Friday, September 8, 2006

Fort Collins kayak park? Fort Collins Coloradoan: "Long stalled in a veritable fundraising eddy, a Fort Collins kayak park could be a year away, thanks to private donations. Proponents of the water park, which would be located on the Poudre River east of North College Avenue, have raised enough money to launch the design phase of the park this fall and have enough pledged that the park could be built by next fall." Category: Colorado Water 6:17:06 AM     Late season stream flow in the Colorado Summit Daily News: "High water levels in Dillon and Green Mountain reservoirs helped sustain the booming local summer recreation industry this summer, but there is a downside for Grand County, just to the north, where Colorado River flows have dropped down to levels not seen since at least the drought summer of 2002. Between Granby and Kremmling, some gauges are measuring flows as low as 20 cubic feet per second, leading Trout Unlimited (TU) to raise an alarm. The cold water fisheries conservation group is concerned that the low flows could harm trout populations in the prolific fishery, and claims that the state is not trying to meet its obligation to maintain minimum stream flows... "Summit County fits into the picture because water from the Blue River system, via Dillon and Green Mountain reservoirs, is currently being used to meet downstream demands, especially the crucial Shoshone water right. That means more available water in the Upper Colorado, above Kremmling, for diversion to the East Slope via the Colorado-Big Thompson Project. But operation of the Colorado-Big Thompson project is partially governed by a U.S. Senate document that requires the Bureau of Reclamation to operate the Colorado-Big Thompson Project in a way that maintains a live stream and satisfies irrigation needs. According to Whiting and other officials in Grand County, that is currently not happening. Grand County Commissioner James Newberry was on his way to Washington, D.C., Thursday to discuss the situation with top Bureau of Reclamation officials... "While water levels in the Colorado are healthy below the confluence with the Blue, there is a gap in the flows upstream, between Kremmling and Granby, resulting from the diversions to the Front Range. Colorado Division of Wildlife (CDOW) biologists said the flows are far from ideal for trout... "Kirk Klancke, with the Winter Park West Water and Sanitation District, said the low flows in the upper Colorado River can mostly be attributed to Front Range demand. He said the state-owned water rights, held by the Colorado Water Conservation Board (CWCB) to meet minimum flow requirements, are junior to other rights currently being used... "The bottom line, said Klancke, is there just isn't enough water in the river to satisfy all the competing demands. And he pointed out that both Denver Water and the Northern Colorado Water Conservancy have plans to significantly increase diversions from the headwaters of the Colorado." Category: Colorado Water 6:04:13 AM     Colorado River Cutthroat Trout: Endangered species? Center for Biological Diversity: "In response to a lawsuit brought by the Center for Biological Diversity, Center for Native Ecosystems, Biodiversity Conservation Alliance, and Colorado Wild, a federal judge today threw out the Bush administration's April 20, 2004 decision to not consider the groups' petition to protect the Colorado River Cutthroat Trout as a threatened or endangered species under the Endangered Species Act. The court ordered the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) to complete a status review of the imperiled trout within nine months... "One of the most spectacular of the colorful cutthroat trout, the Colorado River cutthroat has a crimson belly and distinct black spots covering the tail, sides and back and was historically found in portions of Wyoming, Colorado, Utah, and extreme northern New Mexico and Arizona. Today, the Colorado River Cutthroat Trout has been reduced to less than five percent of its historic range in small, isolated headwater streams, where it is in immediate danger of extinction. This reduction was caused by habitat loss due to livestock grazing, logging, mining and water diversion, and the introduction and spread of nonnative trout, such as brook, rainbow and brown, which compete or hybridize with the native fish... "In overturning the administration's decision, the court determined that FWS had illegally and selectively sought information from state agencies that generally oppose protection, while giving the public no chance to comment... "The Bush administration's denial of protection for the trout is typical of an administration that has only listed 56 species to date (always under court order) compared to 512 listed under the Clinton administration and 234 under Bush senior's administration." Category: 2008 Presidential Election 5:58:09 AM     Energy policy The BLM