Coyote Gulch

Saturday, August 9, 2008

Horsetooth and Carter Lake update

From email from Reclamation (Kara Lamb): "It's been hot and the demands out of Horsetooth and Carter reflect it. We've had large draws out of both reservoirs this week.

Today [Friday], however, we saw a slight break in the pattern at Horsetooth. Thanks to recent rain, demand dropped off by about 160 cfs and we were able to run just a little more water in. Currently, about 106 cfs is going out and about 60 cfs is going in. Still, Horsetooth has averaged a drop of about six inches a day since last weekend. Today, it is at an elevation of 5399. The lower demand and slight increase in inflow is only temporary, I suspect. After some more rain predicted for tonight, more heat is forecasted. Heat will drive more demand. I am aniticipating that, while day to day operations might fluctuate, next week's average at Horsetooth will be about the same: six inches down a day.

Carter is moving a little faster. It is dropping at about a foot a day. We are down seven feet from last weekend. Today's elevation is 5712. I expect patterns to remain about the same there; this means we should hit 5711 on Saturday and 5710 on Sunday."
"colorado water"
10:06:00 AM

Wiggins project

Here's an update on Wiggins' search for a sustainable water supply for the town, from The Fort Morgan Times. From the article:

The Wiggins Project is a proposed plan to buy 10 water shares from the Weldon Valley Ditch Co. from a farm in the Weldon Valley area and a well site near Empire Reservoir to pipe water to Wiggins. Town officials have become worried about falling water levels in the town well. The Wiggins Town Council entered into a contract that gave the town 120 days to decide on whether the Wiggins Project would meet its needs. That time was up Wednesday, but Town Administrator Bill Rogers said the town received a 45-day extension on the contract.

In the meantime, Wiggins has talked with Fort Morgan officials about buying some of its Colorado-Big Thompson water, Rogers said. In the past, Wiggins considered the Fort Morgan water too expensive to buy. It would cost about $7.7 million to purchase what the town needs, according to an earlier estimate. Those figures are much higher than the estimated $3.9 million for the Wiggins Project. The cost of water to households would rise by $70 a month with Fort Morgan water and $28 a month for the Wiggins Project, according to the earlier estimate. Rogers could not say if Fort Morgan was willing to cut its price, because the municipalities are still in negotiations, he said.

More Coyote Gulch coverage here.
"colorado water"
8:46:35 AM

Jim Koffer: If we can't do it environmentally friendly, weÌre not going to do it

No matter how much you want oil shale production to be ready for prime time there are just no economical and environmentally sound ways to develop the resource yet. Chevron recently briefed the Garfield County Energy Advisory Board on the current state of their efforts to tap the resource, according to The Grand Junction Daily Sentinel. From the article:

Chevron Corp. is hoping to use chemistry instead of heat as a means of producing fuel from oil shale. The company hopes its method will reduce the amount of energy needed to produce an energy source, a company official said Thursday night. The approach also could produce water rather than consuming it, and result in sequestration of carbon dioxide underground, which could be a means of combating global warming...

[Jim Koffer, an engineer for Chevron's oil shale program] said the company is going back to basic chemistry and taking another look at oil shale at the molecular level to consider how the company might be able to develop the energy source "in situ," meaning in place underground. Chevron is investigating the possible use of supercritical carbon dioxide, whereby CO2 would be deployed under high pressure underground. The intent is for it to act as a solvent to draw out the kerogen fuel from the shale, so that the kerogen could be brought conventionally to the surface by drilling. Koffer said the idea may sound far-fetched, but a similar solvent approach is used to remove caffeine from coffee beans...

Koffer said Chevron is researching whether tight geological formations would contain the CO2 and any additives that would be used in its processes. "We have to know if we put fluids underground, where they're going to go," he said. Koffer said the CO2 gas would act essentially like a liquid when under pressure, which at room temperature could amount to about 1,000 to 1,100 pounds per square inch. He said it's possible the CO2 could bind to the rocks underground, in which case it would be sequestered. Otherwise, the company plans on recycling the CO2, he said. Koffer said Chevron would like to see the BLM proceed with commercial oil shale regulations but not issue commercial leases until workable technology has been demonstrated. He said it probably would be 10 years before the company might reach the stage of building a pilot plant. "We're really concerned about not creating a boomtown situation over here with oil shale. We want to work on this slowly," he said. He added, "If we can't do it environmentally friendly, we're not going to do it."

So please, this election season, keep in mind that any politician that says that oil shale will help in the short run is misinformed. The technical, environmental and resource problems still need to be solved. There may be commercial production in seven (Shell) to ten (Chevron) years but it is not on the horizon today. Renewable energy is here now and should be the lynchpin our energy policy and climate change policy.

More Coyote Gulch coverage here.
"cc"
8:22:36 AM

Eastern Colorado drought

From The Greeley Tribune: "Gov. Ritter expanded his disaster request for federal disaster relief for drought and freeze-stricken counties to include Weld County, Ritter's office said Thursday. Ritter said in his request, which now includes 24 counties, that Weld and Lincoln counties were hit hard by drought and those conditons resulted in significant reductions in crop yields, particularly in the growth of native pasture."

More Coyote Gulch coverage here.
"colorado water"
8:02:26 AM

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