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Friday, July 4, 2008
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Iraq
Josh Marshall: "I've watched this campaign unfold pretty closely. And I've listened to Obama's position on Iraq. He's been very clear through this year and last on the distinction between strategy and tactics. Presidents set the strategy -- which in this context means the goal or the policy. And if the policy is a military one, a President will consult closely with his military advisors on the tactics used to execute the policy.
"This is an elementary distinction the current occupant in the White House has continually tried to confuse by claiming that his policies are driven and constrained by the advice he's given by his commanders on the ground. There's nothing odd or contradictory about Obama saying that he'll change the policy to one of withdrawal of American combat troops from Iraq with a specific timetable but that he will consult with his military advisors about how best to execute that policy.
"For the McCain campaign to put out a memo to reporters claiming that Obama has adopted McCain's policy only shows that his advisors believe that a sizable percentage of the political press is made up of incorrigible morons. And it's hard to disagree with the judgment."
"2008 pres"
9:54:55 AM 
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New Salida Ditch Co.: United Fire & Casualty Insurance Co lawsuit
From The Pueblo Chieftain: "The New Salida Ditch Co. Inc. is suing its insurance provider for more than $280,000. The lawsuit stems from state and federal enforcement actions against the ditch company for work it did in May 2005 on its irrigation ditch. The company contends United Fire & Casualty Insurance Co. is obligated under an insurance policy to pay costs the ditch company incurred as a result of the government actions."
More from the article:
Ditch company president Terry Scanga said Thursday the work "was done to maintain the historic line and grade of the ditch." He said that portion of the ditch, the upper two miles, shares one of its banks with a river bank. Some of the material went below the river's high-water line, leading the state environment department to take action against the company for alleged damage to the river. As a result, the company later had to pull the material out of the area of the high-water line and seed where the work had been done, Scanga said. The cost was about $30,000, he said. Scanga said another $250,000 was spent to pay engineers, biologists, botanists and attorneys for work on the company's response to the government agencies' allegations. Future reporting to the state about monitoring of the remediation will cost still more, Brady said. The insurance company, in a court filing, contends the policy it issued to the ditch company excludes coverage for liability due to pollution. United Fire & Casualty stated that the government agencies' violation notices characterized the fill material below the high-water line as "pollutants."
"colorado water"
9:31:21 AM
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Creede asking for help with point source pollution
Creede has invited the EPA into their area to help with cleanups that the town and the local organization the Willow Creek Reclamation Project (WCRP) had hoped to do themselves, without federal dough and expertise. Here's an update from The Mineral County Miner. They write:
The Willow Creek Reclamation Project (WCRP) stemmed from the determination of a small group of local citizens not to have their town placed on the national priority list for Superfund designation, which many feared would injure the town's tourist economy. Later, the committee decided not to oppose a possible listing because of the lack of "Good Samaritan" legislation from Congress that would have protected third parties from liability in cleaning up point sources. Zeke Ward, a Mineral County commissioner and chair of the committee, said federal courts have interpreted the Clean Water Act in such a way that anyone who undertakes clean up of a point source assumes full liability for bringing the site into compliance. Ward supports stalled federal legislation to shield well-intentioned organizations from lawsuits if something goes wrong during a cleanup. Given that the tunnel drainage contributes as much as 75 percent of heavy metal pollutants to the creek, residents finally agreed when EPA officials said they could take on the project under the umbrella of Superfund.
The committee has already completed cleanup in the upper reaches of the watershed, but the Nelson Tunnel represents a different challenge because it's what the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) calls "point source" of pollution. It drains five mines in the historic mining district north of Creede and is the watershed's biggest contributor of metals such as cadmium, lead, zinc, aluminum and copper...
The second site is Commodore Mine's waste rock pile. Mining activity around Creede has been absent since 1985 but, for the last eight years, the WCRC has directed voluntary cleanup activities along the creek as it runs through the mining district and Creede, then into the Rio Grande...
Gwen Christiansen, EPA National priorities list coordinator said the new listing was proposed due to water quality problems as a result of historic mining that began in the 1800s and continued well into the 1900s. The narrow valley above Creede is lined with abandoned mines and still boasts some of the best examples of mining structures anywhere in the western United States, yet the profits the mining companies realized more than a century ago have created water quality problems for the area today. According to the EPA, an exciting example in reclaiming the mine sites is the conversion of one of them into a Mineral County Fairgrounds site. The Mineral County Fairgrounds Association was awarded an EPA Brownfields Grant to perform the necessary cleanup and the WCRC assisted in grant procurement and administration, site investigation, cleanup evaluation and project management. A report completed in 2006 identified the site as unsuitable for public use and evaluated three cleanup alternatives. The alternative that was chosen involved capping contaminated soil with at least 12 inches of soil and planting vegetation on the portion of the cap not used for actual facilities. This alternative was chosen because it met the cleanup and human health goals for the anticipated land use and was more feasible from a financial standpoint. Development of the fairground site is but one step in a larger scheme to clean up the watershed and more, the EPA said...
