Thursday, February 28, 2008

Water policy: Sustainable development From The Cherry Creek News: "NOAA and the World Bank today announced that they have signed an agreement to work together to help developing nations manage water resources, combat drought, and measure changes in climate. Future projects are expected to take place initially in the Latin American region, notably in Argentina, Colombia, Mexico, and Peru, while other projects could be launched in other parts of the world. The scope and scale of many coastal problems require international alliances and solutions. This new partnership will allow NOAA scientists and resource managers and the World Bank to more readily assist global communities in building resilience to climate extremes. Specifically, the assistance can help establish end-to-end early warning systems, enhance and protect local ecosystems, and realize the benefits of an integrated earth observing system. 'This initiative enables us to marry financial resources and technical resources - bringing them together for sustainable development,' said Dr. William J. Brennan, NOAA's deputy assistant secretary for international affairs. 'This helps us realize our mutual goals to decrease suffering from natural disasters and bolster economies while sustaining our environment. Together these efforts seek to improve livelihoods and reduce global poverty.'" More on sustainability from The Water and Wastewater Blog. They write: The future of water is anything but clear. We face a future world fraught with water challenges - too much, too little, too contaminated or inaccessible to meet our needs. We live in a rapidly changing world in which many of our expectations about natural resources may no longer be met. The seeming abundance of safe, low-cost water may falsely lead us to assume perpetual easy access to all the low-cost, high-quality water we want, when we want it. The water industry today must examine these assumptions. Although water covers 70 percent of our planet's surface, less than one-half percent is freshwater available for our use. Most of our planet's water is in oceans and too salty for many uses. Much of the remainder is locked in frozen glaciers, is remote from population centers or circulating in our atmosphere. So this seemingly abundant resource is actually quite constrained. "2008 pres" 6:31:34 PM

? for President? Political Wire: "A new InsiderAdvantage poll in Texas shows Sen. Hillary Clinton edging Sen. Barack Obama, 47% to 43% with 10% undecided." Political Wire: "Belo Texas Tracking Poll: 'Six days out from the Texas Democratic presidential primary the race remains a statistical dead heat with Hillary Clinton leading Barack Obama by a slim 46% to 45% margin, narrowing slightly from 46% to 43% since yesterday. The race continues to trend toward Barack Obama, though these changes are slight and within the margin of error.'" Political Wire: "A new People Calling People survey in Texas shows Sen. Barack Obama with a 7-point lead over Sen. Hillary Clinton, 40% to 33%. The survey's margin of error is 2.42%. However, in a poll of voters who said they had already cast ballots in early voting for the Democratic primary, Clinton led Obama, 41% to 38%, within the subset survey's margin of error." Political Wire: "Sen. Barack Obama has widened his lead nationally over Sen. Hillary Clinton in the latest Gallup tracking poll, 48% to 43%. For much of the last week the race has been virtually even. In the GOP race, Sen. John McCain leads Mike Huckabee, 63% to 22%." Political Wire: "A Civitas Institute poll in North Carolina shows Sen. Barack Obama leading Sen. Hillary Clinton, 38% to 24%, in the Democratic presidential race. On the Republican side, Sen. John McCain leads Mike Huckabee, 50% to 23%...In general election match ups, McCain beats either Democrat by double-digits." Political Wire: "A MTSU poll in Tennessee shows Sen. Hillary Clinton does better againts Sen. John McCain in a general election matchup than Sen. Barack Obama. However, McCain wins both pairings. McCain tops Clinton, 45% to 41%, beats Obama, 53% to 37%." "2008 pres" 6:27:13 PM

Southern Delivery System From email from Reclamation (Kara Lamb): "As you probably already know, we are releasing the Draft Environmental Impact Study for the proposed Southern Delivery System tomorrow, February 29. Tomorrow morning, it will be available on the website www.sdseis.com. It will also be available at local area libraries in Buena Vista, Canon City, Pueblo, La Junta and Colorado Springs. We will be accepting comments, in writing, for sixty days, starting tomorrow." More Coyote Gulch coverage here. "colorado water" 7:36:13 AM

