Coyote Gulch

Wednesday, December 26, 2007

Iraq
Captain's Quarters: "On Monday, Rep. Michele Bachmann told a press conference about an important pension bill passed by the Iraqi National Assembly. It got little press in the US, but it created economic stability for the Sunnis, who had lost their pensions after the fall of Saddam Hussein. Bachmann called it an important step towards reconciliation, as it requires the Sunnis to engage with the elected central government -- and they appeared eager to do so."

Juan Cole: "The Iraqi government is threatening To stop crude oil sales to South Korea, where they account for 5 percent of petroleum imports. The Baghdad government is angry that a Korean firm is in talks with the Kurdistan Regional Government, exploring a bid to do exploration and development in Iraqi Kurdistan without securing permission first from the Federal government."
"2008 pres"
7:17:18 AM

Weblogs and elections
Here's an article on the effectiveness of weblogs and other Internet efforts at getting out the vote, from The Moderate Voice. They write:

The 2004 election was a kind of prototype: candidates started realizing the relatively-young Internet's potential for raising campaign funds -- and to get votes. In Campaign 2008 candidates in both parties are nurturing weblogs (with conference calls to friendly sites), blog outreach activists (by hiring bloggers to pitch ideas and positions to other bloggers) and to raise funds (Rep. Ron Paul set a record). But will any of this truly make a REAL difference in the final vote count?

Can candidates in 2008 truly rely on blogs to increase their portion of votes -- or have most weblogs evolved into partisan echo chambers?

To get some answers on this (and some other things) we went to an expert: Cass Sunstein, the Karl N. Llewellyn Distinguished Service Professor of Jurisprudence, Law School and Department of Political Science, University of Chicago. He is a contributing editor to The New Republic and is a frequent witness before congressional committees. He is also a supporter of Democratic Senator Barack Obama.

In this original interview, he deals with the issue of weblogs' value to political candidates in early 21st Century America, whether comments on blogs (supposedly a tool for dialogue and convincing people) have lived up to their potential, complications that ensued when campaigns have hired veteran bloggers -- and answers some some questions about Obama plus other matters.

Read the whole thing.
"2008 pres"
7:13:50 AM

Sustainable water supply for Pueblo

Here's the 4th installment of The Pueblo Chieftain's water series "Water Logs." They're looking at water imported from the Colorado River Basin to the Arkansas River Basin. From the article:

Ditches cross high mountain passes. Tunnels have been bored through solid rock. Magnificent engineering feats over the past century have gone into creating a system that brings water from the west side of the Continental Divide, where the state receives 80 percent of its precipitation, to the east side, where 80 percent of the people live.

Most of the projects that bring water over were conceived and largely executed more than 30 years ago, and new plans to import more water to the Front Range in recent years have been fraught with legal challenges, environmental entanglements and technical headaches. The Statewide Water Supply Initiative, a study by the Colorado Water Conservation Board, lists five general ways the state could import more water from the Western Slope in Phase II. SWSI's Phase I concluded there will be more pressure on agricultural transfers if new sources of transmountain water are not employed.

Protection of flows for recreation and wildlife now plays a part in every water decision. The state's focus shifted in 2005 from top-down decisions to grass-roots input when basin roundtables and the Interbasin Compact Committee were formed. So far, no answers to the state's water dilemma have surfaced, as roundtables spent most of the first two years sorting out issues within each of the nine basins. The roundtables recently have begun meeting with other basins in search of common ground, however...

One ray of hope in the transmountain water question is a 20-year agreement signed in November that resolves several ongoing issues with the Colorado River Compact and suggests how seven states - Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming - might share future shortages or surplus on the Colorado River. It also outlines operations of the major compact reservoirs, Lake Mead and Lake Powell, to balance the interests of the lower basin states with the upper basin...

The Arkansas River basin imports more than 125,000 acre-feet annually, approximately one-fifth of the average flow in the river east of Pueblo. The largest diversions are Twin Lakes, the Fryingpan-Arkansas Project and the Homestake Project.

The issue: Prevailing theories suggest climate change will reduce the amount of water and change the timing of flows in the future.

What's at stake: Cities and farmers have come to depend on transmountain supply sources originally intended as supplemental water supplies. Cities, in particular, now rely heavily on imported water.

Why it matters: Fewer transmountain imports will put more pressure on native water supplies that already are overappropriated.

Who's involved: The Pueblo Board of Water Works ultimately will obtain 60 percent of its water from transmountain diversions. The Twin Lakes Canal and Reservoir Co. provides water to Pueblo, Colorado Springs, Aurora and Pueblo West. The Fry-Ark Project, through the Southeastern Colorado Water Conservancy District, provides supplemental water to cities and farmers up and down the valley. Statewide, roundtables and lawmakers are beginning to look at interbasin issues.

More Coyote Gulch coverage here, here, here, here, here and here.
"colorado water"
6:48:50 AM

Bessemer ditch shares: Another nail in agriculture's coffin?

Here's the 3rd installment of The Pueblo Chieftain's water series "Water Log". Today they're looking at moving ag water to municipal uses in the Arkansas River valley. From the article:

Any city in the West likely incorporates former farmland, and in the process former agricultural water rights that now serve the city. But what happens when the water for what once was agricultural is not enough to meet the needs of growth? As seen through purchases in the Arkansas Valley since the 1970s, cities stray far from their geographic boundaries in search of water. In the past, the Pueblo Board of Water Works has reached to the other side of the Continental Divide to find new sources of water, and has acquired ditches in the neighborhood to meet its demand for water.

In 2007, the water board returned to looking closer to home in an effort to balance its water rights in the Arkansas Valley with water imported from the West Slope. As part of a 100-year plan to meet projected needs, the water board announced in October its intent to purchase a controlling interest in the Bessemer Ditch. Part of the reason was to prevent the sale of the ditch to cities outside the county. In November, the Pueblo West Metro District board joined the water board as a partner in the proposed purchase. The plan was proposed as a way for both communities to meet future water needs and to use water already in the valley. The water board's ultimate water supply is about 60 percent from the West Slope, and Pueblo West relies even more heavily on transmountain water supplies...

The Bessemer has been the subject of rumored sales since the mid-1980s, when other ditches in the valley actually were sold off to cities. Since it diverts directly from Lake Pueblo, is lined as it flows through Pueblo and has some relatively senior water rights, it is seen as a prime target for municipal transfer. However, the ditch also irrigates rich farmland on the St. Charles Mesa and continues to be profitable for agriculture. The mesa also is being converted to suburbs. The St. Charles Mesa Water District, which supplies domestic water, already owns 10 percent of Bessemer shares. It no longer buys water, but requires contribution of one share of water to the district for each acre subdivided.

Pueblo County's largest ditch isn't for sale, but its water rights might be for the right price. A ditch company is a collection of individuals 900 or so in the case of the Bessemer Ditch and moves according to the majority's decision. Could an offer on the table tip the balance?

The issue: Do municipal water interests in Pueblo County have enough money to keep the water here?

What's at stake: Potentially, larger, well-heeled interests in the northern part of the state could make an offer of their own.

Why it matters: Agriculture is still a large part of the Pueblo County economy.

Who's involved: The offer to buy Bessemer Ditch water is being proposed by the Pueblo Board of Water Works and Pueblo West.

More Coyote Gulch coverage here.
"colorado water"
6:31:29 AM

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