Sunday, December 28, 2008

Deserai Anderson Crow Say hello to Deserai Anderson Crow. Her weblog says that she's an, "Assistant Professor, School of Journalism and Mass Communication and Associate Director Center for Environmental Journalism University of Colorado." From a recent post about President Bush's policies: He couldn't stop at gutting agency funding and morale in the environmental and natural resource protection agencies...he is now trying to make his tragic environmental legacy even more powerful. Through midnight regulations Bush is attempting to dismantle the Endangered Species Act by removing requirements for federal agencies to conduct independent studies before proceeding with federal projects that may result in species take. Good ol' Dick Kempthorne (Secretary of the Interior) said that this will not have any deleterious effects. "colorado water" 2:21:46 PM     Colorado Senator Ken Salazar to lead Interior It seems to us that President-elect Obama's nomination has led to many -- from environmentalists to oil and gas exectutives -- to take a wait and see attitude, sort of an environmental and regulatory adjunct to President Reagan's (and others, notably Felix Edmundovich Dzerzhinsky, builder of the Soviet Secret Police), "Trust but verify." Here's a column making the point from, Anne Butterfield writing in the Boulder Daily Camera. Here's an excerpt: As our new Interior Secretary, Ken Salazar will take a job that will test his fiber. He loves the Rockies and has protected Colorado's Roan Plateau from drilling. As a top water law expert, he has protected our state's water rights. Many champion his ability to protect our nation's resources which have been battered and insulted by the Bush Administration's campaign on behalf of industry. However, Salazar does not have a spotless record. Along with voting against higher fuel efficiency for vehicles, he was also one of a handful of Democrats to vote against a bill that would require the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to consider global warming when planning water projects -- two very weird votes in light of important threats. We've written elsewhere that Salazar will not rope in all development in the name of the environment, nor will he back down to idealogues either. He will try to weigh the science and economic benefits before choosing a course. Here's another column about Salazar from Dave Buchanan writing in the Grand Junction Daily Sentinel. Mr Buchanan believes that hunters and fisherman will now have a sympathetic leader at Interior. He writes: The best present outdoors enthusiasts received this Christmas was Ken Salazar's nomination for secretary of the interior. While no one expects Salazar to please every critic, and there already are some people complaining that President-elect Barack Obama's choice for Interior won't be tough enough, it's safe to say whatever Salazar accomplishes will be an immense improvement over the past eight years, which the Bush administration spent despoiling our natural resources. From the view of a hunter, angler and wildlife enthusiast, it's difficult to find any cabinet post more critical to Colorado and the West than the Interior Department. If he's approved, the 53-year-old Alamosa native (his Colorado roots go back five generations) will be handed the reins to the wagon train encircling nearly every aspect of Colorado's environment and economy... Salazar's knowledge of western issues, including such diverse issues as endangered species, grazing, energy development and off-road vehicle use, and the fact he's a conscientious centrist, has gained him praise from many corners, including those more interested in extraction than protection. Call it whistling in the dark if you like, but even the Independent Petroleum Association of Mountain States, which hasn't always agreed with my stance on the helter-skelter nature of energy development across Western public lands, has indicated approval of Salazar's nomination, albeit for different reasons. "Senator Salazar will provide a strong Western voice and will play a pivotal role in meeting the emissions and increasing energy security," said IPAMS Executive Director Marc Smith. Smith goes on to say "there is a strong rationale for a consistent and responsible development on federal lands in the Intermountain West." More Coyote Gulch coverage here. "colorado water" 6:52:27 AM     Colorado's growth contributing to an uncertain water future Here's a look at Colorado's expected continued unbridled growth and the problem of watering all the new Coloradans while keeping state agriculture viable and at the same time supplying water for oil shale, oil and gas, recreation and riparian health, from Richard Stacy writing in the Denver Post. Great challenges all. From the opinion piece: The increased population translates into a total increased annual demand of about 630,000 acre-feet, 450,000 of which will be needed for the Front Range. To put that in perspective, Dillon Reservoir holds only 254,036 acre-feet. We need to find a lot of extra water somewhere. We live in a semi-arid region and water is already in short supply. There is precious little water in the Colorado River Basin left to be used by Coloradans. According to Del Smith of the Bureau of Reclamation, the Upper Basin states of Colorado, Wyoming, New Mexico and Utah are entitled to about 7.5 million acre-feet per year. Colorado is entitled to about 3 million acre-feet and we are using around 2.8 million per year now. In other words, we are already near the limit. Eighty percent of the state's water is on the Western Slope, while roughly 80 percent of the population lives along the Front Range. That's why almost all of the great trans-basin diversion projects in Colorado take water from the West across the continental divide to the Front Range. There has long been talk of additional trans-basin diversions, but there are three negative factors to consider: As pointed out above, there is little water in the Colorado River Basin left to divert; Residents of the Western Slope are understandably quite nervous about making more of their water available to the Front Range; Such projects are extremely expensive. The two largest of the 24 existing trans-mountain diversions, the Adams Tunnel and the Moffat Tunnel combined, divert only 362,000 acre-feet. Even if the water could be found, it would take at least three very large tunnels to accomplish the desired result... ... it is likely that most of us will have to get used to the idea of significant lifestyle changes: fewer golf courses, parks and greenways, for example, along with more desert landscaping instead of lawns, and recycling waste water for domestic use... We have to face up to the fact that we are virtually out of water, and a huge increase in demand is right around the corner. The same is true in most of the other states in the Colorado River Basin. Eventually, it would seem that, regardless of cost, we will have to consider pumping water from the Mississippi and Columbia River systems, where it exists in abundance, to the arid lands, where it is needed. If so, these would be among the biggest engineering projects ever attempted by man. They will provide jobs and prosperity, but they will have a huge price tag. "colorado water" 6:19:42 AM

© Copyright 2009 John Orr. Last update: 3/15/09; 3:45:30 PM. This theme is based on the SoundWaves (blue) Manila theme.