Colorado Water
Dazed and confused coverage of water issues in Colorado







































































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Wednesday, July 26, 2006
 

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The marina at Horsetooth Reservoir is closing early this year due to drought conditions, according to the Loveland Daily Reporter-Herald. From the article, "Horsetooth boaters will have to pull their boats out of the water after this weekend. Inlet Bay Marina owner Glen Werth said he was hoping Horsetooth Reservoir would get more water from the Western Slope to staunch the outflow of water for plains irrigation. 'We kept getting the word that we were going to start getting water,' he said. But the news was put off, week after week, he said. Bureau of Reclamation and Northern Colorado Water Conservancy District officials broke the bad news to Werth and about 80 others at the marina Monday morning."

Category: Colorado Water


7:18:32 AM    

The deal between Denver and Xcel energy, that Denver voters will vote on in the August 8th primary, is raising the hackles of some people on the rainy side of Colorado, according to the Summit Daily News. From the article, "A renewed agreement between Xcel Energy and Denver water sparked heated reaction Monday at a Colorado River Basin Roundtable meeting in Glenwood Springs. Under the agreement, which will be inked in early 2007 [if passed by Denver voters], Xcel would release part of the water it uses to run the Shoshone hydroelectric plant in Glenwood Canyon, enabling Denver to store more water from the Colorado River in upstream reservoirs, such as Wolford Mountain and Dillon...

"In 2003, as a response to a severe drought, Xcel agreed to relax its Shoshone call and let Denver use the freed water to fill its reservoirs on the West Slope. Two local men spoke out strongly against the agreement at Monday's roundtable meeting, saying it opens the door for Denver to take more water from the Western Slope. 'This matter makes me blue in the face,' said Chuck Ogilby, who represents Eagle County at the roundtable. 'Denver comes in with this deal kind of behind our backs. This is a blatant misuse of your power,' he said of Denver Water."

Category: August 8th Ballot


7:13:24 AM    

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Costs are escalating for the whitewater park planned east of Palisade, according to the Grand Junction Daily Sentinel. From the article, "Proponents for the whitewater park have appealed to their federal delegation for help finding answers to a discrepancy between an original estimate of $600,000 and a new figure of $2.2 million. Officials from Palisade and the Western Association To Enjoy Rivers club, or the WATER club, discussed the discrepancy Tuesday night...

"The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation has plans to build a fish ladder in the Colorado River to help recover four species of endangered fish. A fish ladder is a structure that enables fish to swim around diversion dams to spawn. In this case, the fish ladder will be built at the Price-Stubb dam near the mouth of De Beque Canyon. The WATER club and the town appealed to the federal agency to build a whitewater park in the river at the same time as construction on the fish ladder. The WATER club and the town agreed to the concept of paying the difference between the cost of the fish ladder alone and the cost of the fish ladder and features for a whitewater kayak park. But they weren't counting on such a difference. Believing the difference would amount to between $400,000 and $600,000, the WATER club and town sought grants and other assistance. In the past two years, they've raised $644,000 for the whitewater kayak park. The Colorado Department of Local Affairs granted $420,000, the Gates Family Foundation granted $24,000, the Colorado Riverfront Foundation granted $25,000 and the Great Outdoors Colorado granted $175,000, Atkinson said. The club earmarked $420,000 for in-river improvements, with the balance of $224,000 for improvements on shore. With that much money, and with the estimate to build between $400,000 and $600,000, the group thought it had plenty of money. An engineer working for the town and the WATER club believes the extra whitewater features will cost only an additional $350,000, Sarmo said. But the bureau's engineer believes the minimum difference is $2.2 million. The difference amounts to a professional difference of opinion over how much material in the river needs to be moved to build the structures. At any rate, the bureau will require payment up front from the town and the WATER club for its estimate before construction begins, said Brent Uilenberg, technical services division manager."

