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Saturday, April 21, 2007
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One hundred thousand voters disenfranchised for May election
The Cherry Creek News: "The disastrous November election continues to reverberate through Denver's voting scheme, with as many as 50,000 voters who voted in 2004 stricken from the mail ballot lists for the May election. Ballots will be mailed in early April.
"It was an unprecedented meeting at the State Capitol, where legislators and community groups sought to focus attention on the issue. But nothing under the golden dome will impact Denver's next selection of a mayor, auditor, city council, or now, city clerk.
"Following the Denver Election Commission's decision to make 117,038 registered Denver voters 'inactive,' local advocacy groups are strongly urging the City and County of Denver to reverse the decision and grant voters the ability to cast their ballots in the May 1st, 2007 election. Those voters can request ballots from the Election Commission, but many will face the inconvenience of going downtown to exercise their rights. Compounding the issue is the sonorous nature of this year's contest, where in most of the city, there is little campaign activity."
"denver 2007"
11:00:56 AM 
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Iraq
Captain's Quarters: "Robert Gates warned the Iraq government that they have to make progress on political reconciliation by this summer or he may pull American troops out of the security plan for Baghdad. Sounding a tone that one normally associates with war critics, he said that the Iraqi National Assembly had to pass key legislation quickly, as the surge will only buy them a limited amount of time in which to accomplish their goals."
"2008 pres"
10:39:03 AM
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Fill and spill for McPhee?
Here's a report on the runoff on the Dolores River from the Cortez Journal. From the article, "[Vernon Harrell, a civil engineering technician with the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation] said the early runoff, combined with low demand for water, means the reservoir has been filling rapidly. As of Wednesday, the reservoir was at an elevation of 6,912, just 12 feet below the fill line, Harrell said. Last year, the reservoir was 8 feet below the fill line. Harrell said he thinks the reservoir will fill this year, but it is still too early to tell if there will be a spill or not...
"A spill means rafters would be able to enjoy the Lower Dolores River. There wasn't a spill last year or in the years, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, or 2004. But McPhee is doing better in terms of water than it did last year, Harrell said. In addition, Harrell said he doesn't see any restrictions being put on the water system."
"colorado water"
10:18:42 AM
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Drop off locations for May 1st election ballots
Colorado Confidential has the lowdown on the locations for dropping off ballots for the May 1st election.
"April 23-27 and April 30, 8am to 7pm: Denver Election Commission Office - 303 W. Colfax Dept. 101.
"April 23-27 and April 30, 10am to 7pm: Athmar Recreation Center - 2680 W. Mexico Avenue; Barnum Recreation Center - 360 Hooker Street; District 3 Police Station - 1625 S. University Boulevard; Eisenhower Recreation Center - 4300 E. Dartmouth Avenue; Harvey Park Recreation Center - 2120 S. Tennyson Street; Wellington Webb Building - 201 W. Colfax Avenue; Scheitler Recreation Center - 5031 W. 46th Avenue; Montbello Recreation Center - 15555 E. 53rd Avenue; Montclair Recreation Center - 729 Ulster Way; Tattered Cover Bookstore (Lodo) - 1628 16th Street; Tattered Cover Bookstore (Colfax) - 2526 E. Colfax Avenue."
"May 1, 7am to 7pm: Denver Election Commission Office - 303 W. Colfax Dept. 101; Drive Thru Ballot Drop Off - Court Place off of Colfax Ave."
"denver 2007"
10:00:59 AM
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Religion and politics
From today's Rocky Mountain News, "Seven smiling visitors trekked to the local community center Tuesday night to pitch their favorite presidential candidates to the Marshall County Republican Central Committee. Many testimonials won nods of approval, but only one drew a chorus of 'amen.' It came when a young surrogate for Sen. Sam Brownback, R-Kan., touted his boss' long- standing opposition to abortion and expanded federal funding for embryonic stem-cell research."
"2008 pres"
9:54:23 AM
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Uranium mining in Weld County?
Here's an update on the propsed uranium mining project from Powertech Uranium Corp. up in Weld County, from the Longmont Daily Times-Call. They write, "A group of residents worries that a proposed uranium mine about 20 miles northeast of Fort Collins will contaminate Front Range water supplies and pollute the area with harmful amounts of radiation. But the company that plans to mine the land, Powertech Uranium Corp., says the uranium mining project will be safe for the environment and is necessary to provide fuel for the increasing number of nuclear power plants around the world...
"In October, Powertech Uranium Corp. bought 5,760 acres of uranium mineral rights -- 9 square miles -- between Wellington and Nunn northeast of Fort Collins. The mining plan, called the Centennial Project, is expected to produce about 4,750 tons of uranium, according to Powertech. The Canadian-based company will use a process called in-situ leaching to extract uranium from the land. In-situ leaching involves pumping treated water into the uranium-laced deposits, which dissolves the mineral so the uranium solution can be pumped to the surface. The solution is then shipped to a central processing plant, where the uranium is removed from the water. The location of the processing plant was not disclosed. After the uranium is removed, the water is cleaned and returned to the area. Opponents of the mining operation say the water may be contaminated when it is returned to the earth, polluting the water supplies with radioactive waste...
