Coyote Gulch

Friday, July 11, 2008

Doug Moses: We'll just keep replacing pipe until we spend $1 million.

Kremmling has started on their project to replace much of their water supply pipe, according to The Sky-Hi Daily News. From the article:

Workers started replacing portions of the 2-mile-long Kremmling water line today as part of a $700,000 project...

Kremmling's water plant distributes water throughout town. The main transmission water line is leaking, and sections of it have failed in recent years due to corrosion in its steel pipes. The line was installed in the early 1970s. "Right now we're losing 60 percent of our water production at the water plant to leakage," [Doug Moses, Kremmling director of Public Works] said. "So, over half of the water plant's production is just going into the ground because the pipes are shot. That's why we're doing all of this replacement." Workers will replace 8,700 feet of the 12,000 feet water line, Moses said...

The project is to be completed this year. The main water transmission line will stretch from the town's water plant located more than two miles west of Kremmling to the town's western edge, behind Alpine Motor Sports. As part of the project, the water line must be placed across both DeBerard Ditch and Muddy Creek. These portions of the project are scheduled to be done this fall when water levels have fallen...

The town's original estimated cost for the project was about $957,000, but Grant Miller Inc. of Silverthorne agreed to complete the project for $683,883. Kremmling had secured a $478,500 grant from the Colorado Department of Local Affairs (DOLA) for the project, a 50-percent matching grant with the town paying for the other half. "We'll get this project completed," Moses said. "And if there's money left over and we have time still we'll do more construction work. We'll just keep replacing pipe until we spend $1 million."

More Coyote Gulch coverage here.
"colorado water"
6:41:15 AM

Boating restrictions for Boulder Reservoir

From The Boulder Daily Camera: "The city of Boulder's Parks and Recreation Department is limiting the use of Boulder Reservoir by outside boaters to prevent introducing zebra mussels to the reservoir, officials said. The new regulations, which went into effect this week, affect not only power boats, but also people using belly boats and wind-powered craft such as wind surfers and kite boards...Among the new regulations are the temporary suspension of one-day power boating permits, restrictions on where boats, kayaks and other water craft may launched, and requiring free permits available at the boathouse for wind-powered water craft...At Boulder reservoir, staff are working to determine the best way to manage day-use boaters to prevent introduction of the mussels. Bousquet said they could limit entry to boats that have been used exclusively on the Boulder Reservoir, requiring outsiders to have their boats cleaned and leave them to dry for up to two weeks before being allowed in the reservoir. The changes at the reservoir are only temporary. However, they will remain in place until the state of Colorado and regional reservoir managers can get together to come up with a more uniform and permanent plan."

More Coyote Gulch coverage here.
"colorado water"
6:31:47 AM

Buddy Burns: We just don't want our plant getting upset

From The Glenwood Springs Post Independent: "The wastewater treatment plant hauled tens of thousands of gallons of water through the city last week as a precautionary measure. Water and Wastewater Department Superintendent Buddy Burns said the water was used at the water treatment plant near Red Mountain to backwash silt and sediment out of filters. Since improvements there in 1995, the wash water has been taken to the wastewater treatment plant on Seventh Street. But Burns said there were recently signs of sludge not settling at the wastewater treatment plant. So the wash water was trucked to Glenwood Park and put in the sanitary sewer system to avoid potential problems, he added. 'It just buys us a little detention time and a little more dilution to where we won't see the effects as dramatically,' Burns said. 'We just don't want our plant getting upset.'"

More from the article: "The sludge-settlement issues appear to be another impact of the greater snowpack and runoff from this winter. Burns said the greater snowpack and runoff this year washed more silt and debris through the filters at the water treatment plant. Those then required more back washing, which meant more wash water for the wastewater treatment plant to handle, resulting in the settlement issues."
"colorado water"
6:27:05 AM

Arkansas River update

Here's some runoff news from The Pueblo Chieftain. They write:

The Boustead Tunnel, which brings water from the Fryingpan River basin into Turquoise Lake near Leadville, is running at 493 cubic feet per second, a little more than half of its capacity, but should continue to move water into August, Vaughan said. Flows are essentially mirroring banner water years like 1984, 1993 and 1995, which had a heavy early runoff and sustained flows late into the season. To date, 74,600 acre-feet have moved through the tunnel under the Fryingpan-Arkansas Project, bringing the total closer to the predicted 100,000 acre-feet. Vaughan is still optimistic the total will be reached...

