trades between water users, and the use of existing water rights. According to Reynolds, the demands for water usage in the region is light enough to meet the demands placed on the overall water supply. 'I think this will be the year we make a move, I really do',? commented Long as he sought support from Lamar. We have an adequate amount of storage space in all communities below Pueblo. According to Long for decades 'we have terribly mismanaged our water'? in the southeastern corner of Colorado. We are just learning to use the Fry-Ark storage. The Conduit study concludes that the 20 percent costs share repayment can be subsidized by loans and grant funding, with no out of pocket costs to the Conduit participants. The availability of State monies is a reasonable outlet to invest in future growth in the Arkansas Valley areas."
"colorado water"
8:27:36 AM
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Review of Black Mountain Disposal evaporation pond
From today's Grand Junction Daily Sentinel, "Mesa County and the state have initiated an 'investigation' of a long-standing wastewater evaporation pond, an official with the Mesa County Planning and Development Department announced Saturday. Linda Danneberger, a division director with the department, told a crowd of more than 50 people at the De Beque Town Hall that because of community complaints, the county and state were reviewing the Black Mountain Disposal evaporation pond's compliance with environmental standards."
"colorado water"
8:15:45 AM
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John Muir: When one tugs at a single thing in nature, he finds it attached to the rest of the world
Controversy hasn't died down on the Gunnision River, according to the Grand Junction Daily Sentinel. From the article, "Now that Gale Norton has ridden her broom into the private sector and the courts have tossed out that scurrilous midnight agreement she wormed through that threatened to turn the Gunnison River in the Black Canyon into another Dolores River below McPhee Reservoir, the many friends of the river have a short opportunity to reflect on their victory. But keep the celebration short, for the wrangling about what are the best flows for the Gunnison is sure to include such malodorous viewpoints as annual flushing flows that reflect 'what's natural' but might scour the canyon until it glistens like the front of Hoover Dam, and the hope from Front Range water buffaloes that somewhere there's enough extra water in the river basin to send some across the Continental Divide.
"When the Black Canyon was named a national monument in 1933, the river was in the midst of more than 10 years of some extraordinary water flows, according to historic data available from the U.S. Geologic Survey. The river peaked at 19,000 cubic feet per second in June 1921, and in the next 12 years hit highs of 11,000 cfs (1924), 14,800 cfs (1928), 12,200 cfs (1929) and 10,900 cfs (1933). Not all years reached five-digit flows, but apparently enough occurred to give some forces in the Park Service the notion the Black Canyon should receive a 10,000 cfs flushing flow every year. However, anglers and aquatic biologists disagree, saying that high flows every year not only would change the canyon as we know it but wouldn't really reflect the overall condition of the canyon in the early 1900s. Because the monument's water rights were recognized but never quantified, this and similar dust-ups about what's best for the Black Canyon are sure to heard in coming months and years. The 300 cfs metered out by Norton's agreement isn't enough to keep the river healthy; 10,000 cfs, on a regular basis, is too much to keep the river healthy."
"colorado water"
8:01:24 AM
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Colorado Springs' water picture
Here's a nice summary of the water situation down in Colorado Springs (and across the state) from the Colorado Springs Gazette. They write, "Simply put: The demand for water in the West -- including in Colorado -- has or will soon outstrip the supply. 'Is there enough water to continue to meet all needs we currently have and have water for new population? I think everyone agrees the answer is no,' said Doug Cain, the Lakewood-based associate hydrologic studies director for the U.S. Geological Survey. That dire statement shouldn't be shocking to Coloradans. The signs of an impending water shortage have long been visible to experts, and the multiyear drought that struck the state in 2001 should have made even laymen aware of the West's water problems.
"Consider: Front Range groundwater, both the shallow layers that can be replenished and the deeper aquifers that can't, are being tapped at a rate that will exhaust them; About 22,000 wells have been sunk into various aquifers in eastern and northern El Paso County, and some of those underground layers of water are showing signs of depletion; Despite warnings that groundwater will play out, there have been few signs that politicians, developers or home buyers are willing to face the facts; Between 2000 and 2006, for example, the portion of building permits issued in El Paso County for construction in unincorporated areas -- those most apt to rely on wells -- grew from 24 percent to 38 percent; Snowmelt, the main source of water for Front Range cities, has fluctuated wildly from year to year; Snowpack in the Arkansas River Basin has swung from 309 percent of normal in May 1968 to 10 percent of normal in 1981 and points between in the past 39 years, the Natural Resources Conservation Service reported; A 2006 State of the Rockies Report Card issued by Colorado College predicted climate change in the next 80 years will threaten the ski industry and the urban water supply; Flows from most rivers in the state are over-allocated, not only to Colorado users but also to those in other states."