Arkansas Valley Conduit Here's an update on the Arkansas Valley Conduit from The Pueblo Chieftain. From the article: The route to the Arkansas Valley Pipeline will be paved with paper. An advisory committee was told Tuesday that it will take at least four more months and about $30,000 to pry loose a $600,000 Environmental Protection Agency grant designed to continue work on making the conduit a reality. "It's a true bureaucracy," said Phil Reynolds, project manager for the Southeastern Colorado Water Conservancy District, which is spearheading the project... Tuesday, the advisory committee looked at the process of gaining access to the $600,000 EPA grant. Reynolds presented a two-page flow chart of actions needed just to get in line for the grant and said the best-case scenario is that the money would be in place by June 1. The funds will help refine engineering associated with the conduit, as well as provide funding for outreach efforts. Several smaller water providers are concerned about state regulations on drinking water that could require them to spend money on more immediate measures to improve water quality. The conduit is several years away from construction. The group also looked at how allocations of water and storage through the Fry-Ark Project could be equitably made in the future. The amounts are generally based on the relative percentages of population in the communities, as well as setting some water aside for unforeseen events. Southeastern committees on allocations and the conduit, as well as the entire board, would have to approve the final plan, but it would not affect the 12 percent overall allocation of Fry-Ark Project water to communities east of Pueblo. More Coyote Gulch coverage here. "colorado water" 7:22:51 AM

Fountain Creek lawsuit Attorneys on both sides of the Sierra Club's lawsuit against Colorado Springs over sewage spills into Fountain Creek filed post-trial documents this week according to The Pueblo Chieftain. From the article: The Sierra Club is suggesting an array of monetary penalties against Colorado Springs in its post-trial filing, but is stressing corrective action as a remedy against future releases of raw sewage into Fountain Creek. Meanwhile, Colorado Springs argues Sierra Club has "drastically reduced" the injunctive relief it seeks in the case and is asking the city to put measures in place that are already in place. Post-trial documents were filed this week in Denver federal court and generally point the way to what Judge Walker Miller will consider as he writes an order in the case. The case was heard in an eight-day trial that concluded Feb. 8 after more that two years of legal wrangling... "We brought this lawsuit to protect the public health of the downstream community, as well as Colorado Springs," said Eric Huber, Sierra Club attorney. "Since we filed and the district attorney filed, Colorado Springs snapped into action. So, something positive has already happened." Colorado Springs argued in the case that it has taken action to correct problems, and that many of the original remedies suggested by the Sierra Club in the case were removed during the trial. "There are large chunks of things that are no longer at issue, like creek crossings and big pipe rehab," said John Walsh, Colorado Springs attorney. "They're asking us to tweak things Colorado Springs is already working on." Still at issue are fines in the case, which are greatly disputed. Colorado Springs argues that it has already paid fines in Colorado, and taken corrective actions associated with Colorado Department of Health orders on past sewage releases. Sierra Club seeks to make the existing actions subject to a federal court order, but has not demonstrated those actions will actually reduce spills, Walsh wrote in the most recent court brief. "The Sierra Club also appears to seek a guarantee that Colorado Springs will never again experience an unauthorized release of wastewater or reclaimed water, or any chlorine accident. But even its own engineering expert acknowledged that this guarantee is impossible to meet in a system the size of Colorado Springs," Walsh wrote. Sierra Club's argument is that Colorado Springs continued to release sewage into Fountain Creek after the federal court cases were filed and is likely to continue to do so in the future. Sierra Club asks the court to accelerate Colorado Springs' inspection of its entire system to 2013, and adjust its repair schedule accordingly. It also asks for improved inspections, better preventive maintenance, permanent stream crossing repairs, better bypass procedures, improved chlorination processes and a risk assessment... The fines are important, Huber said, because the only way to hold a large city accountable is through penalties, which serve both to punish and deter future violations of law. The statutory maximum for 36 sewage violations is $1.16 million in fines. Penalties in similar federal court cases have ranged from $300,000 to $1.2 million, according to the Environmental Protection Agency. Remediation projects in such cases have totaled $600,000 to $30 million, Huber said. Colorado Springs has argued it already has paid $394,000 for six state health department compliance orders and spent $160 million upgrading its sewage system in the past decade. It also is meeting or beating state deadlines for inspection of its system, Walsh said. Since the maximum fine is rarely applied in such cases, the Sierra Club is asking Miller to look at other justifications for fines, including: One dollar for every gallon spilled into Fountain Creek since 2004, or $450,827. Raw sewage spills, $754,158. Chlorine violations, $195,000. Reclaimed water violations, $122,924. The Sierra Club outlines the technical basis for the penalties in its brief. The Sierra Club also suggests penalties for future violations and continuing jurisdiction by the federal court. More Coyote Gulch coverage here. "colorado water" 7:17:34 AM