has decided to open up the Roan Plateau to oil and gas exploration, according to the Rocky Mountain News. From the article, "Federal land managers opened the door to drilling in one of Colorado's richest natural gas reserves Thursday, unveiling a compromise proposal that endeavors to reap the mineral riches under the Western Slope's Roan Plateau while protecting its wildlife and environment. The long-awaited proposal caps years of contentious debate among industry, green groups and numerous public agencies on how to go about extracting natural gas from underneath 115 square miles of federal land within the ecologically diverse plateau region north of Interstate 70, bookended by the small towns of Rifle and Parachute. The proposed 'resource management plan,' released by Bureau of Land Management and Colorado officials, comes with an array of conditions designed to limit the effect of drilling on wildlife and streams - even taking into consideration the views for drivers along I-70. A BLM spokesman described the proposal as 'one of the most restrictive BLM has written to date.' Even so, environmentalists and some politicians, including U.S. Sen. Ken Salazar, D-Colo., expressed disappointment and anger that the plan will open up the top of the 9,000-foot plateau region to drilling... "Under the BLM's preferred scenario, half of the plateau region would remain off limits to any drilling activity. Only small pockets of land - 350 acres - atop the plateau could be disturbed at any one time and wells would be clustered together on drill pads that would have to be at least one-half mile apart. In addition, BLM officials say development would be limited to higher ridges 'away from ecologically sensitive canyons and streams.' And, in an unusual twist, to better monitor and control disturbance atop the plateau only one company will be allowed to conduct all the work on behalf of all the leaseholders, the agency said. Leases will be available to any interested energy company but leaseholders will have to agree on a single firm to do the drilling and establish wells. Industry officials said they supported the efforts to protect the Roan's environment, but were critical of the components of the proposal they said would drag the drilling process out over decades, and reduce 'competitive interest' in acquiring leases to drill. Kathy Hall, Western Slope representative for the Colorado Oil & Gas Association, said her first look at the plan shows 'a lot is unknown. It's a new process.' She questioned whether a single operator doing the work for all of the companies that eventually obtain leases would be practical... "'This is not a perfect plan,' said Russell George, executive director of Colorado's Department of Natural Resources and a man known for his ability to build consensus. 'In government, our obligation is to balance things for all citizens to accommodate as many interests as possible.' George, who hails from Rifle, said he assigned 13 people from various divisions of the DNR to work on the plan with the BLM and locals in Garfield and Rio Blanco counties. He highlighted staged development 'one ridge top at a time,' clustering drilling facilities, setting aside more than 23,000 acres of wildlife security areas, forming a Parachute Creek Water Management Area to protect water resources and limiting development to one operator. Even with such restrictions, George said, officials believe industry can recover 90 percent of the natural gas under the plateau. That's important to energy advocates, who project that the nearly 9 trillion cubic feet of natural gas under the plateau could heat more than two million homes for 20 to 30 years in a time of rising natural gas demand and prices. Indeed, the Roan is estimated to be home to one-third of Colorado's natural gas reserves and represents more than 4 percent of the nation's 201 trillion cubic feet of proven reserves, according to figures provided by the BLM." Here's the coverage from the Summit Daily News. They write, "The public has until Oct. 15 to submit protests to the plan, and Gov. Bill Owens has 60 days to review the plan to see whether it meets state law. The BLM received nearly 75,000 comments on a draft of the management plan. The agency oversees 73,602 acres of federal land on the 9,000-foot plateau, home to elk, deer, mountain lions, peregrine falcons, bears, native Colorado trout and other wildlife. Town and city officials in surrounding communities have opposed any drilling on top of the plateau. Gas wells already have been drilled on private land there." Here's the coverage from the Denver Post. From the article, "The area has become a nationally watched battleground between those who would preserve its unusual ecosystem and those eager to tap into its rich reserve of an estimated 9 trillion cubic feet of gas." Category: 2008 Presidential Election 5:42:56 AM

© Copyright 2007 John Orr. Last update: 1/12/07; 4:23:32 PM.