Tuesday, March 21, 2006

Aurora watering restrictions? Aurora will likely impose watering restrictions this summer while Denver and Colorado Springs residents are off the hook, according to the Denver Post. From the article, "Each snowstorm that powders the mountains eases water worries for the Denver metro region, but some municipalities are faring better than others as summer approaches. Fact is, in Colorado, snowstorms aren't equal providers. Because of this, Aurora, the state's third-largest water provider, likely will impose watering restrictions this summer. And Denver and Colorado Springs - the top two providers - probably won't. Though Denver and Aurora abut each other on the map, they get their water from different regions in the mountains. In Aurora's case, snow hasn't fallen enough around its reservoirs, most of which are in the Upper Arkansas River Basin, to allow city officials to avoid imposing restrictions... "Denver is in the opposite position. In fact, it snowed so much above Dillon Reservoir that Denver Water officials may release water before the spring runoff to prevent flooding." Category: Colorado Water 7:20:32 AM     Ritter for governor? Bill Ritter was on the stump in Fort Morgan, according to the Fort Morgan Times. From the article, "Ritter, who arrived in Fort Morgan with State Rep. Angie Paccione, D-Fort Collins, a candidate for U.S. Rep. Marilyn Musgrave's congressional seat, said many illegal immigrants who come into the United States have such good paperwork that while employers do look at their resumes, they don't notice they are, in fact, illegal. 'We need to have a rational immigration policy, and a national solution should be required to help this problem,' Ritter explained. "Talk of a water use bill has heightened some people's concerns as a serious economic issue for the state right now, Ritter said. Unless the state does something fast about its water storage and conservation for rural communities, it is 'going to dry up.' 'As a state, we have to look at the re-use, conservation and storage of our water as a package,' Ritter said. 'Using less water is important and focusing on underground water storage expansion is right. We are going to need statewide leadership on this issue.' Ritter said he plans to keep his eye on growth across the Front Range in terms of conserving water and also using well water as a resource." Category: Denver November 2006 Election 6:56:23 AM     4th World Water Forum Here's a recap of yesterday's sessions at the 4th World Water Forum in Mexico. From the article, "On Monday, 4th World Water Forum participants addressed the theme of 'Water for Food and the Environment,' convening in plenary and thematic sessions held throughout the day. They also heard a keynote presentation by Carlos Slim Helú, Chairman of Grupo Carso, and a regional presentation on the Middle East, North Africa and Central Asia, a region experiencing the greatest water scarcity on the planet." It's a long article, be sure to read the whole thing. Here's another report on the forum. From the article, "In Bangladesh, wells drilled over the last two decades to supply rural communities with water have brought cancer to the internal organs and painful, scarring lesions to the hands and feet of their supposed beneficiaries-the result of natural arsenic leeching into the depleted water-table. In Kenya, women who once sent their children and livestock to fetch water from streams within sight of their homes, now undertake weary treks of up to 45 km to reach the nearest water. When they do manage to fill a 20-litre jug, the murky water takes two hours to settle out as much as a third of its volume in silt, leaving only the diminished remainder for drinking, cooking, washing or watering herds. And that is in good times, unlike the grinding drought that since last year has reduced some of the country's tribes to warring over water, with 40 people killed in one January clash." Category: Colorado Water 6:35:02 AM

© Copyright 2006 John Orr. Last update: 12/29/06; 11:21:41 AM.