Friday, January 20, 2006

Grand Junction: No drilling in watershed According to the Grand Junction Daily Sentinel the city of Grand Junction is going to fight oil and gas drilling in their watershed on Grand Mesa. From the article, "The Grand Junction City Council will fight a plan that could open the city's watershed on Grand Mesa to oil and gas development, saying it wants to take every precaution to safeguard the city's drinking water. "Council members voted 5-2 Wednesday night to oppose a federal lease sale offering more than 13,000 acres on the mesa for drilling. The city will send a formal letter of protest to the Bureau of Land Management and letters to the Western Slope's congressional delegation asking for legislators' help in removing Grand Junction's parcels from the sale..." "The BLM is planning to auction oil and gas leases on 22,000 acres in Mesa County on Feb. 9. About 12,000 acres are in Palisade's watershed, and 600 acres are in Grand Junction's watershed, according to the BLM. Those watersheds provide drinking water to the municipalities. "Grand Junction is following the lead of Palisade town trustees, who voted unanimously last week to battle the lease sale. Palisade officials said they not only want to protect the town's watershed, but also a $6 million investment in a new water treatment facility the town board approved last year. "Officials from both municipalities are concerned that drilling operations could harm their water supplies. The BLM has said there are watershed stipulations in place to protect the two watersheds. But Western Colorado Congress Executive Director Matt Sura has said the stipulations aren't sufficient to protect water quality, and Palisade Mayor Doug Edwards on Wednesday night called them 'woefully inadequate.'" Category: Colorado Water 6:53:13 AM     Arkansas River PSOP Here's an article from the Pueblo Chieftain with details about a new Preferred Storage Option Plan for the Arkansas River valley. From the article, "A revised federal bill for the Preferred Storage Options Plan was unveiled Thursday by Southeastern Colorado Water Conservancy District President Wally Stealey. "At the same time, copies of the proposed legislation were delivered to the state's congressional delegation. "The Southeastern District will not formally consider language in the bill until its Feb. 16 meeting. A PSOP committee will look at the bill on Feb. 1. "Stealey said he wants unanimous consensus from the Southeastern board and the congressional district before the bill is introduced." Previous Coyote Gulch coverage here. Category: Colorado Water 6:40:26 AM

© Copyright 2006 John Orr. Last update: 12/29/06; 11:01:23 AM.