Coyote Gulch

Wednesday, August 13, 2008

Oceans on the brink?

From Scripps News: "Human activities are cumulatively driving the health of the world's oceans down a rapid spiral, and only prompt and wholesale changes will slow or perhaps ultimately reverse the catastrophic problems they are facing."

"Such is the prognosis of Jeremy Jackson, a professor of oceanography at Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego, in a bold new assessment of the oceans and their ecological health. Publishing his study in the online early edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), Jackson believes that human impacts are laying the groundwork for mass extinctions in the oceans on par with vast ecological upheavals of the past."
"cc"
8:46:16 PM

Roaring Fork Conservancy water tours

From The Glenwood Springs Post Independent: "The Basalt-based Roaring Fork Conservancy will hold upcoming tours of both the Basalt and Carbondale municipal water facilities as part of its ongoing schedule of conservation-oriented programs. From the Source to You: Basalt Water Tour will take place from 5:30-7:30 p.m. on Aug. 20. Participants will tour the town's water facilities with the people who run them. A similar tour will take place in Carbondale from 5-7:30 p.m. on Sept. 17.

"The conservancy will offer the public a chance to see inside the dam at Ruedi Reservoir from 5-8 p.m. on Oct. 1. Participants will learn about transmountain diversions and the operation of Ruedi from Kara Lamb of the Bureau of Reclamation, Mark Fuller of the Ruedi Water and Power Authority and Sarah Johnson of the Roaring Fork Conservancy."
"colorado water"
7:24:31 AM

Stormwater news

From The Colorado Springs Gazette: "The city's first porous concrete parking lot is being poured this week behind Colorado College's new Cornerstone Arts Center. The technology, if more widely adopted, could have significant environmental benefits for a city that has been criticized by its neighbors over stormwater runoff into Fountain Creek and the Arkansas River. Unlike traditional parking lots, rain and snowmelt will not run off the 7,500-square-foot parking lot and into the city's stormwater system - or find its way untreated into area creeks. Instead, the water will permeate the concrete, filter through a special matting that traps dirt, then seep into an 8-inch layer of rock beneath the lot. From there, the stormwater will flow into 16 gravel-filled cardboard tubes sunk 5 to 8 feet deep that will carry the water far underground."
"colorado water"
7:19:44 AM

Arkansas River: Runoff recap

Here's a look at Fryingpan-Arkansas project water in the Arkansas River Valley, from The Pueblo Chieftain. From the article:

May 1 projections by the Bureau of Reclamation, which manages the project, called for 100,600 acre-feet of water to be brought from the Fryingpan River collection system through the Boustead Tunnel into Turquoise Lake. The Southeastern Colorado Water Conservancy District, which makes allocations of project water, decided in May to allocate 83,021 acre-feet, the full amount that would be available after transit loss, evaporative loss and obligations to a Twin Lakes exchange and the Pueblo Fish Hatchery were accounted for. The district also allocated 17,354 acre-feet in agricultural return flows. The problem is, all that water may not be there unless more monsoons arrive late in the season. As of Tuesday, 89,012 acre-feet had moved through the Boustead Tunnel, a little more than 10,000 acre-feet shy of the goal. The majority of water comes over during spring runoff, and summer flows add only a fraction of the total. "I can't say for sure, but it's unlikely that we'll make 100,000 acre-feet," said Roy Vaughan, manager of Reclamation's Pueblo office. "It came off late, and when it did, there were warmer temperatures. We can only move so much through the tunnel at a time, and it's hard to capture when it comes off hard and fast."

The experience is similar to other basins in the state, where runoff has been about 90 percent of what was expected after huge snow accumulations last winter. Some flooding that was anticipated, especially in the southern mountains, never arrived as water soaked into ground left parched by years of drought...

