Here's an article from the Denver Post dealing with violations of the Clean Water Act by CDOT [November 29, 2005, "CDOT cited over debris runoff"]. From the article, "State environmental regulators, however, allege that the dirt and debris from road projects polluted at least four waterways, including the Colorado River in Grand County, an unnamed tributary to Newlin Gulch in Douglas County, Boulder Creek, and the Purgatoire River in Las Animas County. In recent years, state environmental regulators have stepped up enforcement of Clean Water Act requirements that construction projects control erosion and sediment. Last year, the health department fined contractors $215,000 on T-REX - the Transportation Expansion Project on Interstate 25 and Interstate 225 in southeast metro Denver. The contractors, the state said, allowed runoff into the South Platte River from the 19-mile-long construction site."
Ed Quillen is exploring the idea of presenting President Bush with a gift when he visits Colorado today [November 29, 2005, "Welcoming the president"]. He writes, "We could try one of our Official State Rocks, or perhaps an Official State Tree blue spruce for a Christmas tree for the Crawford ranch, but on a national scale, our most important product might be water. Not that we have much of it, but even so, downstream states from Nebraska to California rely on us to deliver water to them. The gift should not be any old generic Colorado water. We need something special that relates to the president, and fortunately, we can collect some on the Western Slope, over in the reaches where they're drilling for natural gas. Our gift of presidential water, ready for the cooler near the Oval Office, will contain benzene, which has been appearing in water in drilling country. More of it will likely appear in the future, because oil and gas drilling were exempted from the Clean Water Act in the energy bill that President Bush signed last summer. Granted, benzene is a toxic chemical, a carcinogen which can also cause nausea, headaches and respiratory problems. But since our president thinks it's OK for us to have it in our water, and in the water that millions of people use downstream from Colorado, he shouldn't mind having it in his water, too." 
The Colorado Supreme Court ruled in favor of instream rights yesterday, according to the Rocky Mountain News [November 29, 2005, "Court battle over instream rights creates ripples"]. From the article, "The case, involving changes to Central City's water system, pitted the gambling town against the Colorado Water Conservation Board, which runs a program designed to help keep water in streams for the benefit of the environment. Monday, the court ruled that Central City would have to make sure its diversions on North Clear Creek in Gilpin County don't infringe upon instream water rights controlled by the state. Central City had argued that it didn't have to tailor its diversions to protect state water rights in the same stream. But the court said the state's instream flow rights deserve the same level of protection that other holders of water rights receive under the law. Keeping water in streams for the environment - rather than diverting it and putting it to use - is difficult in Colorado because if water isn't diverted or captured in a reservoir, it eventually flows out of the state. Critics of the instream flow program argue that such a practice is wasteful and is a poor use of a scarce resource. Environmentalists and recreational users disagree, and have fought for decades to protect water for instream use. The Central City case drew the attention of cities across the state, including Denver, Westminster and Arvada. Cities traditionally have been wary of minimum stream flows because they fear the rules limit their ability to manage their own supplies."
Category: Colorado Water
6:29:31 AM 
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