Colorado Water
Dazed and confused coverage of water issues in Colorado







































































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Monday, July 24, 2006
 

San Francisco Chronicle: "The most interesting environmental leader in the United States is a former petrochemical worker from Louisiana's Cancer Alley named Jerome Ringo. As chairman of the board at the National Wildlife Federation, Ringo heads what is by far the nation's largest environmental organization, with 4.5 million members. What really sets Ringo apart, however, is that he is black...

"Now, Ringo wants to bring these varying constituencies together to build a broader, stronger green movement. It's a good idea, and it comes at a critical time for American environmentalism. The past six years of the Bush administration have highlighted an embarrassing paradox for the environmental movement. On the one hand, opinion polls indicate that 70 percent-plus of the public think that we as a society should do 'whatever it takes' to protect the environment. And the movement does not lack financial resources: The budgets of local and national groups amount to $1.7 billion a year. Nevertheless, President Bush and his congressional allies have pursued the most anti-environmental policies in the nation's history -- and escaped without paying much of a political price. As popular and wealthy as the environmental movement appears, the Bush era exposed it as something of a political paper tiger.

"Yet the Bush years may be the movement's salvation, for they have taught environmentalists that a new approach is needed. Parts of that new approach are already in place and yielding success. Green politics may at last be finding its voice again. The federal government is a dead end at the moment, but state and local environmental organizations are scoring solid victories in red and blue states alike. Environmental justice groups are developing real political clout while proving that affluent white people aren't the only ones who care about clean air and water. Evangelical Christians are organizing against climate change. And there has been an explosion of student activism around global warming, which Billy Parish, coordinator of the Climate Action Coalition, calls 'far and away the biggest issue on campuses now.'"

Category: 2008 Presidential Election


6:50:29 AM    

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Is Cherry Creek dam safe? Here's an article from the Rocky Mountain News that examines that question. From the article, "A preliminary federal study says the dam at Cherry Creek Reservoir is potentially unsafe, despite new weather data showing floods at the popular park are likely to be less catastrophic than officials once feared. U.S. Army Corps of Engineer officials said it is still too early to say whether the dam will have to be raised or other measures taken to strengthen the structure...

"Corps engineers stressed that final work on the study, including more weather data, may show that the dam is safe enough as it is. The dam, about 20 miles south of downtown Denver, is in no immediate danger of failing. But the stakes could be enormous if the Corps determines that the dam needs to be raised. When that possibility was being studied several years ago, it meant relocating dozens of homes and schools in areas such as Greenwood Village. [John Palensky, the project manager overseeing the analysis for the Corps] said the Corps would finalize its flood study by next March. If the dam does need to be fixed, Palensky said the Corps would begin studying alternatives to correct the problem immediately and would work to make sure none of the thousands of people who live above and below the dam are left out of the process...

"Federal precipitation studies done in the 1980s and '90s indicated that the 1940s-era dam would not withstand a catastrophic flood. But work on the problem was suspended six years ago after the Corps suggested raising the dam to make it safer. The potential impact on surrounding real estate caused such a public outcry that U.S. Rep. Tom Tancredo and others stopped funding for the Corps' work on the safety issue in 1999. Late last year, however, after Hurricane Katrina caused communities across the country to re-examine flood safety, Colorado's congressional delegation authorized the Corps to begin work again, this time using a precipitation study funded by Colorado that uses Western regional weather data, rather than national storm data, as the original 1980s Corps study did. The new Colorado study, completed in 2003, suggests that about 25 percent less rain would fall than the original federal studies showed. Though flood waters would probably not surge over the top of the dam, the new federal analysis indicates that there would likely not be enough room left between the surface of the lake and the top of the dam to contain the waves that would form during a storm, according to Palensky."

Category: Colorado Water


6:41:03 AM    

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Here's a update on the a plan to move water back up the Blue River to the Breckenridge area from the Summit Daily News. From the article, "A challenge to the county's permitting authority could delay or even kill the proposed Blue River pumpback, which would divert water from the Blue River near Dillon Reservoir and deliver it back upstream to Breckenridge...

"At issue is the timing and level of review. Summit County wants to maintain 1041 authority over the project, while the Breckenridge Sanitation District - the project proponent - is claiming the pumpback pipeline is exempt from the county's authority. Even though the county and the district are wrangling over permit issues, there is agreement that the pumpback will deliver significant benefits...

"The project will get another public hearing before the board of county commissioners next week, and negotiations are expected to continue right up until the last minute. The Breckenridge Sanitation District is prepared to put the project out for bid in two weeks. Both parties said they have been negotiating in good faith for several months to outline conditions under which the project could proceed outside the county's 1041 authority...

"The question of permitting authority is at the surface in this showdown, but bubbling just beneath is the question of 'unintended consequences.' The main aim of the pumpback is to provide environmental benefits in the Blue River, additional water for the district's treatment facilities, and to potentially provide water for a possible Upper Blue reservoir. Additionally, the water - up to 17 cfs - could help provide water for an umbrella augmentation plan for some well users in the Upper Blue who are facing shortages and potential well shutdowns. But adding water to the Blue could also make more water available for other water users with senior rights. The water rights for the pumpback water are under adjudication in state water court in a process separate from, but running parallel to, the permitting and review discussions at the county level...

"'We don't want it to be consumed by the ski area for snowmaking, or by Colorado Springs (which diverts from the Blue up at the headwaters near the Continental Divide),' Carlberg said. 'We don't want other people using it without authorization.' The ski area is already on the record as saying that it won't lay claim to the water, Carlberg explained. And he believes the water right for the 'extra' water from the pumpback can be protected from outside claims."

Category: Colorado Water


6:31:55 AM    

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Here's an article about the Community Collaborative Rain, Hail and Snow network, from the Fort Collins Coloradoan. From the article, "Using low-cost rain gauges and pads wrapped in aluminum foil, volunteers track the amount of precipitation that falls at their homes. The pads are used to calculate the size of hail. Daily readings are available via the Internet to program coordinators at the Colorado Climate Center at Colorado State University. Data may be viewed by volunteer weather watchers, professional meteorologists and scientific researchers alike. The program was started by CSU atmospheric science researcher Nolan Doesken after a flash flood in Fort Collins that killed five people and caused hundreds of millions of dollars in damage in 1997...

"Doesken and other CoCoRaHS coordinators will present a workshop at 7 p.m. Tuesday at Harmony Library on the history of major storms along the Front Range. The program will include a pitch for CoCoRaHS and training for recent volunteers."

Category: Colorado Water


6:17:49 AM    


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