Thursday, August 14, 2008

La Plata Archuleta Water District approved by voters From The Durango Herald: "Voters by a slim margin approved the creation of the La Plata Archuleta Water District, which aims to establish a rural water system where residents currently depend on wells or trucked-in water. Dick Lunceford, a member of the newly formed district's board, said official results of the election were 481 in favor, 449 opposed. "If you go: The board's first meeting is scheduled for Monday. Meetings are open to the public. For more information, call 759-0104." "colorado water" 7:12:56 PM

USGS: Groundwater study? From The USGS: "Scientists proposed a strategy to study the Nation's ground-water supply as part of the Federal government's effort to help address the Nation's increasing competition for water. "Declines in ground-water levels have led to concerns about the future availability of ground water, which provides half the country's drinking water and is essential to the vitality of agriculture and industry, as well as to the health of rivers, wetlands, and estuaries throughout the country." "colorado water" 6:32:29 PM

Fryingpan-Arkansas project update Here's an update for Fryingpan-Arkansas project operations from Reclamation (Kara Lamb): "Demand for water for endangered fish along the 15-Mile Reach of Colorado River habitat is increasing releases from Ruedi Reservoir to the Fryingpan today. By this afternoon, flow in the 'Pan should be about 330 cfs--this includes the little bit of water coming down the Rocky Fork." "colorado water" 5:58:12 PM

Colorado Big-Thompson update From email from Reclamation (Kara Lamb): The heat has definitely had an impact on the operations of the C-BT project this summer. A reprieve from the heat over last weekend dropped demands slightly, slowing the draw out of both Horsetooth and Carter reservoirs. But, we still have two months of summer weather left and the reservoirs will continue to go down, as expected. Today Carter is at an elevation of 5708. It has dropped three feet since last week. Rain last weekend slowed demands for a day or two, but they came back on with the heat during the middle of the week. Horsetooth is at an elevation of 5397, two feet down from last week. Like Carter, it saw a slight slowdown in demand with the weekend rain and releases from Horsetooth dropped into the low 100 cfs. As the week heated back up again, demands also went back up with releases reaching the high 300 cfs. Cooler weather has come back into the area today and rain is predicted for the weekend. Currently, demands out of Horsetooth have dropped once more, this time into the high 200 cfs. About 60 cfs is coming into the reservoir. For the weekend, boaters and visitors should anticipate a drop in elevation of about 4-5 inches a day. Because of the increased demands on water, we will suspend the operational test at Grand Lake that has been in place since August 1. Beginning today, August 14, we will start pumping water to the Tunnel again increasing by 50 cfs, per day, until we reach 550 cfs. "colorado water" 5:39:48 PM

Energy policy: Nuclear Here's an update on the proposed uranium mining operation in the Tallahassee area, from The Cañon City Daily Record. They write: Work on groundwater monitoring in the Tallahassee area soon will begin in earnest following the Tuesday's approval of a contract with an independent hydrogeologist to oversee the process. The action by the Fremont County Commissioners allows Chairman Larry Lasha to sign a formal contract with Western Water and Land, the Grand Junction company selected to work with Black Range Minerals during uranium exploration near Tallahassee. District 1 Commissioner Mike Stiehl said that contract should be signed by the end of the week. An independent hydrogeologist was required in the conditions stipulated by the county in the Conditional Use Permit required for exploration. Susan Wyman, the Black Range hydrogeologist from Whetstone Associates, is collecting water samples from some of the domestic wells in the Tallahassee area as part of the baseline groundwater monitoring program. More Coyote Gulch coverage here. "cc" 7:36:30 AM

Streamline for water court? Here's an update on the committee that is working on a proposed streamline of state water court processes, from The Pueblo Chieftain. From the article: A standing committee to evaluate state water courts has been created by Colorado Supreme Court Chief Justice Mary Mullarkey. "I was pleased to see the progress made by this committee and have decided it is critical for the work to continue," Mullarkey said. Mullarkey signed an order last week approving the committee, on the recommendation of an interim committee chaired by Justice Gregory Hobbs. The 49-page report, which was sent to Gov. Bill Ritter and Colorado lawmakers as well, makes several recommendations: - Placing the White River and its drainages within the jurisdiction of Water Division 6, instead of Water Division 5. The Legislature would need to make the change. - Adopting uniform rules and expert declarations for all water divisions through the Supreme Court; reviewing standard forms. - Forming a comprehensive ongoing educational program for water attorneys, judges and other professionals participating in water court proceedings. - Creating a set of materials designed for assisting the public and those without attorneys to understand and participate in water court proceed- ings. - Providing funds necessary and review staffing for operation of timely, fair and effective water courts, and review staffing. - Developing usable river basin computational models, predictive tools and model data transparency. More Coyote Gulch coverage here. "colorado water" 7:29:51 AM

Northwest Passage open again this year From The Victoria Times-Colonist: "The Northwest Passage has been declared navigable again this summer by the federal government's ice authority, the latest indication of how Canada's polar frontier is being transformed by retreating ice and the prospect of increased shipping, tourism and resource development. While noting that the southern route of the passage is "not yet open water' and that "lots of ice" remains in the Larsen Sound area east of Victoria Island, Canadian Ice Service senior forecaster Luc Desjardins told Canwest News Service yesterday that 'a navigable corridor surely exists now as one can avoid the various ice floes.'" "cc" 7:22:39 AM

Fraser/Colorado Rivers: Stream temperature monitoring From The Sky-Hi Daily News: "Anglers and others using the Fraser and Colorado Rivers in Grand County are asked to not touch a number of underwater electronic sensors being used to monitor the temperature of the water. The sensors have been placed in the two rivers as part of the work of the Grand County Water Information Network, a nonprofit group working to preserve the quality of the streams as fish habitat...The equipment consists of the electronic sensor itself, which is a metal disc-shaped device about the diameter of a 50-cent coin, and a short piece of PVC pipe used as the sensor's protective cover. Both the sensor and PVC pipe are attached by a nylon cord to a heavy iron plate that acts as an anchor to keep the equipment under the water." "colorado water" 7:19:22 AM

Rainwater harvesting Here's a look at rainwater harvesting efforts around the country, from GreenerBuildings. From the article: While water withdrawals from streams and wells are often closely monitored and contentious, regulators have historically tended to look the other way when it comes to water captured as rain. But as water becomes more scarce, regulators have begun to more closely scrutinize the increasingly popular practice of rainwater harvesting [~] collecting rainwater in barrels, buckets and tanks. Presently, there is little consistency among states in regulating the harvesting of rainwater. Some states, like Colorado, prohibit rainwater harvesting. Other states, like Washington, are considering requiring a permit only for rainwater capture systems above a threshold amount. In other places -- notably Santa Fe, New Mexico -- rainwater harvesting is actually required. Systems for rainwater capture must be installed on every new 2,500 square foot or larger residential or commercial building in that city. Arizona, Hawaii, Kentucky, Ohio, Texas and West Virginia are all either regulating or considering regulating rainwater harvesting. More Coyote Gulch coverage here. "colorado water" 7:14:20 AM

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