"Uranium is an abundant mineral necessary to provide fuel for nuclear power plants and, according to Powertech, is one of the Earth's cleanest sources of power. The United States has 103 reactors in 31 states, which produce about 20 percent of the country's electricity, according to the company. Powertech must get approval from several governmental regulatory agencies before it starts mining in Weld County. Powertech owns mineral rights for mining projects in Wyoming and South Dakota in addition to the Centennial Project in Weld County."
More Coyote Gulch coverage here.
"colorado water"
8:24:25 AM
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Republican River update
From the Sterling Journal-Advocate, "Despite the dry-up of almost 30,000 acres of irrigated land, Colorado is more than 10,000 acre feet short per year of its required delivery of water from the Republican River Basin to Kansas and Nebraska under terms of a five-year settlement that expires Dec. 31, 2007. Chief Deputy State Engineer Ken Knox delivered the grim news this week to a joint meeting of the House and Senate agriculture committees. He said Kansas is showing no signs of giving Colorado any more leeway to make up the difference. 'We must have compliance with the compact, but we must also have protection for the families and farmers in the basin's seven counties of eastern Colorado,' Knox said. 'Groundwater is crucial to the economic and social fabric of the area.' The seven counties in the Republican River basin, which has its headwaters in the groundwater aquifer of eastern Colorado, are Sedgwick, Logan, Phillips, Washington, Yuma, Lincoln and Kit Carson. Dennis Coryell of Burlington, the president of the Republican River Water Conservation District, said if Kansas decides to press its case, almost 4,000 wells could be shut off. 'The worst case scenario is if Kansas goes back to the (U.S.) Supreme Court and claims injury to Nebraska and by extension to Colorado, the special master or the Supreme Court could order a total curtailment of all 4,000 wells in Colorado,' Coryell said.
"Doug Melcher of the Colorado Corngrowers Association said a total shutdown of the wells would result in a loss of 530,000 acres of agriculture production worth $3 billion annually. 'The economic viability of many rural communities is at stake,' Melcher said. Lawmakers in 2002 created the conservation district with the mission to come up with a plan for meeting Colorado's obligation under the 1942 Republican River Compact. By assessing an irrigation fee of $5.50 per acre, and taking advantage of federal programs to reduced consumptive use of water, the district has paid farmers to stop pumping from 214 wells and retire 29,430 acres of irrigated farm land. Knox said plans are in the works to double those figures, but it still won't be enough to bring Colorado into compliance. 'The bottom line is that we are over-allocated in consumptive use and short between 10,000 and 12,000 acre feet each year,' Knox said...
"Coryell said the district also is beginning feasibility studies on a pipeline that would deliver water from the aquifer and shuttered wells to the border as surface water, therefore getting 100 percent credit for the water delivered. Rep. Jerry Sonnenberg, R-Sterling, said some wells only get credit for 10 percent of the groundwater they used. 'The farther you get from the stream, the less credit you get,' Sonnenberg said. 'Some wells get less than 10 percent credit when they shut it down. If we can pipe it to the stream, we get 100 percent credit.' Knox said the Colorado Division of Water Resources also is working with federal officials to try to get Colorado credit for the estimated 4,000 acre feet of water lost each year through evaporation from Bonney Reservoir in extreme southeastern Yuma County."
"colorado water"
8:12:45 AM
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Yampa Straw?
Here's an article about the Yampa / White River Basin Roundtable from the Craig Daily Press. From the article, "Douglas Wellman came to the Yampa/White Basin Roundtable meeting Wednesday in part to express his opinion about the proposal to build a reservoir near Maybell and pump the water back to the eastern Colorado. 'By taking that water, you dilute the political and economic ability on this side of the divide,' said Wellman, a roundtable member. 'I want to see an acre-foot of water stored on this side for every acre-foot leaving the Western Slope.'[...]
"Wellman was not alone in his concerns about the Yampa Pumpback project, currently in the early proposal stages of development. When opponents of the project were asked to stand at Wednesday's meeting, about 15 of the 60 spectators present took the opportunity to be counted. The $4 billion proposal calls for a 500,000 acre-foot reservoir to be constructed near Maybell in either the Sand or Spring Creek drainages. The reservoir would be 20 times the size of Elkhead Reservoir, or comparable to the size of Lake Granby. Water from the reservoir would be pumped via a 200-mile long pipeline to a location near Barr Lake on the Front Range, where pipelines already are being built to Denver...
"Brouwer noted that the output of all of the rivers on the Front Range doesn't equal the volume of water leaving the state on the Western Slope. The Maybell storage site makes sense, he said, as it is below most recreational use, and the flow is great enough for diversions during high runoff periods. There are many questions yet to be answered about the Yampa Pumpback project, and Brouwer admitted a number of studies have not even started...