Category: Colorado Water


7:05:48 AM    

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Rocky Mountain Climate Organization: "Global warming is particularly threatening the health of Rocky Mountain and Mesa Verde national parks in Colorado and ten others across the West, according to a report [pdf] released today by the Rocky Mountain Climate Organization (RMCO) and the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC). In western national parks, pollution-driven changes in climate are likely to lead to extinctions of plant and animal species, losses of glaciers and snow-capped mountains in summer, closures of parks from wildfires, and fewer opportunities for beach-going, boating, fishing, cross-country skiing, and snowshoeing."

Thanks to the Denver Post for the pointer.

Category: Colorado Water


6:57:50 AM    

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How will Colorado supply water for the unbridled growth on the Front Range? Here's a look at the problem from the Summit Daily News. From the article, "One of the interior dramas of Colorado for several decades has been where the burgeoning Front Range population will get additional stores of water for the continuing - and projected - population growth. Many conservation gains have been realized, and Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper has called for a dramatic effort to sustain and increase efficiencies. The easiest water supplies have been the farms of eastern Colorado. Denver and other Front Range cities also hope to get more water from existing transmountain diversion systems in the Winter Park, Granby, and Dillon areas, as well as the Vail and possibly the Aspen areas.

"But looking further into the future, water planners are looking even farther afield, possibly including the Steamboat Springs area and from the Crested Butte-Gunnison area. The best shot may be at Blue Mesa Reservoir. The legality, however, remains a sticky political and legal issue. Just downstream is a national park, Black Canyon of the Gunnison. Usually, the federal government asserts something called federal reserve water rights. The logic is that, for a national park (or national forest) to operate, it needs water. So, the federal government claims a water right based on the date of the land withdrawal. In the case of Black Canyon, that would be 1933, which would make it a fairly senior water right. Instead, the Department of Interior settled negotiations with Colorado's state government by filing for a water right dating to 2003, a fairly junior water right...

"Meanwhile, George Sibley, a professor at Western State College in Gunnison and a well-known regional writer, was recently elected to the Upper Gunnison River Water Conservancy District. Sibley doesn't discount the potential for diversions. 'We have a constitution (in Colorado) that says any unappropriated water belongs to the other people of the state,' he pointed out. 'Therefore, if the water is there, and its unappropriated, we are going to have to face the fact that somebody's going to want it.' A transmountain diversion is a 'terrible thing to do to the river,' but the challenge is 'making sure the basin of origin is protected,' he told the Crested Butte News."

Category: Colorado Water


6:44:12 AM    

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Coyote Gulch is water issues junkie. We love to follow the conversation in Colorado (and worldwide). As it turns out we're not alone. Stanford University has awarded their James V. Risser Prize for environmental journalism to Matt Jenkins for his story about Las Vegas' plans to supplement their water supply with groundwater.

They write, "A writer for High Country News has won the 2006 James V. Risser Prize for Western Environmental Journalism. Matt Jenkins won the $3,000 prize for his story, 'Squeezing Water from a Stone,' which chronicled Las Vegas' efforts to increase its water supply during negotiations with the agencies that draw water from the Colorado River...

"Jenkins' story described the efforts of Southern Nevada Water Authority to gain concessions that would allow Las Vegas to significantly stretch its water resources. Subsequent to the story, the negotiating parties reached an agreement that gave the city those concessions; Las Vegas continues to seek federal and state approval for a major new groundwater-pumping project in the Great Basin. The judges had high praise for Jenkins' story, describing it as a 'beautiful, well-written piece about one of the last frontiers of the West...It took a complex subject and made it readable.' Jenkins will be invited to Stanford later in the year to participate in a symposium on the issues raised in his story...

"Teams from two other newspapers were recognized with special citations. Robert McClure and Lisa Stiffler of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer were cited for their series, 'A License to Kill,' which disclosed deals the federal government was making with timber companies and developers that allowed the killing and harming of endangered species. And Jim Erickson, Judy DeHaas and Michael Hall of the Rocky Mountain News were cited for their occasional series, 'A Change in the Air,' which reported the impact of climate change in the high altitudes of the Colorado Rockies."

Here are the links to the three winning articles, Squeezing Water from a Stone, A License to Kill and A Change in the Air.

Congratulations to one and all. Keep up the good work. We promise to keep reading. Here's the link to the High Country News (free registration requested).

Category: Colorado Water


6:27:48 AM    


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