Sunday, February 24, 2008

? for President? Political Wire: "A new Elon University poll in North Carolina shows Sen. Barack Obama leading Sen. Hillary Clinton in the state's Democratic presidential race, 45% to 31%. In the GOP race, Sen. John McCain is way ahead of Mike Huckabee, 62% to 24%. Caveat: 'The sample is of the population in general and does not restrict respondents by their voter eligibility or their likelihood of voting in an election.'" Daily Kos: "Tomorrow morning the Democratic National Committee will file a complaint with the Federal Elections Commission against John McCain. Why? In the words of DNC Chair Howard Dean: 'We want John McCain to obey the law with his own name on it.'" "2008 pres" 8:13:49 PM

Iraq Juan Cole: "Turkish military land and air operations inside northern Iraq left 35 PKK guerrillas dead on Saturday, and two Turkish soldiers. The PKK warned that it would blow up people in Turkish cities if the Turkish army did not withdraw. This threat would be more impressive if they hadn't already been blowing up people in Turkish cities. Iraqi foreign minister Hoshyar Zebari, himself an Iraqi Kurd, said of the operation, 'if it goes on, I think it could destabilise the region, because really one mistake could lead to further escalation.' As if to prove Zebari's point, the leader of Iraqi Kurdistan, Massoud Barzani, warned the Turks of large-scale resistance if they advanced toward populated areas." "2008 pres" 3:36:10 PM

Environmental policy NewMexiKen: "There were, according to the League of Conservation Voters, 15 key votes on the environment in the Senate during 2007. Senator Hillary Clinton voted the environmentalist side 11 times and was absent for four votes. Senator Barack Obama voted the environmentalist side 10 times, against once, and was absent for four votes. Senator John McCain was absent for all 15 votes." "2008 pres" 3:33:46 PM

Energy policy: Coal The Cherry Creek News: "Gov. Bill Ritter today urged the federal government to step up its pursuit of clean-coal technologies to better diversify the nation's energy portfolio. 'Blending cleaner forms of carbon-based resources with renewable resources like wind and solar will lead to a more secure energy future," Gov. Ritter said at the start of this weekend's National Governors Association annual winter meeting in Washington. 'In Colorado, we call it the New Energy Economy.'" "2008 pres" 3:32:36 PM

Economic policy Colorado Confidential: "With a reported economic recession on the horizon, the Bush Administration garnered harsh criticism from bloggers and business professionals this week regarding a decision to shut down an award winning government Web site that complies economic information. EconomicIndicators.gov, a one-source stop for economic information from various government agencies, announced a few weeks ago that the site would be shutting down on March 1st due to 'budgetary constraints.' The move sparked harsh reactions from labor experts and economists alike, who pointed out that the site--a recipient of a Forbes 'Best of the Web' award--was the only place to go for free aggregated economic data. Discontinuing the site would make it very difficult for media representatives and other groups to monitor the economy." "2008 pres" 3:15:47 PM

? for President? Political Wire: "A new Des Moines Register poll in Iowa shows Sen. Barack Obama would beat Sen. John McCain in the general election, 53% to 36%. However, McCain would beat Sen. Hillary Clinton, 49% to 40%." "2008 pres" 3:12:56 PM

Hellchild's excellent Mexican adventure (Guatemala edition) Hellchild plans to finally leave Guatemala on Wednesday. She'll be heading to Mexico City via a long bus ride. She spent part of this week revisiting Rabinal and hanging with the friends she's made during several months of accompaniment. She sends this article [pdf] by one of her cohorts. Coincidentally The Denver Post is running an article today about the Mayans that have been relocated to the San Luis Valley from Guatemala. SLV Dweller has video of the Mayan community in the San Luis Valley. You have to love the Internet. 9:51:08 AM

Ralph Nader for President? Say hello to Ralph Nader for President. He's in the presidential race as of this morning. "2008 pres" 9:30:21 AM