"Also questioned was the recently expanded Elkhead Reservoir, enlarged in part to help the recovery of endangered fish species, while siphoning water out of the same river for pumping east. Brouwer explained that no pumping would occur during low-flow periods in the river, the same time period in which Elkhead would be releasing water for the endangered fish...
"A rough timeline shows the system delivering water to Denver by 2023, with financing and the Colorado River Compact big obstacles still remaining ahead."
More Coyote Gulch coverage here and here.
"colorado water"
7:55:21 AM
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Fountain Creek management
From the Pueblo Chieftain, "The consensus committee of the Fountain Creek Vision Task Force met Friday to review plans for a proposed gas-fired power plant, a gravel mining operation and two wastewater treatment plants in the area just east of the former Pikes Peak International Raceway...
"The group focused briefly on the agreement between the Lower Ark and Colorado Springs to fund a technical coordinator and how that person might work with the task force to implement decisions or coordinate efforts. 'We see this as a person to develop a master plan about some of the concerns we have identified,' said Bruce McCormick, Colorado Springs chief of water services. McCormick said those areas include recreation, agriculture, the environment, flood control and water quality, among others...
"Most of the meeting was devoted to presentations about the impending projects on Fountain Creek. Carmine Iadarola, a consultant for Invenergy subsidiary Squirrel Creek Energy, said the company wants to build a 550-megawatt, gas-fired power plant about five miles west of Colorado Springs' Ray Nixon power plant. The $500 million power plant would use about 3 million gallons of water a day and would be used to provide backup power for windmills in Southeastern Colorado, northern New Mexico and the San Luis Valley, Iadarola said. It would also work in conjunction with hydroponic greenhouses, using plants to clean the water, and solar energy collectors. Electric power would be sold to Xcel Energy, mainly for use in Northern Colorado...
"LaFarge plans to replace its sand and gravel operation at Fountain at a site east of I-25 at the raceway exit. The company plans to mine up to 30 acres a year on the 745-acre site, leaving behind two sites for lakes at the end of about 15 years, said Manager Kevin Moore...
"Two wastewater treatment plants are planned in the same area in the next five years. Colorado Springs Utilities plans to build a plant that would serve the Banning-Lewis Ranch and other new developments in the northeast portion of the city. Sewage lines would feed the plant south of Fountain through the Jimmy Camp Creek watershed. The plant would be located between I-25 and Fountain Creek. Initially, it would process 8 million gallons of sewage per day, expanding to 30 million gallons per day over the next 30 years. The Fountain Sanitation District plans a 2.5 million gallon per day plant 1.5 miles east of the Colorado Springs site."
More Coyote Gulch coverage of Fountain Creek management here.
"colorado water"
7:38:06 AM
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Arkansas Valley Conduit
Legislation to authorize the Arkansas Valley conduit is moving ahead in Congress, according to the Pueblo Chieftain. From the article, "Authorization for the Arkansas Valley Conduit has been included in the Water Resources Development Act by two Colorado members of Congress, but there are no guarantees of funding. The approach is part of a wide-ranging effort in Congress to keep the project moving ahead, lobbyist Christine Arbogast told the Southeastern Colorado Water Conservancy District this week...
"U.S. Reps. Marilyn Musgrave, R-Colo., and John Salazar, D-Colo., included funding requests totaling $69 million toward the conduit in the bill - requests identical to those made in the last session of Congress. The conduit would be among $15 billion worth of federal projects in the WRDA bill. If it passes, it would open the way for appropriations through the Army Corps of Engineers to work on the conduit. Another set of bills seeks to authorize 80 percent federal funding through the Bureau of Reclamation for the $330 million conduit. Salazar, Musgrave and U.S. Sens. Wayne Allard, R-Colo., and Ken Salazar, D-Colo., are sponsoring the bills. The Colorado Water Conservation Board has approved a $60.6 million loan to meet the local share, which could soften opposition to the bill, Arbogast said...
"Water quality east of Pueblo has long been recognized to be a problem. It was mentioned in the early 1950s when federal transmountain imports for the Arkansas Valley were first being considered. Under the 1962 Fryingpan-Arkansas Act, however, funding for the conduit was to be 100 percent local. Lamar joined the district 10 years after it was formed specifically to take advantage of the possibility of building the conduit to the Lower Arkansas Valley. However, the 42 cities and water districts east have never been able to afford the price tag for the conduit, which has steadily increased over time...
"On another federal front, the Southeastern board reviewed Rep. Salazar's Fryingpan-Arkansas bill, which would authorize a $10 million state study of the effects of past water transfers in the Arkansas Valley and a $4 million feasibility study of the enlargement of Lake Pueblo or other means of increasing storage. Rep. Salazar introduced the bill in late March."
More Coyote Gulch coverage of the Arkansas Valley Conduit here. More Preferred Options Storage Plan (PSOP) coverage here.
"colorado water"
7:25:55 AM
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© Copyright 2009 John Orr.
Last update: 3/14/09; 9:11:50 PM.
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