According to the EPA, the Superfund listing would include the nearby Commodore waste rock pile along the creek. In 2005, drainage constructed around the pile failed during a flood and another flood could put the town at risk of contamination. The EPA plans to begin stabilizing the pile this summer under its emergency response program. Hays Griswold, who will head up work on the Commodore pile for the EPA, said unspent money from other projects would fund the work. Briana Gunn, a water resources engineer with the firm designing the Commodore project, said the channel would be redesigned to accommodate a flow of 532 cubic feet per second, roughly five times greater than the floodwaters that washed part of the pile away in 2005, according to the AP report. Mike Wireman, the EPA's lead contact with the community over the last eight years, said the main question in the cleanup is whether the EPA can limit the amount of water coming through the tunnel and thereby avoid having to build a treatment plant.
More Coyote Gulch coverage here.
"colorado water"
9:12:02 AM
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Bill Zeedyk: There seems to be a mentality that the quickest way to do something is with a bulldozer
Here's a background piece about Bill Zeedyk, from The High Country News. Click through and read the whole article. Here are a couple of excerpts:
In a two-hour conversation about rivers, Bill Zeedyk never once uses the word "water." Instead, the stocky, soft-spoken septuagenarian speaks of a river as if it's an animal [^] one that migrates in seasonal floods, erodes banks to make room for itself, and struggles to evolve a level of flow that will nurture the surrounding habitat. But that balance can be difficult to achieve in the delicate landscapes of the arid Southwest. Invasive trees can armor a stream's banks and force it to dig too deep and fast, while cattle can overgraze grasses and shrubs that prevent erosion. Mismanaged rural roads can gash a stream's channel like a knife opening a blood vessel. Zeedyk has spent more than a decade developing "induced meandering" - a technique using wood and rock structures to help damaged streams "re-evolve" a healthy flow. He's promoted his restoration methods through the Quivira Coalition - an environmental organization that works with ranchers and conservationists throughout the West [^] and Zeedyk Ecological Consulting, LLC, a "two-person show" he runs with his wife out of their home in Sandia Park, N.M.
"colorado water"
8:55:02 AM
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Grand Lake water quality
Here's an update on efforts to improve the clarity of the water in Grand Lake, from The Rocky Mountain News. From the article:
After a year of public hearings and meetings, the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment in June agreed with lake activists and Grand County that the ancient glacier-fed lake's clarity should be re-established. When the work is complete, sometime in the next five years, a standard similar to the rule that protects Lake Tahoe, which straddles the California-Nevada line, will be in place...
Colorado has never had a clarity standard for a body of water, but the Colorado Water Quality Control Commission acknowledged Grand Lake's historic value and agreed that measures were required to protect it. "Very few states have ever done this," said Lane Wyatt, water quality program director for the Northwest Council of Governments, which, along with Grand County and local activists, led the fight for the new standard. How it will be enforced isn't clear yet.
The standard, to be finalized in August, gives water utilities and local communities until 2014 to experiment with different water treatment and operational plans to find the best way to improve clarity. "The rationale is to provide encouragement for all of the interested parties to work on the clarity concerns to see what progress can be made," said Paul Frohardt, administrator for the water quality commission. "The default is that if nothing changes by 2014, the numeric, 4-meter standard takes effect," meaning the water must be kept clear at least to that depth...
The lake's health has grown more precarious each year since the 1950s, when the Bureau of Reclamation finished the Colorado Big Thompson Project to deliver water to Fort Collins, Loveland and other cities. The project, operated by the Northern Colorado Water Conservancy District, pumps water from Lake Granby and Shadow Mountain, both man-made, up into Grand Lake, where it is funneled into the Alva B. Adams Tunnel on its way to the Front Range. At the time, the bureau promised to protect the lake's scenic qualities forever. But the mixing of warmer water from Lake Granby and Shadow Mountain, the turbulence created by the pumping, and runoff from the growing developments around the lake have caused a sharp deterioration of water quality. Last summer, the lake turned a dark pea green because of massive algae blooms, and Grand County issued a stop-drinking order. Since then, local efforts to draw attention to the lake's plight have intensified...
Key to restoring the view into the lake's depths is an agreement by the Bureau of Reclamation and the Northern Colorado Water Conservancy District to stop pumping for three weeks in August, when the water is most vulnerable to warming and huge algae blooms. And that's no small task. Northern is Colorado's second-largest water utility, and the hard-won deal means it will have to re-time water deliveries to 750,000 residents on the Front Range and retool the maintenance schedule for the giant system of pumps and pipelines that deliver to the urban corridor. "It's significant," said Eric Wilkinson, Northern's manager. "It's doable, but it's a significant change."
More Coyote Gulch coverage here.
"colorado water"
8:41:45 AM
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Calhan water rates to go up?
From The Colorado Springs Gazette: "Calhan residents received a letter this week about a proposed hike for the townowned water and sewer operation that serves 323 businesses and households. A public meeting is set for 7 p.m. July 14 at the town hall. Calhan rates increased 2.2 percent this month and 2.5 percent last year...With the next increase, to be discussed at the meeting, users might pay about $2 to $7 more, depending on usage, [Cindy Tompkins, Calhan town clerk] said...Currently, residential customers using under 5,000 gallons a month are charged a flat rate of $43.99, including sewer. The rate goes up per 1,000 gallons above that."
"colorado water"
8:33:45 AM
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© Copyright 2009 John Orr.
Last update: 3/14/09; 10:24:15 PM.
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