Friday, July 28, 2006

Big Thompson Flood Colorado State University: "To mark this devastating event [Big Thompson Flood], on the flood's 30th anniversary, the Water Resources Archive at Colorado State University Libraries, in the midst of its own five-year anniversary, has created an exhibit for audiences to come as close to experiencing the Big Thompson Flood as now possible. 'Water Through Time: An Exhibit Recalling Colorado Water Events Upon the Fifth Anniversary of the Water Resources Archive' marks the Big Thompson Flood anniversary as well as other landmark events in Colorado's water history... "Also featured are materials that document the Invention of the Parshall Flume (1921-1922); the Signing of the Colorado River Compact (1922); the Arrival of the Dust-Bowl Droughts (1930-1940); the Completion of the Colorado-Big Thompson Project (1957); and the Commencement of the Fryingpan-Arkansas Project (1962). The exhibit, located in room 202 of Morgan Library on the CSU campus in Fort Collins, is open from 8:30-4:30, Monday through Friday. For more information, please visit our Web site at http://lib.colostate.edu/archives/water or call the Archives directly, 970-491-1844." Category: Colorado Water 6:23:18 AM     Tamarisk control with insects The Rocky Mountain News is running a story about the efforts to manage the tamarisk problem. From the article, "A year after beetles developed by scientists were released in selected tamarisk infestations at three sites in Colorado, the project is showing encouraging signs that the bugs will significantly defoliate the water-sucking trees that clog most Western rivers... "Bean said 8,000 tamarisk leaf beetles, released last August in Horsethief Canyon west of Grand Junction, along the South Platte River in Adams County open space and at Bonney Reservoir in Yuma County, are taking hold and not being eradicated by ants, their main predators. Releases in 2001 at four sites, two in Nevada and two in Utah, have matured and beetles are defoliating hundreds of acres of tamarisk. Bean also said that beetles released in 2004 near Moab, Utah, are taking hold... "Labor-intensive efforts to eradicate tamarisk cost $1,500 to $3,000 per acre. The tamarisk leaf beetles may be able to do the job for less than $10 per acre, according to U.S. Bureau of Land Management spokeswoman Mel Lloyd. The beetle, officially Diorhabda elongate deserticola Chen, has undergone more prerelease testing than any other biological control agent in the country's history, Lloyd said. The BLM and the Palisade Insectary, operated by the Colorado Department of Agriculture, both play a role in the release and monitoring of the insect." Category: Colorado Water 6:13:06 AM

© Copyright 2006 John Orr. Last update: 12/29/06; 12:00:06 PM.