"Those charged with providing water to Coloradans -- sometimes called 'water buffaloes' by their critics -- are an ingenious lot. They must be, because finding, buying, transporting and storing water is an expensive, politically fraught job. Some of the best 'buffaloes' historically worked for Colorado Springs, and they built a water system that is the envy of many Front Range cities. Since the late 1800s, the city has built a water system to accommodate a population that's multiplied by 17 times in the past 100 years. The projects include the Pikes Peak water collection system, which provides about 17 percent of Colorado Springs Utilities' supply. The remainder comes from four transmountain systems: Blue River, Homestake, Fryingpan-Arkansas and Twin Lakes.
"Still, even this city is reaching the bottom of the pail. Colorado Springs faces a demand for water in future years it can't guarantee, and the city must bring more water in by 2012, officials said. To do that, city-owned Colorado Springs Utilities wants to build a pipeline that it calls its last big diversion project, the Southern Delivery System. The system of pipes, pumps and local reservoirs would bring water from Pueblo Reservoir to exercise water rights the city owns in the Arkansas River's upper basin. The Southern Delivery System is needed to service the Banning-Lewis Ranch development, 24,000 acres on the city's northeast side that is expected to be home to 175,000 people in the next 40 years. The project is steeped in controversy. Its latter phases require federal approval and may need the nod from Pueblo County, which has raised the issue of water quality in Fountain Creek, which takes Colorado Springs' wastewater effluent to Pueblo. Even if that billion-dollar project is built, Utilities concedes its supply of fresh mountain water won't meet the city's needs by 2040...
"Utilities officials don't particularly like to talk about it, but someday the city may have to treat its wastewater back to drinking standards to supply enough water to faucets. That, they say, will be an expensive task, fraught with public relations problems in a city accustomed to having some of the finest tap water in the country. Utilities, like others farther north, has been sinking deep wells into the Denver Basin, a massive aquifer that stretches from Highway 94 in El Paso County to Fort Collins. Some experts say the nonrenewable Denver Basin is being depleted far more quickly than expected. One scientist from the Denver Museum of Nature [Dr. Bob Raynolds] predicted Denver Basin groundwater will be gone this century. Other scientists think that is alarmist, because not enough is known about the hydrology of the Denver Basin. The USGS is expected to complete the most comprehensive study of the basin this summer. Colorado Springs Utilities and others in the state are considering or have begun experimenting with injecting water into aquifers in wet years, to be withdrawn in lean ones. The technology is promising, but there are technical and legal problems, such as assuring that other well users don't suck out the water before it is needed...
"In the end, such ideas are stopgap measures. The solution to the Front Range's water woes -- and many see it as a poor one -- is robbing Peter to pay Paul. Cain, of the USGS, said, 'If the question is, 'Is there water in Colorado for new municipal growth?' There is enough water for that, but it has to come from some existing use, so that has to be interrupted or changed to make way for that.' He's referring to agriculture, still a potent force in the state's economy. Farms and ranches use 88 percent of the state's supply of water to irrigate 5 percent of Colorado's land. Already, the three big Front Range water providers -- the Denver Water Board, Aurora and Colorado Springs -- have begun buying agricultural water rights. The deals might be good for farmers wanting to get out of the business, but they have profound implications for the schools, businesses and towns that dot the eastern plains. At the height of the drought, state lawmakers made it easier to do a more kind and gentle water grab: Water providers can now lease agricultural water rights in lean years, when farmers might struggle to produce a crop, and give up the water in wetter years. Still, there isn't any doubt among those in agriculture that big-city water boys are coming with wads of cash and slick lawyers."
"colorado water"
7:40:09 AM
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© Copyright 2009 John Orr.
Last update: 3/14/09; 9:04:59 PM.
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