Pueblo County joins Lower Ark in opposition to new irrigation efficiency rules From The Pueblo Chieftain: "The Pueblo County Board of Commissioners joined the Lower Arkansas Valley Water Conservancy District Tuesday in asking the state water engineer to delay a decision regarding new irrigation efficiency rules. The board adopted a resolution urging the engineer to defer a decision on the so-called Division 2 irrigation efficiency rules until a number of concerns can be addressed. The board resolution asked the engineers to convene a task force with surface irrigators in the Arkansas River Basin to be certain such rules are necessary. County Attorney Dan Kogovsek said the resolution is part of an education and lobbying effort by the conservancy district." More Coyote Gulch coverage here. "colorado water" 7:06:29 AM

San Luis Valley: Planning for high water this spring Farmers, irrigators and water utility officials love the huge snowpack building up this year. Many have experienced the unpredictability of weather and water in the arid West. Down in the San Luis Valley officials are planning for possible flooding this spring according to The Pueblo Chieftain. From the article: Spring runoff may be months away, but heavy snowpack in the high country surrounding the San Luis Valley has prompted officials to begin reviewing plans for flood emergencies. With snowpack levels running anywhere from 140 percent to 200 percent of normal across the region's mountains, some think the area could be facing its biggest flood threat since the mid-1980s. "We're looking at a chance of some really high water," said Steve Vandiver, manager of the Rio Grande Water Conservation District. Vandiver told a group of area county commissioners Monday that those conditions could change come spring, but some counties and cities have already taken preliminary steps. Pete McGee, Alamosa County's emergency preparedness officer, said the county had already purchased 10,000 sandbags. He would meet with sheriffs in the region to begin discussing emergency planning and also talk to the San Luis and Rio Grande Railroad about its bridges. "You just can't be prepared enough," McGee said. The city of Alamosa said Friday that its police and public works department are working on a preliminary plan for flood response. The city has also ordered sandbags and will meet with Alamosa County officials to coordinate plans. Vandiver said planning efforts would have added significance since the area hasn't seen high water since the runoffs of 1985-1987. Since then there have been new bridges and culverts installed around the basin, a refurbishment of the Alamosa levee system and turnover among the officials whose duties include preparing for high water... Debris has also had a chance to build up in the Rio Grande's channel, leaving bridge columns vulnerable to snags and jams should high water come. "There will be a fair amount of trash," Vandiver said. McGee said the threat to bridges and culverts should lead officials to review evacuation plans, especially in rural areas of the valley that could be isolated by floodwaters. Vandiver told the county commissioners that the only reservoir in the area with mandatory flood control procedures is Platoro Reservoir, located in western Conejos County. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has authority to move water out of the 59,000-acre foot reservoir should flood conditions develop. Vandiver said private reservoirs and ditch systems on the valley floor also may help absorb floodwaters. He noted, however, that if snow stays on the valley floor as it has in recent months, there would probably not be a high demand for irrigators to draw down private reservoirs. Private ditch companies would also have to avoid taking on so much water that their structures are threatened, he said. More coverage from The Valley Courier: Magee said hopefully the area will not see flooding and the snow will melt off the mountains in a slow and orderly fashion, but he encouraged Valley officials to be prepared in case it does not. He said county commissioners would be the ones to declare an emergency if one arose. "We have all got to pay attention," he said. Jeff Babcock, homeland security officer, said the emergency preparedness center located in Alamosa County's administrative building could be a crucial site in the event of Valley-wide flooding crises. "It is too late to wait for water coming over the banks to open up the center," he said. He added the center could serve as a center for the whole Valley... Costilla County Commissioner Ed Vigil said Costilla County is the only county in the state that has adopted a hazard mitigation plan allowing the county to access Federal Emergency Management Agency monies immediately during a disaster... Steve Vandiver, retired water division engineer and current manager of the Rio Grande Water Conservation District, said he was equally concerned about potential flooding this year. He said Platoro, Terrace and Rio Grande Reservoirs are all half or more full already, and Platoro is the only reservoir in the basin that has any flood control authority. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers can require water to be released from Platoro, Vandiver said. "Don't go to sleep thinking OK the reservoirs will catch it all," he said... He said virtually all of the SNOTEL readings are showing 140-150 percent of normal and some sites are showing 200 percent. As of Monday the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) reported 167 percent of average snow water equivalent basin-wide for the Upper Rio Grande Basin, 175 percent of average for the Rio Chama River Basin and 164 percent of average for the Sangre de Cristo Mountain range basins. The snow water equivalent represents depth of water in the snowpack, if the snowpack were melted, expressed in inches, according to the NRCS. Vandiver said there is a potential for the snowmelt to come off early. "Our runoff seems to be moving up in time more and more as time goes along," he said. "colorado water" 6:55:02 AM