Fryingpan-Arkansas project debt Here's an update on plans by the Southeastern Colorado Water Conservancy District to pay off the Fryinpan-Arkansas project, from The Pueblo Chieftain. From the article: A plan to use future revenues from federal excess-capacity contracts to pay off parts of the Fryingpan-Arkansas Project was outlined Thursday to the board that oversees the project. "This is just a concept," Executive Director Jim Broderick told the Southeastern Colorado Water Conservancy District. "What we put together is a conceptual idea, and it's not finalized, not finished. We needed to understand, 'Can we do this?' And it looks like we can."[...] To pitch the plan, the district developed rough numbers that show how revenues from leased space could increase through the year 2072, as well as how the revenues could be applied to unfunded parts of the Fry-Ark Project. Revenues from contracts for storage, exchange and carriage would grow from about $1.7 million this year to more than $8 million in 2072, reflecting increased use of facilities for non-project water rights, as well as escalating payments built into the contracts. "We would apply those funds to the debt," Broderick said. Three projects, Ruedi Reservoir, the South Outlet Works and the Arkansas Valley Conduit were chosen, although there is outstanding debt from other parts of the project as well. Property taxes cover the municipal, industrial and agricultural repayments from the Arkansas Valley structures - Turquoise Lake, Mount Elbert Conduit, Twin Lakes and Lake Pueblo - the Western Slope collection system and the Boustead Tunnel that brings water across the Continental Divide. The debt is being paid off more quickly than the contract calls for, and will be repaid about eight years ahead of schedule in 2023. As it stands now, only a small portion of the property taxes would continue for operation and maintenance and future excess-capacity revenues would simply become a part of the U.S. Treasury. The district covers parts of nine counties and assesses a tax of 0.915 mills, 0.875 of which go toward contract repayment. Electric power generation revenues pay for the Mount Elbert Power Plant. Taxpayers in Colorado Springs, Widefield, Security, Fountain and Stratmoor Hills are paying for the Fountain Valley Conduit, constructed from Pueblo Dam in 1985. Ruedi, finished in 1968; the South Outlet Works, completed in 1983; and the conduit, never built because local users could not afford it, are pieces of the Fry-Ark project that do not yet have specific repayment contracts, Broderick explained... Repayment on Ruedi, about $24 million, and the unused portion of the South Outlet Works, about $2.2 million, could be completed by 2020 under the conceptual plan. The plan looks at contract repayment through a 65 percent federal funding plan for the Arkansas Valley Conduit that would be administered by the Bureau of Reclamation, which now operates the Fry-Ark Project. An alternative "pay-as-you-go" plan is on a separate track in Congress, but was not considered as part of the conceptual plan. Repayment for the construction of the conduit, estimated at $300 million, would be broken down into two parts, reimbursable costs of $105 million and non-reimbursable costs of $195 million. The reimbursable costs could be repaid from 2020-2043, with the 35 percent local share covered by $40 million of a $60 million loan through the Colorado Water Conservation Board. There are other costs of the project that would be paid through the state loan as well, Broderick explained. Repayment of the non-reimbursable parts of the construction, normally an expenditure absorbed by the federal government, would begin in 2043 and could be completed by 2072, under the conceptual plan... Reclamation determined in a 2005 study that an average of 131,000 acre-feet - roughly the combined current annual use of Colorado Springs and Pueblo - of storage space annually is available in Lake Pueblo. About 56,000 acre-feet of excess capacity space is leased this year. In the Southeastern conceptual plan, the bulk of the payments would be generated by four long-term storage and exchange contracts. Two of the contracts, up to 15,000 acre-feet of storage for the Pueblo Board of Water Works and 10,000 acre-feet of storage and exchange by Aurora, are already in place. The Aurora contract is being challenged in federal court by the Lower Arkansas Valley Water Conservancy District and Arkansas Valley Native, a group of water owners led by Pueblo Chieftain Publisher Bob Rawlings. Two larger long-term water contracts are on the horizon. Colorado Springs could seek up to 30,000 acre-feet, depending on the final route of the Southern Delivery System, and Southeastern is planning to apply for a 30,000 acre-feet master contract for the benefit of all its members. "colorado water" 9:27:16 AM

