Coyote Gulch

Tuesday, August 12, 2008

Bennett: Utility rate study

From The I-70 Scout: "Utility engineers Mike Rothberg and Steve Tamburini with RTW Engineering updated trustees and fielded questions about the final draft of their water and wastewater utility rate study. RTW suggests the town shift its rates from a current six-tier system to a four-tier structure that is more equitable across all types of users and will help better finance maintenance of the system. Under the four-tier structure, a monthly base rate of $21 is charged per user before any water usage occurs. Tier 1 usage of 0 to 5,000 gallons would be charged $3.87 per 1,000 gallons; residents using between 5,001 and 12,000 gallons per month would be charged $5.15 per 1,000 gallons; 12,001 to 30,000, $6.85 per 1,000 gallons; and 30,001 gallons and more, $13.69 per 1,000 gallons."
"colorado water"
7:08:04 PM

Conservation easements: IRS investigation

From The La Junta Tribune-Democrat: "John Ellsworth, Attorney at Law, specializing in tax matters, met with a group of concerned landowners Monday night in Swink. The subject of the meeting focused primarily on issues faced since placing conservation easements on their properties. For many, Internal Revenue Service audits have taken over lives and threatened the possession of land they were originally seeking to protect."

More from the article:

When asked if those present would pursue an easement again if given the chance, the vast majority stated they would not. Even those not currently embroiled in an IRS battle live in constant fear of receiving notice of an audit. Unfortunately the desire to protect beloved open space does not outweigh the agony now faced. Family farms and ranches stand to be lost and the emotional toll taken on individuals and families has had an indescribable impact as evidenced in the emotional experiences shared.

More coverage from The Pueblo Chieftain.

Landowners in the Lower Arkansas Valley are searching for options now that some conservation easements have been deemed invalid by the Colorado Department of Revenue. One tactic under consideration is a lawsuit against the Internal Revenue Service and the state of Colorado.

On Monday, about 50 Southern Colorado landowners, who have either had trouble selling tax credits from their conservation easements or whose easements have been condemned as having no value by the state Department of Revenue, gathered at Swink High School to look for ways to re-establish tax credits they thought they would receive through the state's conservation easement program...

The Greenlands reserve land trust holds a number of conservation easements along the Arkansas River. According to Howard Hallman, president of the trust, much of the work has been focused on saving the river's riparian corridor. In a statement handed out at the meeting, he said that the reserve trust program has protected about 30 miles of river land, in many cases keeping water on operating farms for the production of crops. "Our donors have placed conservation easements for the right reasons: to save the river, conserve wildlife habitat and preserve the region's important agricultural heritage," he said. "They have followed both the letter and the spirit of the law." He said that there may be wrongdoing in the tax credit program in Denver or somewhere else, but that along the Arkansas River donors and easement holders are well-intentioned.

More Coyote Gulch coverage here.
"colorado water"
6:20:17 PM

Endagered Species act overhaul?

From The Environmental News Network: "The Bush administration yesterday proposed a regulatory overhaul of the Endangered Species Act to allow federal agencies to decide whether protected species would be imperiled by agency projects, eliminating the independent scientific reviews that have been required for more than three decades."

We wonder if the "Up or down vote on drilling," folks in the U.S. Congress will take up this cause as well?
"cc"
5:54:19 PM

State of the Roaring Fork Watershed

Here's a look at the "State of the Roaring Fork Watershed" report, from The Denver Post. From the article:

A study of the Roaring Fork River has found no major pollution problems but raises concerns about transmountain diversion, the sale of water rights to downstream users and residential development along the banks...Authority director Mark Fuller says the study found no major pollution from industry or mine tailings.

More Coyote Gulch coverage here.
"colorado water"
5:48:12 PM

Energy policy: Nuclear

The state health department has cited Cotter Corp for continued groundwater pollution, according to The Pueblo Chieftain. From the article:

Cotter Corp. received a notice of violation from the state health department late last month indicating a contaminated plume of groundwater exists underneath the uranium mill's neighbor, the Shadow Hills Golf Course. According to the notice authored by Steve Tarlton, who runs the department's radiation management unit, "recent groundwater analytical results provide a better definition of the plume of radioactive material north and west of the Cotter Mill." "The groundwater contains dissolved uranium in excess of the state groundwater standard of 30 ug/l or micrograms per liter. The source is the Cotter Mill," Tarlton wrote.

According to test results, well readings for uranium from 2007 testing are 57.1 ug/l for Well No. 805 and 94.3 ug/l for Well No. 338, both of which are on golf course property. The existence of the contaminated groundwater is not news to Cotter officials. "We've been talking about it (with state officials) for over a year," said John Hamrick, Cotter Mill manager. "We are not to allow radioactive material to migrate and impact groundwater without correction and a release has occurred."

More Coyote Gulch coverage here.
"cc"
7:02:52 AM

RMNP: Water sampling

CU officials along with volunteers were hoping to take water samples from 250 locations around Rocky Mountain National Park yesterday in an attempt to get a more complete one-day chemical snapshot of the park's waterways, according to The Loveland Reporter Herald. From the article:

Those samples will come from areas stricken with pine beetles and those that appear to have kept the insects at bay, for now at least. The survey will look at different altitudes and water speeds to measure the distribution of pollutants into the park's ecosystem. Researchers want to understand how water quality varies throughout the park and learn more about what could be causing the differences, according to freshwater biologist James McCutchan of CU's Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences. That agency is a joint effort between the university and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. He stated in a press release that researchers expect to see a wide variety of water quality, and that even basic factors such as the slope of the hill or the minerals in the streambed can have an effect.

More coverage from The Colorado Daily. They write:

The 70 volunteers will include researchers from the National Park Service, CU-Boulder's Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences (CIRES), and other CU students and faculty. Although smaller studies of the Rocky Mountain watershed have been conducted in the past, this comprehensive assessment of its chemical makeup and quality will provide a foundational database for future research, according to Blankenship. "A lot of people are worried about damages from the pine beetle and various drought conditions," she said regarding the unknown effects of these sizable economic factors. "If things do change, we can see how the water quality and environment are affected," she continued. According to Adriana Bailey, CIRES Communications Officer, the large number of researchers involved with this study is indicative of its significance.

"The size of this campaign is pretty phenomenal," she said. "What's new and different about this study is that they are taking a snapshot in a moment in time of such a large area." Throughout the course of the study, researchers will be paying particularly close attention to the levels of nitrogen, carbon and phosphorus in the water, said Blankenship. This is because small photosynthetic organisms, such as algae, extract these nutrients from the water -- and too little phosphorus and nitrogen in an area can limit biological growth, while too much creates overgrowth, leading to dead zones, according to Bailey. "Nitrogen is a very important nutrient in streams and can alter the growth of photosynthetic organisms," stated James McCutchan, freshwater biologist with CIRES, in a recent press release, who added that the quality of the watershed could affect the whole food chain. "We want to understand how water quality varies spatially in Rocky Mountain National Park and refine our understanding of what's causing these differences."

Bailey described how the study would also encompass measuring water quality and content levels on both sides of the Continental Divide. She said it should be interesting to have the results comparing the two sides, as the west side of the Divide receives more precipitation and has also been damaged more by pine beetles. Because the area of the park is so vast, over the next few days researchers will hiking as many as 20 miles round trip and camping overnight at times to collect the water samples from the various lake and stream sites, according to Blankenship.
"colorado water"
6:45:43 AM

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