Sterling water and sewer rates to increase April 1st From The Sterling Journal Advocate: "As of April 1, service rates for residents within the city of Sterling will see an increase for water, sewer and sanitation services. The Sterling City Council Tuesday night approved rate increases of just more than 3 percent for sewer and sanitation services...The sewer fee increase, City Manager Joe Kiolbasa said, is about a 3 1/2 percent increase. It is expected to generate about $78,000 annually. He said the increase will not quite cover the expenses, but the fund has a strong beginning fund balance. "It is an enterprise fund, so we are supposed to be covering our expenses," he said. He said the sewer rates have not increased since 1999." "colorado water" 6:42:59 AM

Leadville Mine Drainage Tunnel fallout Here's an editorial about the recent events around the Leadville Mine Drainage Tunnel from The Vail Daily "reg". They write: Are the Lake County Commissioner[s] and State Sen. Tom Wiens grandstanding over the danger poised by a clogged mine tunnel? Leadville Mayor Bud Elliott thinks so... The disaster declaration had the intended effect. Pretty much all of Colorado's congressional delegation has either visited, or spoken about, the tunnel in the last couple of weeks, and the feds seem to be moving now on at least partial solutions to the problem. But the action has come at a cost, according to Elliott. Quoted in the Rocky Mountain News, Elliott says the town's liability insurance has been cancelled, that real estate deals have fallen through, and that several groups of skiers planning to stay in Leadville are now finding rooms elsewhere. Beyond that, other press reports indicate that the people who live in the mobile home park near the tunnel are sleeping fitfully these days over the prospect of a "disaster" that's been described in near-biblical terms. The anxiety is especially great for those in the park who don't speak fluent English. Make no mistake, it would be a catastrophe if the mine tunnel failed all at once, although that's a fairly remote possibility. And the feds, as is far too often the case, have been dithering for years about possible fixes. It's still too soon to know how this story's going to end. What we know right now, though, is that if you use dynamite to get someone's attention, you may blow up something you hadn't intended to. More Coyote Gulch coverage here and here. "colorado water" 6:39:57 AM

Aurora: Warning on water quality south of Mississippi, north of Jewell, east of Dayton and west of Wheeling From 9News.com: "Aurora Water has issued a precautionary drinking water advisory for a roughly two-square mile area. Wednesday morning, a small number of customers reported taste and odor changes in their drinking water. Aurora Water believes the problem is restricted to residents south of Mississippi, north of Jewell, east of Dayton and west of Wheeling. An Aurora Water spokeswoman says a pressure valve broke, which allowed ground water into the system. She does not believe there is any health or safety risk. However, Aurora Water wants customers to report any taste or odor issues at 303-739-6741." "colorado water" 6:32:54 AM

Snowpack news From The Lake Powell Chronicle: "Every tributary system but one in the Colorado River basin boasts average or above average snowpack levels at this point, Clayton said. The Green River in Wyoming and Utah is at about 90 percent of normal snowpack; at the other end of the spectrum is the San Juan River drainage, which is currently at about 140 percent of normal. About 70 percent of all runoff in the Colorado River basin comes from snowmelt, and that water typically flows into the main river system between April and July, Clayton said. May and June usually produce the greatest amount of runoff, he added. Current projections forecast a basin-wide runoff that is 120 percent of normal, Clayton said..."That's promising," he said. "When we run our modeling to see what kind of impact that will have on Lake Powell, we find that (by August) we should be about 49 feet above where we're at currently." That would put the lake elevation at 3,639 feet, Clayton said." "colorado water" 6:28:52 AM

