Thursday, January 26, 2006

GOCO and CWCB The Rocky Mountain News is reporting that Great Outdoors Colorado and the Colorado Water Conservation Board are trying to work out better rules for GOCO funding of whitewater parks [January 26, 2006, "Board seeks larger white-water role"]. From the article, "Members of the state's top water board said this week that they may ask Great Outdoors Colorado for a larger role in how grants for white- water parks are awarded. "The news came at a two-day meeting of the Colorado Water Conservation Board in Denver. It's the latest indication of the growing tension between GOCO, as the independent agency is known, and the state-run water board. "Created by voters in 1992, GOCO is crafting new guidelines on its white-water park grants. "The agency awards millions of dollars of lottery funds to protect open space and enhance parks and recreational opportunities in the state. "It believes its grants can be made without engaging in the contentious issues around the white-water parks, including the amount of water they use. "White-water-park advocates see the battle as another attempt by Colorado's traditional water users - cities and farmers - to limit the use of water for recreational purposes, something the state's courts have upheld." Category: Colorado Water 5:48:12 AM     Colorado Springs and Fountain Creek Colorado Springs' latest spill into Fountain Creek is the subject of this article from the Pueblo Chieftain. From the article, "Colorado Springs has been fined another $10,000 for a Jan. 5 spill that dumped 44,400 gallons of raw sewage into Fountain Creek following an accident during repairs. "Meanwhile, state officials clarified how money from last year's fines will be applied to Fountain Creek projects that could benefit Pueblo... "The $10,000 fine assessed Wednesday will be added to $130,300 in fines for spills in 2005. It is the maximum allowed by state law for a single day. "Colorado Springs also was ordered to pay $38,860 of its previous fine Wednesday as well. The remainder of that fine, $91,440 will be applied toward a supplemental environmental project to be approved by the end of February. "The order issued also adds a new requirement for Colorado Springs to come up with a better plan for contingencies related to repairs of its sprawling, aging sewer infrastructure. Here's the coverage from the Colorado Springs Gazette. They write, "On Jan. 5, utility crews had cleared a blockage in a main sewage pipe at Corona Street, north of Fountain Boulevard. As workers were removing a steel plug from a manhole - part of a system that temporarily diverted sewage from the plugged main - a chain attached to the plug broke. "The plug fell into the sewer main and traveled several hundred feet into another sewer main near Fountain Boulevard, where it caused a blockage. The raw sewage then flowed out of a manhole and into nearby Shooks Run, which flows into Fountain Creek a few hundred feet away. "Crews immediately tried to stop the flow of sewage but weren't able to shut off the main for 65 minutes. Utility workers tried with minimal success to capture some of the sewage at the Las Vegas Street waste treatment plant. "Testing for E. coli contamination in Fountain Creek found elevated levels of the contaminant in the days after the spill... "The Jan. 5 spill came at a bad time for the utility, which has been trying to counteract bad publicity over 21 sewage spills in 2004 and 2005. The worst of those - one in May 2005 caused by vandalism to a manhole cover and one in June 2005 caused by a flash flood - sent more than 300,000 gallons of raw sewage into Fountain Creek. "After those spills, the Colorado Department of Health and Environment fined the utility $130,000 and ordered it to fix vulnerable parts of its farflung sewer system. Complying with the order could cost $30 million to $40 million by 2012. "The utility already had committed to spending $50 million by 2008 and more than $250 million by 2025 to repair, improve and rehabilitate the city's sewage system. That commitment came after more than 70 million gallons of sewage spilled into Fountain Creek during flooding in 1999. "After the 2005 spills, the Pueblo district attorney and the Sierra Club filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court accusing Colorado Springs Utilities of violating the federal Clean Water Act by discharging sewage into Fountain Creek. Those suits are pending." Category: Colorado Water 5:28:05 AM

© Copyright 2006 John Orr. Last update: 12/29/06; 11:02:52 AM.