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Sunday, January 15, 2006
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Colorado Springs is moving to acquire more leases for agricultural water in the Lower Arkansas Valley, according to the Pueblo Chieftain. From the article, "Colorado Springs sees the need to lease more agricultural water from the Lower Arkansas Valley in years to come and has filed in water court for exchange rights to move diversion points for leased water upstream.
"Its application comes at the same time as a joint application by the High Line Canal and Aurora to make a temporary lease arrangement permanent. Rather than creating a conflict, the two applications could lead to the same type of agreements reached on exchanges in the 1980s that regulate how current exchanges operate, some observers believe."
Category: Colorado Water
10:13:15 AM 
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Arsenic is another downside to mining water for domestic supplies. Here's an article from the Colorado Springs Gazette about arsenic tainted water for the citizens. From the article, "Many of the effects of the severe drought that hit Colorado Springs in the first half of this decade were clearly visible. One wasn't: Residents in portions of two and possibly three ZIP codes in the southeast part of the city drank arsenic tainted water.
"The amount of arsenic in the water delivered by Colorado Springs Utilities from 2002 to 2004 was well below the maximum allowed by the federal Clean Water Act. But the arsenic levels did exceed nonenforceable government health goals that call for zero levels of arsenic in drinking water.
"Those goals, unlike the legal standards, look solely at the potential health risks of contaminants no matter how small and do not consider the cost of treating water to remove them.
"The arsenic was introduced when the city-owned utility, faced with falling reservoir storage in 2002, began using water from four shallow wells drilled into the Widefield Aquifer on the former Pinello Ranch, said Curtis Mitchell, water-treatment section manager. "
Category: Colorado Water
10:07:44 AM
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The City of Lafayette is struggling to develop sustainable water supplies for the future, according to this article from the Longmont Daily Times Call. From the article, "Almost four years after Lafayette's water supply became an urgent issue at city hall, officials are revisiting decisions made in response to the 2002 drought. City Council members decided after the drought to join the Northern Colorado Water Conservancy District, which permits the city access to Western Slope water through the Colorado-Big Thompson and other projects. Lafayette began requiring developers to acquire Colorado-Big Thompson shares and dedicate them to the city. Councilman Frank Phillips said he now perceives flaws in this method. He convinced a majority of the council on Jan. 3 to reconsider this method of expanding the city's water portfolio. For every two Colorado-Big Thompson shares owned by the city, the water conservancy district requires it to buy one share of supplemental water, such as in Windy Gap. The cost of such an obligation was rarely talked about when Lafayette officials pursued inclusion in the water district. Some council members suffered a case of sticker shock when their first purchase of a Windy Gap share came up in December at almost $700,000, plus additional annual payments."
Category: Colorado Water
9:57:11 AM
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From today's Denver Post: "A Pacific storm system was expected to bring up to 40 mph gusts and blowing snow but also much-needed moisture to southwestern Colorado today. Eight to 16 inches of new snow was possible in the San Juan, West Elk and Sawatch mountains, where the National Weather Service issued a winter storm warning for today through 6 a.m. Monday. The warning included Crested Butte and Telluride. About 10 to 20 inches could accumulate at higher spots, including Wolf Creek Pass by late today, the Weather Service said. Up to 5 inches was expected at lower elevations, including Durango, and 4 to 8 inches was expected in Pagosa Springs. The storm would help boost snowpack in southwest Colorado. Storms have dumped plenty of snow in the northern and central mountains this winter, with snowpack in the northern part of the state well above average."
Category: Colorado Water
9:32:42 AM
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© Copyright
2006
John Orr.
Last update:
12/29/06; 11:00:07 AM.
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