Fountain Creek management Here's a recap of a presentation on a study of the biological communities in and around Fountain Creek made to the Lower Arkansas Valley Water Conservancy District this week, from The Pueblo Chieftain. From the article: A study of the biological communities in Fountain Creek, not just the water quality, is being conducted by Colorado State University-Pueblo. An update on the project was given earlier this week to the Lower Arkansas Valley Water Conservancy District by Del Nimmo, project coordinator. Plants in the water are absorbing high amounts of harmful elements like selenium, which could expose fish and other wildlife to toxic levels of harmful substances. "It could be a harbinger of things to come in the Lower Arkansas, especially for the reach to John Martin Reservoir," Nimmo said. "It's a water quality study, but we're looking at the diet as well." Nimmo said a mass, or "synoptic," sampling of the creek is being planned for next month. Students under the direction of CSU-Pueblo professor Scott Herrmann will sample 27 sites on Fountain Creek within the same hour on March 13 to get a snapshot of E. coli levels on the creek. The samples will then be analyzed in the laboratory. "It's a way to find out sources, because we'll be looking at it during a low time," Nimmo said. Periodic sampling of Fountain Creek has shown E. coli levels spike during high flows, and at warmer times of year. A synoptic sampling would indicate whether E. coli were found in particular reaches. More Coyote Gulch coverage here. "colorado water" 9:13:18 AM

Wastewater news From The Pueblo Chieftain: "A slight increase in Fremont Sanitation District sewer bills will go into effect at the end of this month to help cover the rising cost of expenses. Residential sewer customers will notice a 68-cent per month rate increase or $2.04 on each quarterly bill. The change amounts to a 4 percent increase. Commercial and industrial users also will see similar rate increases. The fee increase will affect nearly 9,000 Fremont County households that receive sewer services from Fremont Sanitation District. The last time rates increased was in December, 2006." Pueblo residents will see sewer charges rise also, according to The Pueblo Chieftain. From the article: Pueblo city residents will be looking at another increase in their sewer bills beginning next month. As part of a tiered approach to generate enough revenue to make repairs to the city's 100-year-old system, the average homeowner in the city will see a 25 percent jump in their sewer bills for March, the second of three annual increases. Wastewater Director Gene Michael said the fixed charge for most homes in Pueblo will jump from $6.85 a month to $8.40 this year. Homeowners are also charged per 1,000 gallons of water they use and that rate will go from $1.56 per 1,000 gallons to $1.96. An average home discharges about 5,000 gallons of wastewater a month. Similar increases are expected for commercial customers as well, Michael said. The increases are designed to provide the city's wastewater utility with a predictable income to make repairs and do maintenance to the city's sewer lines. Much of the lines are at least 60 years old and there are portions of the sewer that are 100 years old. The increases will not pay for any improvements to the city's wastewater treatment plant, which Michael suspects will be needed once the city is issued a new wastewater discharge permit from the Colorado Department of Health and Environment. Pueblo's existing permit expired last year... Michael said he believes the state will require Pueblo to adjust the ammonia levels in its treated effluent as part of the new permit. That will require major changes to the city's treatment plant and will likely prompt another rate increase to pay for it. Michael said the public is given a 30-day comment period when the state issues the new permit. He doesn't expect that to happen for another month or two. If the new permit requires the city to improve its ammonia levels, the city will be given a few years to make the changes. "Typically they give us at least three years," he said. "I'm hoping for more like five to eight." "colorado water" 9:00:43 AM

Climate Change: The earth is a beautifully complex system From USA Today: "The supposed 'global cooling' consensus among scientists in the 1970s -- frequently offered by global-warming skeptics as proof that climatologists can't make up their minds -- is a myth, according to a survey of the scientific literature of the era. The '70s was an unusually cold decade. Newsweek, Time, The New York Times and National Geographic published articles at the time speculating on the causes of the unusual cold and about the possibility of a new ice age. But Thomas Peterson of the National Climatic Data Center surveyed dozens of peer-reviewed scientific articles from 1965 to 1979 and found that only seven supported global cooling, while 44 predicted warming. Peterson says 20 others were neutral in their assessments of climate trends. The study reports, 'There was no scientific consensus in the 1970s that the Earth was headed into an imminent ice age. A review of the literature suggests that, to the contrary, greenhouse warming even then dominated scientists' thinking about the most important forces shaping Earth's climate on human time scales.'" Coyote Gulch would remind the global warming skeptics that during the '70's science was often done with handheld calculators, ledger pads and computers with less memory and processing power than our iPhone. "2008 pres" 8:56:42 AM

