Thursday, March 1, 2007

Western U.S.: Pretty damn distinct 5280: "In the mid-20th century, a Democratic majority relied on a union between the Northeast and South. Today, that union is dead. 'Since [1968], Republican presidential candidates have enjoyed a virtual monopoly on the South's electoral votes,' writes Thomas Schaller, a political science professor at University of Maryland-Baltimore County, in Whistling Past Dixie: How Democrats Can Win Without the South. 'In the nine presidential elections between 1972 and 2004, Democrats have sent one lamb after another to their southern slaughter...Of the 1,260 total electoral votes cast by the eleven southern states between 1972 and 2004, Republicans won 1,039 of them -- almost 83 percent.' A slaughter indeed... "And so it is that the politicians and analysts are making noise about a new 'Western strategy' for the Democratic Party. The idea? Taking a centrist approach to such troubling Western issues as the environment, public land use, and water conservation and rights, as well as broader issues like renewable energy, health care, immigration, and national security. The target? The traditionally right-leaning states that comprise the Interior West: New Mexico, Colorado, Wyoming, Montana, Idaho, Nevada, and Arizona." Read the whole article. Category: 2008 Presidential Election 7:05:37 AM     Global warming? Peter Saint-André: "Why I am a global warming skeptic." Category: 2008 Presidential Election 6:59:53 AM     Colorado River Basin Water Management: Grand Canyon Center for Biological Diversity: "In a 21-page letter sent today to Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne, conservation groups Living Rivers/Colorado Riverkeeper and the Center for Biological Diversity demanded that the Secretary revise his plan to support a failing Colorado River restoration project in Grand Canyon National Park. A 12-year-old program that was established to mitigate the impacts of Glen Canyon Dam, upstream of Grand Canyon National Park, is undergoing environmental review for a new set of experiments. The groups charge that continuing activities under the current framework would be a death sentence for the remaining native species trying to survive the extensive ecological changes the dam's operations have brought to Grand Canyon." Category: Colorado Water 6:25:09 AM     Energy policy New West: "Montana Governor Brian Schweitzer, joined by former Montana Congressman Pat Williams, brought his relentlessly upbeat message of energy and economic development to the U.S. House of Representatives' Natural Resources Committee Wednesday, testifying at a hearing on the 'Evolving West.' Some of the panel Republicans expressed skepticism; some asked questions designed to expose hypocrisy. But in the end, even the Republicans showed love... "When Rob Bishop, Republican of Utah, asked Schweitzer about coal-to-liquid technology, it gave the governor a chance to point out that Montana has 32 percent of the nation's coal reserves, and 8 percent of the world's -- and that we need to find new ways to use coal. And that the nation needs to invest more money in coal technologies and carbon sequestration. And he might have kept going if Bishop didn't interrupt... "And they heard, several times, how coal cannot save the world without effective carbon sequestration technologies to mitigate the effects of greenhouse gasses. After several Republicans had mentioned environmental extremists gumming up the works, Schweitzer said that 10 percent on either side of an issue won't even get into the room to negotiate and well, they can stay out, the governor would rather deal with the other 80 percent." Category: 2008 Presidential Election 6:18:54 AM     Snowpack Here's a report about snowpack from the the Grand Junction Daily Sentinel. From the article, "As is usual in the nation's highest state, there are winners and losers when the snow falls. The same blizzards that killed up to 15,000 cattle on the plains and snarled traffic in urban areas could produce an above-average wheat crop with prices at their highest levels in years. 'We haven't had this kind of winter moisture since 1981 and 1982,' said Darrell Hanavan, executive director of the Colorado Association of Wheat Growers. Although the mountains have received only an average snowfall, ski resorts appear headed to a record for the second year in a row. 'Last year we were dry in the southern mountains and we were above average up north. This year it is an east-west division -- a dry west and a wet east. This kind of scenario is rather rare really,' said Mike Gillespie, who tracks the snowpack for the federal Natural Resources Conservation Service. Gillespie noted the snow season, which provides 80 percent of Colorado's surface water is three-quarters over and western areas of the state were unlikely to recover... "On Wednesday, the statewide snowpack was 91 percent of the 30-year average, compared with 88 percent on the same date last year. The Colorado River basin itself was 96 percent of average. The southwest reported the lowest with 77 percent in the San Miguel-Dolores-Animas-San Juan Basin. The blizzards filled up plains reservoirs and Denver Water, the state's biggest municipal water provider, reported its system was 89 percent full as of Monday. The average for the date is 78 percent. The snow also ended two years of extreme drought for wheat farmers. Hanavan said the area entered a drought in 1999 that was only temporarily broken by heavy snow in the spring of 2003. Demand for ethanol has driven up prices for wheat and corn. The 116 percent average reported in the Arkansas River Basin and 111 percent in the South Platte were a mixed blessing. Colorado ranchers lost an estimated 10,000 to 15,000 head of cattle to blizzards. So far the federal government has declined to provide any aid." Category: Colorado Water 6:14:10 AM     New pipeline for Windsor Windsor has received some state dough and plans to build a new pipeline from the Cache La Poudre river, according to the Greeley Tribune (free registration required). From the article, "Windsor is reaping the rewards of one of the few Colorado coffers that still has a growing bank account -- to the tune of a $612,953 to help supply water for fire protection and drinking. The Windsor Town Board entered into an agreement with the Energy and Mineral Assistance Program this week for matching funds to build a 6,100-foot, 20-inch pipe to run from the north side of the Cache La Poudre River to the town's water tank. The town will match the grant for an estimated project cost of slightly more than $1.2 million... "The existing line, originally built in the late 1970s, should have a life expectancy of 50 years or more, Wagner said, but certain soil types can speed corrosion. That appears to be what happened in Windsor. 