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Friday, April 28, 2006
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Here's an article from the Brighton Standard Blade with details about Aurora's Prairie Waters project. From the article, "The city of Aurora's need for water for a burgeoning population is ready to stretch northward. City of Aurora officials and representatives from engineering firm, Tetra Tech RMC, briefed Fort Lupton City Councilors April 19 on the Prairie Waters Project - Aurora's ambitious plan to use their existing South Platte River water rights and channel river water back to their city for use. Prairie Waters would mean the building of a 34-mile pipeline that would start just west of Fort Lupton near Weld County Roads 8 and 23, travel parallel to U.S. Highway 85 through Brighton then take a left turn along the E-470 corridor where it would reach all the way to a still-to-be-constructed treatment plant at the Aurora Reservoir, the city's primary water storage facility. The price tag for the project is an estimated $650 million...
"Binney said, right now, they provide water to about 300,000 customers. Those numbers are only expected to grow but the city's reservoir levels were depleted, Binney said, by the drought in 2003. Prairie Waters, according to city of Aurora data, would initially increase the city water levels by 3.3 million gallons and meet city water demands into the 2020s. The project also would include the construction of 23 alluvial wells along the South Platte River to pump the water. Those wells brought the most concern from Fort Lupton City Councilors - seeking assurance from Binney that other local well users wouldn't see declining well levels because of the Aurora project. Binney said water laws prevented Aurora from doing anything outside of their own water lease that would impact other water-user rights. He also said he didn't think the project would cause a drawdown on local wells.
"The other unique aspect of Prairie Waters, besides the circuitous route it will take to Aurora, is what will happen to it along the way. The city of Aurora also is in the process of acquiring a pair of former gravel pits along U.S. Highway 85 - the Wattenberg gravel pit at Weld County Road 6 and the Walker Reservoir near Weld County Road 2. The existing sands and gravels of the pit would act as a filter for the water, holding it for about 30 days, before it is pushed on toward the Aurora reservoir. The amount of land needed to accommodate that biological process will be part of a pilot study, according to Binney, that will take place this summer at WCRs 8 and 23. The study won't measure the effectiveness of the filtering, something that the city has already been working with students from the Colorado School of Mines, but the permeability of the ground to the water."
Category: Colorado Water
6:32:49 AM 
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Lake County can expect a pretty hefty ante to join the Southeastern Water Conservancy District, according to the Pueblo Chieftain. From the article, "Lake County might have to pay as much as $3.45 million to join the Southeastern Colorado Water Conservancy District. However, the amount could be far less if only some parts of the county were to be included in the district. It still would be a hefty burden for the county that is struggling financially after the decimation of the local mining industry, said Ken Olsen, chairman of Lake County commissioners...
"Formed in 1958, the Southeastern District does not incorporate all of the land within the counties it now serves. Portions of those counties have annexed into the district over the years - Lamar in 1968, Pueblo West in 1971 and Rolling Hills Ranch near Widefield just this year. The issue of Lake County joining Southeastern was broached at a committee meeting Tuesday, in which a representative from Lake County demanded its inclusion in the service area envisioned by the Preferred Storage Options Plan. Lake County wants to join in order to address concerns about recreation and fisheries at lakes in the county. To join, the county most likely would have to at least pay back taxes - 48 years worth. That will be a struggle in a county which has seen its tax base erode...
"The district formed to promote the Fryingpan-Arkansas Project, which became a reality in 1962. Supporters sold golden fryingpans, signifying the Fryingpan Watershed which would supply transmountain water, to promote the project, urging people up and down the valley to support it. Lake County declined, largely because its largest employer, Climax Molybdenum, balked at the added taxes. Many local officials through the years worked for Climax and followed suit. Last fall, Lake County voters asked commissioners to study whether to join the Southeastern District, the Upper Arkansas Water Conservancy District or both. Commissioners have approached the task warily."
Category: Colorado Water
6:12:19 AM
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After a week of delays CloudSat launched this morning, according to Reuters. They write, "NASA on Friday launched two research satellites to help scientists refine computer models that forecast the weather and chart global climate change. CloudSat and CALIPSO blasted off aboard an unmanned Delta rocket from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California at 6:02 a.m. EDT (1002 GMT) after a week of delays for weather and technical issues. The Boeing-built booster originally had been slated to fly last year, but a machinists' strike forced several months of delays. CloudSat has powerful radar instruments to peer deep into the structure of clouds and map their water content. Although only about 1 percent of Earth's water is held in clouds, it plays a crucial role in the planet's weather, scientists working on the mission said...
"Using instruments 1,000 times more powerful than common meteorology radar CloudSat was designed to render three-dimensional maps of clouds that will identify the location and form of water molecules. Complementary and virtually simultaneous studies by sister probe CALIPSO will pinpoint aerosol particles and track how they interact with clouds and move through the atmosphere. CALIPSO is an acronym for Cloud-Aerosol Lidar and Infrared Pathfinder Satellite Observations. Aerosols are formed by natural phenomena like forest fires and human activity such as driving cars. Aerosols are considered a key factor in understanding why the planet is growing warmer and if anything can be done to stem or reverse the change. Computer models predict average surface temperatures on Earth will increase between 3.5 degrees Celsius and 9 degrees F over the next 100 years. The uncertainty stems from the role clouds play in moderating heat. Aerosols in the clouds can either cool the planet by reflecting solar energy back into space, or increase temperatures by trapping heat in the atmosphere."
Category: Colorado Water
5:54:39 AM
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© Copyright
2006
John Orr.
Last update:
12/29/06; 11:32:30 AM.
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