Agricultural users, facing a new drought, have been calling for much of their Fry-Ark water, water stored from last year and leased water, to make crops. The result has been that Lake Pueblo, nearly full six months ago, has been drawn down to about 77 percent capacity as rainfall and river flows have failed to replenish withdrawals. As of Tuesday, Lake Pueblo was storing less than 200,000 acre-feet. Ditches have been calling for water leased from the Pueblo water board, which has allowed for some additional water to take rafters through the end of the season...

After reaching flood stage in Canon City in June, flows in the Arkansas River have been dipping for weeks with only an occasional storm to bolster them. If flows measured at the Wellsville river gauge east of Salida drop below 700 cubic feet per second, Reclamation is obligated under the agreement [Arkansas voluntary flow program] to release water from Twin Lakes to make up the difference. That has not happened this year because the Pueblo water board is running about 75 cfs, or 150 acre-feet daily, from Clear Creek Reservoir. On Tuesday, the Wellsville reading was 742 cfs, which means with Pueblo's water the reading would dip below 700 cfs...

The water board, which is meeting its goal to keep about 40,000 acre-feet in storage in four reservoirs, is bringing over only about one-fourth of its transmountain water from five mountain ditches in order to conform to long-term volumetric limits imposed in water court cases, Ward said. The water board also has benefitted from a bountiful supply to the Twin Lakes Reservoir and Canal Co., which has so far brought over about 58,955 acre-feet from the Western Slope since Jan. 1. Pueblo has a 23 percent share in the company, and has netted 12,779 acre-feet from this year's imports so far.
"colorado water"
7:16:27 AM

RMNP: Water sampling

Here's a recap of this week's mega-effort to collect water samples in Rocky Mountain National Park, from The Longmont Times-Call. From the article:

The water sample study, by far the largest of its kind in the park's history, will help researchers determine how such factors as climate change and mountain pine beetles are affecting the chemistry of Colorado's watersheds, said Ariann Blankenship, a research assistant at the Center for Limnology at CU. "It will create a baseline for where the water is at in the park," she said. Kyle Patterson, spokeswoman for park, stressed the magnitude of Tuesday's undertaking, saying the study will serve as a "snapshot" of major water courses in the park, many of which flow into the Colorado, St. Vrain and Big Thompson rivers.

Unlike previous studies, this one was done in one day, which was made possible by the help of more than 70 volunteers who helped fill liter bottles with water from streams, rivers and lakes, Patterson said. At the 250 sampling locations, researchers and volunteers also collected the dominant vegetation of the area, which can affect the chemistry of a water course. Gathering samples on the same day is important because it acts as a control on several variables that may influence the water's chemistry, like precipitation and temperature. Samples taken from fire-damaged areas, for example, can be compared more accurately with samples from undisturbed areas because outside factors remain constant.

During the next month, the water will be analyzed at CU's Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences, which houses the Center of Limnology. Researchers will conduct eight tests on each water sample. The results of those tests can then be compared to data from previous studies, Blankenship said. Researchers also will examine concentrations of nitrogen and phosphorus, among other elements, to determine how water quality varies throughout the park, Patterson said. Park officials also hope to implement a long-term water quality monitoring system at several stream locations, Patterson said, so data gathered in the future could also be compared to Tuesday's data.

More coverage from The Fort Collins Coloradoan. They write:

Park officials say the blitz is an unprecedented opportunity to see exactly what's in the water and examine how the landscapes around the streams, lakes and rivers affect them. Park scientists recently discovered that even 30 years after the Ouzel fire, runoff there is different than in pristine areas. Vegetation tends to absorb nitrogen, which means burned areas tend to permit more nitrogen into local waters, which can affect fish, insects and other creatures. But the exact impacts of elevated nitrogen levels in the park's water remain unknown, scientists said. In other parts of the park, increased nitrogen is blamed for the proliferation of grasses, fewer wildflowers and the stressing of some kinds of trees. A major ongoing mountain pine beetle infestation on the park's western side may cause similar effects to a wildfire, park officials said.
"colorado water"
7:03:34 AM

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