Energy policy: Geothermal The Glenwood Springs City Council is assisting the state in evaluating geothermal potential in the area, according to The Aspen Times "reg". From the article: The City Council voted unanimously Thursday to respond to a request for information from the Governor's Energy Office (GEO). The office asked for information about potential development of geothermal resources in the state. The GEO hopes to promote using heat from the ground to warm buildings and/or produce electricity as a renewable resource to conserve energy and reduce carbon emissions. Benefits of working with the state include the possibility of some funding and help with technical expertise. "What we're going to look at is what are the potential projects and where is the interest in the state, so that we can apply resources to those projects," said Joani Matranga, Western Slope representative for the Gov-ernor's Energy Office. In an e-mail to city officials, Arens man wrote, "Glenwood Springs should be at the front of the line in seeking to participate in this pro gram. We've talked about this as a City Council, and identified the exploration of developing our geothermal resources as one of our high priorities." He said one goal of the GEO -- to reduce barriers to geothermal devel opment -- fits well with Glenwood's own need to resolve local differences regarding the area's geothermal aquifer. Here's a long article about geothermal potential in Colorado along with some background on current efforts around the world from Colorado Central Magazine. More Coyote Gulch coverage here. "2008 pres" 8:42:52 AM

Black Canyon of the Gunnison Here's a background piece on the Black Canyon of the Gunnison from The Montrose Daily Press. Read the whole thing. Here are a couple of excerpts: The Black Canyon of the Gunnison has often been described as a gigantic crack that seemingly reaches into the bowels of the earth. Slicing through layer upon layer of rock, the gorge is revealed much like cutting through the layers of a cake -- only in this instance the layers have been distorted by some of the most powerful forces of Mother Nature. The earliest beginnings of the Black Canyon started some 60 million years ago during a period of great mountain building and volcanic activity in the region known today as western Colorado. What resulted from this violent upheaval in the earth's crust was the "Gunnison Uplift," an extensive elevated area where drainages were forced into narrower and more restricted channels. After the volcanic activity died down, about 2 million years ago, downcutting began. A river (the modern Gunnison) started across a terrain of volcanic rocks; once its course was established, it followed along the fold of the Gunnison Uplift and the irreversible process of erosion began the slow, continuous wearing away of rock by water, sediment and time. The rate of downcutting has been approximately one foot per 1,000 years. Over the millennia, the river cut a course through some of the oldest rocks on earth, the hard, crystalline formations once sand and mud on an ancient sea floor. Smaller tributaries which flowed into the canyon from both sides could not keep pace with the river, resulting in steep canyon walls. The re-routing of the Upper Colorado River System far back in time (from Unaweep Canyon to the north) also had an impact on the Black Canyon. The new course flowed through soft Mancos shale, commonly known as adobe. Consequently, the lower Gunnison, North Fork and Uncompahgre Rivers lowered their beds more rapidly than the upper Gunnison, steepening its overall gradient. "colorado water" 8:29:53 AM

Lake Pueblo complex natural area? Brian Karzel, Colorado Natural Areas coordinator was on hand last week at a Southeastern Colorado Water Conservancy District pitching the area around Lake Pueblo for its potential as a natural area, according to The Pueblo Chieftain. From the article: Oh give me a home, where the rare triploid checkered whiptail lizards roam ... While the life-forms found in the vicinity of Lake Pueblo might not lend themselves to popular song, they are significant, and are gaining renewed attention from a state agency charged with finding and protecting rare earth. "This is one of the top five botanical hot spots in Colorado," Brian Karzel, Colorado Natural Areas coordinator, said last week. "There are some pretty amazing things in the Lake Pueblo complex." The aforementioned lizard is an example of the wildlife found in the area. The area also has one of the most significant cretaceous (the age of dinosaurs from 144 million to 65 million years ago) geological outcroppings in the state. Ammonite (an extinct mollusk) fossils and shark's teeth can be found. "Any one of those would qualify it for designation as a Natural Area," Karzel said, during a presentation last week to the Southeastern Colorado Water Conservancy District. But it's the plants that the triploid checkered whiptail lizard frolics among that excite botanists. Eight species of rare plants are found in the area. Four of them - golden blazing star, Pueblo goldenweed, round-leaf four O'clock, and Arkansas Valley evening primrose - are found only in the Arkansas Valley. "In the shale soils, the plants take hold where other things don't grow," Karzel said. Click through and read the whole article. They're running photos of the plants also. "colorado water" 8:21:45 AM