Energy policy: Oil and gas Critics of the legislative process on all levels of government would do well to read this article about the vote on Governor Ritter's slate of nominees to the newly re-constituted Colorado Oil and Gas Commission. The impact of oil and gas (and in the future oil shale) development on county services, roads, crime prevention and on and on is huge. The environment can also suffer mightily with polluted groundwater, surface water, erosion and loss of value for recreation. The vote in the state Senate Agriculture, Natural Resources and Energy Committee was along party lines. No crossovers from either side. If the Democrats did not have a majority we'd be seeing a fight over the nominees before the full Senate ever had a chance to vote. That's politics for you. One side can stymie efforts from the other side. From The Glenwood Springs Post Independent article: She has been doing the work for almost eight months. Now Garfield County Commissioner Trési Houpt is one step closer to officially being named as a Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation (COGCC) commissioner. The Democrat-controlled state Senate Agriculture, Natural Resources and Energy Committee on Tuesday approved -- but on a party line, 4-to-3 vote -- sending a motion to the full Senate that recommends senators approve the confirmation of Houpt and five other people as COGCC commissioners. The day the Senate will vote on the motion wasn't immediately clear late Tuesday, Houpt said. She said that she was "hopeful" that the motion would be approved. Those in the committee who voted against the motion had made objections that senators did not have enough time to interview the prospective COGCC commissioners during a committee hearing Tuesday morning, Houpt said. Despite the concerns, the committee voted to confirm Richard D. Alward of Grand Junction as a member with experience in soil conservation, Thomas L. Compton of Hesperus as a member engaged in agriculture, Mark D. Cutright of Aurora as a member with oil and gas experience, Michael P. Dowling of Denver because of his environmental and wildlife experience, Joshua B. Epel of Greenwood Village for experience in the oil and gas industry, and Houpt as a local government official. In July, Democratic Gov. Bill Ritter named Houpt as one of several new members to the COGCC... Lawmakers last year altered the commission's role, expanded it to nine members from seven and added new requirements for member expertise and backgrounds. The changes came after complaints the commission had become too cozy with the industry amid an energy boom that was putting straining local communities [ed emphasis ours]. Evan Dreyer, a spokesman for Gov. Bill Ritter, said Houpt and the other commissioners have been serving since last summer, and called their confirmations more of a "procedural matter." He added, however, that there might be more of a discussion of their nominations because of the "high-profile nature" of their positions within the COGCC, which is undergoing a controversial rule-making process. Dreyer said he was confident that the motion to approve Houpt and the other five as commissioners would pass in the Senate. Meanwhile from The Pueblo Chieftain: A methane producer looking to come into the Twin Lakes Ranch subdivision will have to address concerns voiced by the planning commission before it will be given permits to drill. Presco Energy, a natural gas drilling company out of Woodland, Texas, met with the Huerfano County Planning Commission on Tuesday in a small room packed with unsympathetic homeowners. The company wants to eventually drill five coal-bed methane wells in the area, which is six miles west of town. For now, the company is asking for permission to drill a test well to determine if the area is even worth drilling. Commission members told president Richard Ellis that he would have to meet a list of stipulations not addressed in his application, including a weed management plan, dust mitigation, noise abatement and wildlife and historical artifact assessments. Commission member Lewis Edmundson said that water quality was his biggest concern. In Las Animas County, Presco Energy uses an evaporation pit to eliminate the nearly 250 barrels of water it pulls daily from the coal seams under the Crazy French Ranch. The water percolates down into the soil and evaporates from the pit. Currently, the state considers water pumped out of coal seams during drilling to be a waste product. Dominic Andreatta, commission chairman, said his concern with evaporation pits is that the water percolating into the soil can pull salts to the surface, rendering the soil useless for agriculture. "If we seem cautious, it's because we are," said commission member Max Vezzani. "We want to avoid mistakes that were made in the past," referring to the recent trouble homeowners in the River Ridge Ranch subdivision have had with Petroglyph Energy. The Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission required Petroglyph to shut down all of its 56 methane wells in June when methane began seeping into private water wells. Methane in the water well of Ben and Melanie Bounds was so concentrated, it caused an explosion that took the roof off their well house. If the company meets the requirements, it will only have a six-month window and a limit of 60,000 gallons of water to be pumped out of the coal seams to find out if the area contains enough methane to be worth the expense of putting in a pipeline. A hearing with the planning commission and the Huerfano County commissioners is scheduled for 1:30 p.m. March 24 at the Huerfano County Community Center, 928 Russell Ave. More Coyote Gulch coverage here. "2008 pres" 6:11:10 AM

© Copyright 2009 John Orr. Last update: 3/14/09; 10:09:01 PM.