The Pueblo Chieftain is running an editorial today on Colorado Springs' proposed Southern Delivery System. They write, "What the bureau should consider as it goes through the process of an environmental impact statement on SDS, bureau officials were advised, are third-party costs, public opinion and environmental impacts. If the bureau were only to consider what Colorado Springs wants, the impact statement would be shamefully lacking. Terry Hart of the Pueblo District Attorney's Office noted that the third-party costs assumed by Pueblo County residents have not been addressed. These include erosion of private property along Fountain Creek caused by what Colorado Springs already sends down that waterway in the form of sewage effluent and surface runoff. A 66-inch-diameter pipeline doubling Colorado Springs' water supply could not help but increase those third-party costs. Additionally, Colorado Springs has dumped 73 million gallons of raw sewage into the Fountain since 1999. Property damage and raw sewage flows are reasons enough why public opinion in Pueblo on Colorado Springs' plans is so negative. Additionally, the base flows down the Fountain which have quadrupled in recent years have increased scouring of the creek, causing heavy sedimentation to reach the Arkansas River where it affects water users downstream in the Lower Arkansas Valley. The best way to ameliorate this situation has come from Ray Petros, a Denver water lawyer who consults for Pueblo County. He has proposed a flood-control dam on the Fountain which would double as a forebay through which Colorado Springs could capture and further treat its effluent and runoff, then recycle the water through its distribution system."
Here's the second part of the series on the proposed pipeline from Lake Powell to Cedar City Utah. From the article, "Rep. Mike Noel, District 73, said the 1922 Colorado River Compact, which granted the state its water rights, divides the river basin into two areas. Utah is included in the Upper Colorado Basin along with New Mexico, Colorado and Wyoming. Nevada, Arizona and California make up the Lower Basin. It's possible, Noel said, that Nevada and California could become involved in the pipeline project because the water would be coming from the Lower Basin. 'I don't believe that issue is going to be a major issue, but you never know with the great demand for water in California and Nevada,' Noel said. Another obstacle could be that the pipeline would go through Arizona and American Indian lands. Noel said the tribe that owns land in northern Arizona wants to receive some of the water, but that Arizona opposes. Also, several groups have voiced concerns that the pipeline will take water from already dropping levels in Lake Powell. Noel argues that the primary reason for creating Lake Powell was to store culinary water and to protect Lake Mead. As for environmental impacts of the pipeline's path, it will follow roadways as it comes across state, federal, private and tribal lands. Noel believes people in the area - even the American Indian tribe that is considered a sovereign nation - will allow the easements for the pipeline."
Category: Colorado Water
7:36:48 AM 
|
|
