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Thursday, December 15, 2005
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Sterling Journal Advocate: "All along the Lower South Platte River basin, irrigation well owners are installing flow meters to measure the water used in augmenting their wells. Now, water conservancy districts and the state are working on a pilot project, developing a plan to make the data from the flow meters immediately available. 'We'd like to be able to get every ditch headgate on the Web in real time,' Manager Joe Frank said at the Lower South Platte Water Conservancy District meeting Tuesday. Accomplishing this would make the flow of water in the river basin easier to monitor for the river commissioner and the conservancy districts."
Category: Colorado Water
6:51:42 AM 
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Mohave Daily News: "A plan that governs the distribution of Colorado River water and the operation of Colorado River reservoirs was approved Wednesday by Gale A. Norton, Department of Interior secretary.
"The Annual Operating Plan (AOP) states that releases from Lake Powell to the lower Colorado River basin in water year 2006 (Oct. 1, 2005 - Sept. 30, 2006) will be made to meet the minimum objective release of 8.23 million acre feet."
Category: Colorado Water
6:42:16 AM
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"The Lower Arkansas Valley Water Conservancy District voted unanimously Wednesday to draft a resolution and letter to federal and state lawmakers challenging Reclamation as it continues an environmental assessment of Aurora's request for a 40-year storage contract," according to the Pueblo Chieftain.
From the article, "For 20 years Aurora requested and received temporary storage in Lake Pueblo. When the lake is full, Aurora's water is the first to be released. It needs the storage to exchange the diversion point of water it purchased in Otero and Crowley counties to Twin Lakes near Leadville. From there, Aurora moves the water into the South Platte Basin through the Otero Pumping Station, operated jointly with Colorado Springs.
"Aurora's request for a 40-year contract includes a 10,000 acre-foot storage pool in Lake Pueblo and a 10,000 acre-foot contract exchange that would let it move water from Lake Pueblo to Twin Lakes without a drop hitting the Arkansas River in the reach in between.
"If Reclamation denies the request, Aurora has an option to buy a gravel pit storage site east of Pueblo.
"The Southeastern District raised the question of Reclamation's authority to enter contracts with Aurora in 2001, citing several previous legal cases to back its conclusion that the federal agency has limited authority to issue contracts with outsiders."
Category: Colorado Water
6:36:27 AM
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The Pueblo Chieftain is reporting that Pueblo has filed for a change in venue with respect to the lawsuit filed by Colorado Springs over land-use requirements for the Southern Delivery System.
From the article, "The city [Colorado Springs] asserted that 95 percent of the land to be affected by SDS, a 43-mile pipeline which it proposes to build north from Lake Pueblo to the southern part of Colorado Springs, is in El Paso County.
"Ray Petros Jr., Pueblo County's water attorney, argues in his motion that the potential impact on Pueblo is much greater than Colorado Springs contends. But he said that isn't a material factor in determining venue for a case.
"Rather, he said, the court case must be heard in the county where the case arose, and that this case arose from official actions taken by the Pueblo County commissioners to regulate activity in their county.
"He cited cases filed by Denver Water in 1981 against land-use regulations adopted in Eagle and Grand counties.The cases were filed in Denver, and the Denver district court ruled that venue was proper there. But the Colorado Supreme Court ruled in 1989 that the cases must be tried in the counties where the action arose, by virtue of the official action of county commissioners adopting land-use regulations for their county."
Here's the link to the Southern Delivery System Environmental Impact Statement.
Category: Colorado Water
6:07:22 AM
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Denver Water continues to punish reward conservation with rate increases and will raise rates 8% according to the Rocky Mountain News [December 15, 2005, "Denver Water approves 8 percent rate increase"]. From the article, "The Denver Water Board approved a $261.7 million spending plan for 2006, based in part on an 8 percent rate hike designed to offset lingering, drought-related reductions in water sales. The rate hikes takes effect Jan. 1. The giant utility, Colorado's largest municipal water supplier, has seen water use drop dramatically since the drought began in 2002. Even now, as the dry spell eases, its 1.2 million customers continue their drought-savvy ways. In 2005 the utility will sell an estimated $162.7 million worth of water, about $6.8 million less than it had hoped to collect, or 16 percent less than normal. Next year it projects it will sell only about $164.3 million worth of water. Those figures mean the agency must scramble to find ways to bring its finances in line with the lower revenues. The 2006 budget, even with the rate increase, will require the use of $9 million in cash reserves to balance the books, according to David LaFrance, finance director. The agency is delaying some capital projects, issuing debt and counting on the sale of water taps to help move back into the black."
Category: Colorado Water
5:42:54 AM
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© Copyright
2008
John Orr.
Last update:
9/5/08; 4:34:52 PM.
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