This week, flows also began dropping on the Arkansas River, dropping from to 1,940 cfs Thursday from 3,400 cfs the previous week at Wellsville, near Salida, and to about 2,300 cfs from 3,200 cfs at Pueblo. Reservoirs in the high country continue to be filling, with Turquoise and Twin Lakes near 80 percent. Lake Pueblo is at about 91 percent capacity of its conservation pool, with 233,000 acre-feet. John Martin, still depleted by years of drought, has 31,400 acre-feet, about 9 percent capacity.
"colorado water"
6:16:42 AM

Southern Delivery System: Ownership of water in Lake Pueblo

The Pueblo Chieftain sets the record straight correcting an error in an editorial from The Colorado Springs Gazette. From the article:

A Gazette editorial criticizing a request by U.S. Rep. Mark Udall to slow down work on the environmental impact statement on Southern Delivery System this week indicated Colorado Springs is the "majority owner" of water behind Pueblo Dam. The Colorado Springs newspaper editorial stated: "The Southern Delivery System is a reasonable plan for Colorado Springs to obtain water it owns in Pueblo Reservoir. Don't be fooled by the reservoir's name: Colorado Springs is the majority owner of water stored behind the dam, and the city pays for 70 percent of the reservoir's debt. The water is rightfully ours, but a political mover and shaker in Pueblo has made full-time sport of finding ways to deprive our city of what it owns." Actually, El Paso County users have less than 30 percent of the water stored in Lake Pueblo and do not, in fact, own it. In addition, El Paso County is paying about 27 percent - not 70 percent - of the total cost of the Fryingpan-Arkansas Project, of which Lake Pueblo is a chief component. The editorial accuses Udall of pandering to Pueblo Chieftain Publisher Bob Rawlings, the "mover and shaker," in order to gain an endorsement and Democratic votes in Pueblo.

The statement of ownership of Lake Pueblo water creates a misperception about state water law. According to the Colorado Constitution, waters of the state are public property, and are available to people by diversion and application of beneficial use. Even using a looser definition of ownership, that of a water right, Colorado Springs does not have a right to use a majority of the water in Lake Pueblo. As of Monday, Colorado Springs had 13,172 acre-feet in an "if-and-when" account, while the Fountain Valley Authority, which includes Colorado Springs, Fountain, Security, Widefield and Stratmoor Hills, had 55,319 acre-feet of Fryingpan-Arkansas water in its account. The total amount of water in storage at the reservoir was 233,058 acre-feet, which means Colorado Springs share is something under 30 percent, according to Roy Vaughan, Pueblo manager for the Bureau of Reclamation. The Fry-Ark water rights are owned by the Southeastern Colorado Water Conservancy District, which allocates the water and sells it to members of the district. The Fountain Valley Authority is entitled to 25 percent and this year asked for and received its full share, as well as repayment from water it released in 1998 during the safety of dams program. Colorado Springs, in a statement of purpose and need for SDS, lists water supply, perfecting water rights and providing system redundancy as its main objectives. Among the water rights it is seeking to develop include the right to exchange water from Lake Pueblo against return flows down Fountain Creek. In order to do that, it would have to increase its excess-capacity storage in Lake Pueblo, using about 30,000 acre-feet more than it now does. That space is not guaranteed by the Fry-Ark Project, and the water stored in it would be subject to spill.

The assertion that Colorado Springs paid for 70 percent of the reservoir's debt is not correct. During meetings about SDS, Colorado Springs Utilities officials have often repeated that Colorado Springs and the Fountain Valley Authority has paid more than 70 percent of ad valorem taxes to the Southeastern district. It was also mentioned in comments to Reclamation on its draft EIS for SDS from Rivera, utilities chief Jerry Forte and SDS Project Director John Fredell. This year, assessed valuation in El Paso County will represent 73 percent of the total for the Southeastern district, which covers parts of nine counties. Southeastern collects less than 1 mill in tax toward repayment of the project. However, the entire project cost more than $585 million, and included other parts of the project as well as Lake Pueblo. The Southeastern District is repaying $134 million of that, about 23 percent of the total cost. The Fountain Valley Authority also is repaying about $65 million of the project's total cost for the existing pipeline from Pueblo Dam. Altogether, the contribution from El Paso County is repaying about 27 percent of the cost to build the Fry-Ark Project. The claim that Colorado Springs has repaid 70 percent of the debt continues to irk John Singletary, chairman of the Lower Arkansas Valley Water Conservancy District, who has spoken out in the past about it. "They need to be credited with what they've paid, but they continue to mislead the public," Singletary said. "Certainly, they've been able to grow because of the project. They've bloomed because of the Fry-Ark project." While Colorado Springs now pays 73 percent of taxes, it was not even the largest city in the district when it formed in 1958, Singletary said.

"A lie told often enough becomes the truth" -- Vladimir Lenin. More Coyote Gulch coverage here.
"colorado water"
6:12:06 AM

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