'The soil we have, for the most part, down there is being pretty reactive and accelerating the corrosion. But most soils don't do that,' he said. To get the most for its money, the engineering department will look at building the new pipe out of plastic instead of the ductile iron it uses now. The repair was something the town needed to take care of, Wagner said, because the pipe supplies water for most everything the town requires." Category: Colorado Water 6:07:26 AM     Million project pipeline Aaron Million was in Grand Junction pitching his pipeline project to Club 20 yesterday. Here's a recap from the Rocky Mountain News. They write, "On Wednesday, members of Club 20's influential water committee were cautious and skeptical about, but not hostile to, a proposal to pump massive amounts of water from Flaming Gorge Reservoir in Wyoming and Utah to the Front Range... "Million has scaled back from his original plan, which called for taking 250,000 to 400,000 acre-feet of water per year from Flaming Gorge, to 165,000 to 250,000 acre-feet. His new plan could provide water for 330,000 to 500,000 more homes from Fort Collins to Pueblo, with water available through reuse to Eastern Plains agriculture. 'I don't think Club 20 would oppose it, but I don't know if we'll support it,' Steve Harris of Durango told Million." Category: Colorado Water 5:58:12 AM     Colorado River Basin Water Management: Drought Here's a report about the seven Colorado River Compact states and the agreement to manage the river during drought, from the downstream point of view, from the San Diego Union-Tribune. They write, "An unprecedented approach to coping with lengthy dry spells along the shrinking Colorado River has passed an early environmental test, moving Western states closer to adopting a strategy that would allow California to create a vast reserve of water without building new dams. 'There are no red flags at all,' said Roger Patterson, assistant general manager of the Metropolitan Water District, the Los Angeles-based wholesaler that serves San Diego County. The opportunity to store up to another 1.5 million acre-feet -- enough for 3 million average households a year -- in Arizona's Lake Mead is a major attraction for California in a seven-state proposal to manage drought on the Colorado River. The initiative contains several novel proposals, including a small $84 million reservoir in the Imperial Valley to be financed by Las Vegas and the possibility of Southern California ratepayers funding water conservation in Mexico. More water banked in Lake Mead would help California move supplies around based on demand and availability, taking from the Colorado in some years to reduce demand from the Sacramento Delta... "Yesterday, the federal government issued its draft assessment of the potential environmental effects of various proposals to revise operations on the Colorado River under drought conditions. None appears to significantly threaten fish and wildlife or public health. Changes could have some downside for recreational uses or power producers but would not cause irreparable financial harm, the review stated... "California relies on the Colorado to deliver at least 4.4 million acre-feet of water a year, 75 percent of which goes to Imperial Valley farms. Much of the rest flows to homes and businesses from San Diego to Santa Ana... "The drought management plan is an extension of a landmark 2003 accord among the seven Western states to share the Colorado River. California is compelled to move aggressively because the pact requires the state to reduce its draw from the river by 800,000 acre-feet a year. The proposal, which has not been ratified pending federal environmental approval, contains assurances for California, Arizona and Nevada that shortages can be managed if steps are taken now. The other states -- Wyoming, Utah, Colorado and New Mexico -- are willing to go along because it would temper pressure to cut their allocations from the river. Mexico remains a wild card, expressing concerns about the loss of groundwater. For California, the cornerstone of the plan is the abandonment of a decades-old 'use it or lose it' policy toward deliveries from Lake Mead. With the exception of a recent pilot program, states cannot bank their unused allocation for withdrawal later." More coverage from the Salt Lake Tribune. From the article, "The Bureau of Reclamation on Wednesday released a draft environmental study that examines alternatives for managing the Colorado River during periods of drought and water shortages. Among the options is the agreement forged last year by the seven Colorado River Basin states -- Utah, Wyoming, Colorado and New Mexico in the upper basin and Nevada, Arizona and California in the lower basin -- that defines the conditions under which lower basin shortages would be declared and creates a plan for the joint management of Lake Powell and Lake Mead. "But that option vies with several other alternatives in the draft environmental impact statement (EIS). One calls for voluntary, compensated reductions in water use to minimize involuntary shortages in the lower basin and avoid 'curtailments' on Colorado River water use in the upper basin. Another would seek to maximize water deliveries at the expense of storing more water in Powell and Mead, reducing deliveries only when there is insufficient water in Mead to meet lower basin entitlements. A third alternative envisions storing more water in Powell and Mead by reducing deliveries and increasing shortages to benefit power companies and recreational users. The fourth, no-action alternative, provides a baseline to compare the other options." More Coyote Gulch coverage here. Category: Colorado Water 5:53:17 AM

© Copyright 2007 John Orr. Last update: 4/1/07; 9:38:26 AM.