Coyote Gulch

Saturday, March 29, 2008

Coyote Gulch turns 6 today

Coyote Gulch turns six years old today. Thanks to all our readers. Thanks to the water movers and shakers in Colorado for keeping it interesting.

11:40:11 AM

Energy policy: Oil shale

From The Grand Junction Daily Sentinel: "The federal government may be too confident in its assumption that there's enough water to accommodate oil shale development, the Colorado River Water Conservation District believes. The Glenwood Springs-based district has submitted comments to the BLM about its draft study on oil shale development. The district questions the BLM's conclusion that the interstate compact governing use of Colorado River water would provide ample water for oil shale projects. "Considering vagaries of climate and climate change and full use of existing water supply and delivery systems, that may not be the case," the district said. The district also raises concerns about existing agricultural and instream flow uses being converted to oil shale uses if energy companies take advantage of their existing conditional water rights."
"2008 pres"
10:42:03 AM

International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development conference

Here's an article about a planned conference on Monday to discuss planning for the decrease in the cryosphere due to climate change, from The Nepal Times. They write:

The snowline is moving higher, mountain streams are rushing earlier in the year, the monsoons are erratic and giant ropes of glaciers throughout the Himalaya are retreating rapidly, swelling newly-formed lakes at their snouts. These Himalayan symptoms of global climate change are happening within one generation. And their impact won't just affect countries like Nepal, but also the wider Asian region. Alarmed by the rapidity of warming and the lack of reliable data on which to make predictions, the Kathmandu-based International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development is hosting an international conference on the cryosphere starting Monday...

"The cryosphere," explained Mats Eriksson of ICIMOD "is the part of the earth which is frozen - icecaps, glaciers, snow cover, permafrost, and frozen lakes and rivers." As temperatures rise around the world, the effects on mountain ice and snow are just as serious as those on the polar icecaps. Over 50 scientists from Asia, North America and Europe will attend the ICIMOD conference to share information, plan future monitoring activities among the world's highest mountains and discuss risk management strategies...

The conference will look at what will happen when Himalayan glacial lakes burst, and other hazards such as subsidence of land caused by melted permafrost. ICIMOD's Vijay Khadgi said: "Many of these dangers are not immediately obvious and may not manifest themselves until there is a major earthquake, but we have to be prepared for them." The Himalayas are one of the world's most earthquake-prone regions. This fact combined with fragile glacial lakes and destabilised mountain slopes poses grave and growing danger of flashfloods and landslides.

Long-term changes to the seasons, temperature and precipitation are also making the precarious lives of people here even more insecure. More water falls as rain and less as snow, and at different times of the year. In dry areas such as Ladakh and northern Pakistan, which depend on snowmelt for much of their water, agriculture is already suffering from reduced water in the growing season. And it's not just people in the mountains who are at risk. 1.3 billion people living downstream in the Indo-Gangetic plains, Burma, Southeast Asia and China will also suffer when glacial ice on the Tibetan Plateau is depleted.
"cc"
8:25:47 AM

Energy policy: Nuclear

From Fort Collins Now: "A bill that would strengthen state oversight of uranium mining operations got an initial nod from the Colorado House of Representatives Friday. House Bill 1161, by Fort Collins Democratic Reps. Randy Fischer and John Kefalas, faces a final vote before it can head to the Senate, where it is being sponsored by Fort Collins Sens. Bob Bacon, a Democrat, and Steve Johnson, a Republican. Several other lawmakers representing Northern Colorado criticized the bill and tried to amend it to remove references to conventional uranium mining. They also hoped to put a year-long moratorium on all uranium mining in the state and send the bill to a review committee over the summer, but Fischer and Kefalas opposed that."

More Coyote Gulch coverage here.
"2008 pres"
7:57:52 AM