Call for tax donations for the Colorado Watershed Protection Fund From The Denver Post: "The Colorado Watershed Protection Fund needs taxpayer help. Under state tax check-off rules, the fund needs to boost its support from state income return donations or risk losing its place on the return form. Since 2004, Colorado citizens have contributed more than $450,000 to a fund that finances community projects to improve the health of rivers, reservoirs, wetlands and forests. More recently, the contribution has decreased to $83,000 per year -- nearing the $75,000 requirement to remain on the return. "colorado water" 8:07:19 AM

Winter and Antero Reservoir Antero Reservoir was drained during the drought in 2002 and 2003. It just re-opened for fishing last summer. Now, due to a rough winter officials are worried about losing the fishery to a lack of oxygen, according to The Denver Post. From the article: In what has become an all-too-common occurrence at Colorado's most productive fishery, the fate of trout in Antero Reservoir is hanging by a shoestring. With an estimated six weeks of ice cover remaining, oxygen levels at the popular impoundment south of Fairplay have dropped well beyond the danger level. Despite the best efforts of Colorado Division of Wildlife crews, conditions continue to worsen. "It's been a harsh winter," area biologist Jeff Spohn said of a condition caused by thick ice and a heavily crusted snow cover. These conspired to squelch light penetration necessary to keep abundant aquatic vegetation alive. Decaying vegetation robs the water of oxygen while releasing toxic hydrogen sulphide. "Even at low concentrations, hydrogen sulphide is lethal to fish," Spohn said. "It's a double-edged sword." Spohn measured oxygen levels at various points in the lake Wednesday and was dismayed at what he found: readings of only 1.5 parts per liter or less. The highest reading was just 1.5 parts per million, well past the danger point. "We start seeing issues with fish of all sizes once it gets to 3 parts per liter," he said. Large fish [~] the lunkers that so delighted anglers when Antero opened in July following a five-year, drought-induced drawdown -- are most susceptible to oxygen deprivation... What has been a brutal South Park winter delivered a final blow even when Spohn and his crew two weeks ago launched an emergency measure to reverse the oxygen nosedive. Using a plow attachment, they scraped snow from a part of the 2,200-acre reservoir in an effort to let more light in. Spohn noted an immediate and encouraging gain of up to 0.5 ppl, lending hope that trout might gravitate to these areas of refuge. Then winter dealt yet another blow. Three significant snowstorms, coupled with hurricane-force wind that reached 109 mph at Kenosha Pass, again coated the surface with sticky snow. Accelerated vegetation decay did the rest. Winter mortality scarcely is a new phenomenon at Antero. Never exceeding 15 feet in depth, the reservoir always is susceptible to the current combination of conditions. "The same thing that makes those fish grow so big can cause this in winter time," Spohn said. "It grows fish fast, but every year you're toying with this." A dense layer of vegetation covering the entire lake serves as a rich nursery for a variety of trout food: scuds, snails, crayfish and four major species of aquatic insects. During spring and summer, trout grow an astonishing 1 1/2 inches a month. Trout stocked at 12 inches the previous year measured up to 24 inches when the reservoir reopened July 17. The real surprise came when anglers caught several monster trout -- including a cutthroat-rainbow hybrid weighing 18.5 pounds, a state record. Spohn opined that these outsized fish had survived in spring seeps or at the South Fork of the South Platte River inlet during the refilling of the reservoir. He hopes many among the current crop will discover similar areas of sanctuary. Meanwhile, fishing activity has come to a virtual halt. On Wednesday, four Denver-area anglers were the lone specks on a platform of solid white. Jim Bechtle, a Division of Wildlife creel clerk, reported that not a single trout had been caught in three days. The anglers didn't see any fish, in contrast to frequent reports of sightings and a few sporadic catches a couple of weeks earlier. "colorado water" 8:02:18 AM

© Copyright 2009 John Orr. Last update: 3/14/09; 10:08:44 PM.