Friday, April 21, 2006

HB1400 Cortez Journal: "The new group that seeks answers for Colorado's water problems is asking the Legislature to approve its charter. Legislators have three weeks to consider House Bill 1400 (Concerning Interbasin Compacts, and, in Connection Therewith, Approving the Interbasin Compact Charter and Altering the Boundaries that Define Certain Western Slope Basin Roudtables), which ratifies the charter of the Interbasin Compact Committee, a 27-person group drawn from across the state... "[Jim] Isgar and [Josh] Penry sponsored the bill last year that set up the system of nine roundtables that cover the state's major river basins. Southwest Colorado belongs to the San Juan/Dolores roundtable. The central interbasin committee oversees the whole process. The central committee's charter sets up a voluntary system for considering new water projects. Project backers are encouraged, but not required, to use the IBCC process to consider new projects. In the IBCC system, every basin roundtable whose waters are affected by a project has to sign off on the project before it goes forward." Category: Colorado Water 5:00:57 AM     Snowpack Here's a short report about Colorado snowpack from the Rocky Mountain News. They write, "Though there is plenty of water in the state's reservoirs, thanks to abundant high-country snows and strong stream runoff forecasts, lower elevations of the state remain dry and fire-prone. Despite the bleak forecast, Colorado's drought recovery continues. Just 13 percent of the state is now classified as being in a drought, down significantly from the scorching summer of 2002, when more than 85 percent of the state was bone dry, according to state climatologist Roger Pielke... "This spring, for instance, the snowpack is 94 percent of average. The good news is that Colorado's recovery from the drought continues, with reservoirs 98 percent full, according to the Colorado Division of Water Resources." Category: Colorado Water 4:43:43 AM     CloudSat launch today We're up early this morning monitoring the launch of CloudSat. Some background here from Space.com. Update (6:02AM EDT): Bummer - "The countdown was halted just inside T-minus 1 minute due to a problem. This effectively scrubs the liftoff for today. The available launch window was just one-second long, leaving no margin for any delays." Category: Colorado Water 4:16:38 AM     Watering down reality Here's the link for the final report from the Global International Waters Association on world freshwater problems. They write, "The aim of GIWA is to produce a comprehensive and integrated global assessment of international waters, the ecological status of and the causes of environmental problems in 66 water areas in the world, and focus on the key issues and problems facing the aquatic environment in transboundary waters." Coyote Gulch recommends this article from the Guerilla News Network. It summarizes the message that didn't get out from the recent 4th Annual World Water Forum. Category: Colorado Water 4:10:10 AM

© Copyright 2006 John Orr. Last update: 12/29/06; 11:30:29 AM.