Tuesday, June 20, 2006

El Paso county hearing about the Cherokee Metropolitan District From today's Colorado Springs Gazette: "The El Paso County Commission will discuss how development should proceed in a water-strapped eastern area of the county. Cherokee Metropolitan District, the water supplier for thousands of homes east of Colorado Springs, is accused of overpumping from the Upper Black Squirrel Creek Groundwater Basin. The case is at the Supreme Court. Meanwhile, the county must decide whether to allow developers to continue with subdivisions planned for the area while the courts decide who gets the water. Cherokee provides water to about 5,250 homes and 350 businesses in Cimarron Hills. It also serves the 300-acre Claremont Ranch development under construction and other developments east of the city, primarily along Marksheffel Road. Cherokee's boundaries run roughly east of Powers Boulevard, north of Platte Avenue and west of U.S. Highway 24. The county will consider how to proceed at a 9 a.m. meeting today on the third floor hearing room of the County Office Building, 27 E. Vermijo Ave. To watch and listen to the meeting live, visit www.elpasoco.com. Click on 'Board of County Commissioners,' click on 'Live Audio-Video of Board of County Commissioner Meetings,' then click on 'County Commissioner Board Room.'" Category: Colorado Water 5:45:19 AM     Southern Delivery System Here's an update about the Southern Delivery System from the Pueblo Chieftain. From the article, "The Bureau of Reclamation will look at effects of water development on Fountain Creek as it analyzes the environmental impact of a $1 billion water pipeline to Colorado Springs, but will limit its study of flood control. A recently released fact sheet answers some of the most frequently asked questions about the Southern Delivery System, a proposed 66-inch-diameter pipeline 43 miles north from Pueblo Dam to provide up to 78 million gallons of water per day to meet water needs in Colorado Springs, Fountain and Security through 2046. Many of those questions center around Fountain Creek issues such as growth, past studies of dam sites and a plan by Pueblo County consultant Ray Petros to incorporate water reuse with flood control. The draft Environmental Impact Statement for SDS won't be ready until at least late this year, but the bureau released a review of the process now, partly because of increasing questions about Fountain Creek... "Even at the slower pace, however, Colorado Springs Utilities could build the pipeline by 2012, which it calls the critical date for meeting its water demand needs, said Gary Bostrom, regional projects manager...SDS is needed not only to supply water to a growing population, but to provide redundancy in the water delivery system and to develop water rights Ñ including the Fountain Creek exchange. Colorado Springs proposes releasing SDS return flows directly into Fountain Creek in the form of wastewater... "The Fountain Creek exchange could further reduce flows on the Arkansas River through Pueblo and increase flows on Fountain Creek. Colorado Springs is restricted by a 2004 intergovernmental agreement with Pueblo and others to forgo exchanges at minimum streamflows, but plans to increase exchanges over time. The bureau will measure the environmental impact of that particular water right against six alternatives, possibly using components of the alternatives to mitigate damage, Lamb said. For instance, one alternative suggests a return flow pipeline to the confluence of Fountain Creek." Category: Colorado Water 5:37:18 AM     Plan for endangered species on Platte river From today's Denver Post: "The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has signed off on a plan to help endangered species using the Platte River in Nebraska. The federal agency has determined that the plan - involving two federal agencies, Colorado, Wyoming, Nebraska, water users and environmentalists - won't jeopardize the endangered species. Those species include the whooping crane, pallid sturgeon, interior least tern and piping plover. The plan to help the species calls for increased flows on the Platte and more land set aside for wildlife in Nebraska. It also attempts to deal with needs of the growing cities along the river, agricultural irrigation, and four threatened or endangered species." More Coyote Gulch coverage here. Category: Colorado Water 5:25:31 AM

© Copyright 2006 John Orr. Last update: 12/29/06; 11:50:28 AM.