Monday, March 12, 2007

Global warming: The Earth is a beautifully complex system Pollster.com: "Additional analysis from a recent Gallup national survey (analysis, video) of 1,018 adults (conducted 2/22 through 2/25) finds: More than 60% of Americans are very or somewhat worried that hurricanes will become more powerful and tropical diseases will become more prevalent as a result of global warming; 75% of Democrats, 34% of Republicans, and 59% of independents worry about global warming risks." Category: 2008 Presidential Election 7:07:27 PM     Ritter signs HB 1132 Our pals at the North Denver News are reporting that Governor Ritter has signed HB 07-1132, Concerning an Expansion of Water Judges' Jurisdiction to Adress the Effects of a Water Right Adjudication on Water Quality. From the article, "Gov. Bill Ritter signed a landmark bill in Pueblo this morning to protect Colorado water quality. House Bill 1132 will, for the first time, allow water court judges to consider environmental impacts and water quality along with water quantity as part of the determination on large permanent transfers." "HB 1132 allows water judges to reject applications to remove 1,000 acre-feet or more from a river if such a transfer is environmentally harmful to the river. In more technical language, it allows a water judge, in a water court case involving a permanent change of a water right from an irrigation use to another type of use which involves more than 1,000 acre-feet of consumptive use per year, to impose terms and conditions in the final water court decree that addresses any decreases in water quality standards as a result of the change. "Ritter praised state Rep. Buffie McFadyen, D-Pueblo West, for co-sponsoring HB 1132 along with Sen. Gail Schwartz, D-Snowmass Village. Similar versions of the bill have failed in previous years, but HB 1132 passed both the Colorado House and Senate with broad bipartisan support." More Coyote Gulch coverage here. Category: Colorado Water 6:24:54 PM     Global warming: The Earth is a beautifully complex system Here's an article from the Denver Post with scientist's observations of some of the effects of global warming. From the article, "Global warming, scientists say, is reshaping the landscapes in which they work, forcing some researchers to carry shotguns to fend off stranded polar bears and leaving others to watch once- vibrant coral reefs die. In Siberia, CU soil biologist Jason Neff has seen melting permafrost create sinkholes in tundra, which fill with murky water... "Last month, the United Nations' Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change reported that the world is heating up and that it's 'very likely' the fault of people. Burning fossil fuels in power plants and cars releases heat-trapping greenhouse gases into the air. Since 1900, the average global temperature has risen by about 1.3 degrees Fahrenheit, the international team reported, and seas have risen by nearly 7 inches." Category: 2008 Presidential Election 6:35:40 AM     Wastewater fees to rise Meeting new federal standards for ammonia are causing treatment plants in Colorado to incur expenses, according to the Rocky Mountain News. From the article, "Sewage plants in metro Denver and across Colorado are preparing to spend hundreds of millions of dollars to comply with tough new rules to protect fish by limiting ammonia in rivers and streams. The Metro Wastewater Reclamation District, the largest sewage facility in the region, plans $235 million worth of upgrades to its sprawling operation in northeast Denver. Other plants, including Boulder's and the Littleton/Englewood site - the state's third-largest - also plan major improvements. The costly upgrades are linked to new federal ammonia rules, which are based on numerous studies showing that standards dating to 1987 don't sufficiently protect fish from what can be the toxic effects of the chemical - formed from urine and manure that wind up in wastewater plants. "Utilities will need several years to upgrade their facilities, but the effort could mean improved fish habitat in warm-water rivers such as the South Platte. Native species such as fathead minnows and johnny darters have been making a comeback there, but some, like the Iowa darter and plains minnow, still struggle. 'It's going to be a different river,' Barbara Biggs, a government liaison with the Metro district, said of the South Platte. 'It'll be kind of interesting to watch and see what happens over time.' Ammonia isn't always fatal to fish, 'but it certainly counts as a stressor,' said Pete Walker, a fish pathologist with the Colorado Division of Wildlife. It crimps their ability to cope with other environmental hardships, including disease, he said. Colorado's nine-member Water Quality Control Commission is expected to adopt the new ammonia standards for each major river basin at a hearing Tuesday, but - at the same time - will likely give wastewater plants several years to comply... "The upgrades will likely mean higher wastewater bills for customers, though it varies from place to place. For Metro's 1.5 million customers in the Denver area, wastewater bills are expected to rise roughly 7 percent annually for the next 'several years,' Biggs said, to help cover the costs of the massive project." Category: Colorado Water 6:29:59 AM     Glade Reservoir? Here's an opinion piece in opposition to Glade Reservoir, written by Mark Easter, from the Fort Collins Coloradoan. From the article, "Mike Applegate (board president of the Northern Colorado Water Conservancy District, or NCWCD) recently wrote in these pages about the proposed Glade Reservoir, offering us only one choice: drain the Poudre River of its last free-flowing water or bulldoze local farms. This disingenuous argument was one of almost a dozen misleading statements and outright falsehoods he used to defend Glade/NISP. It begs the question -- does the project stand on its own under public scrutiny? I think not. "The public needs to know that Glade would require developing at least 20,000 acres of farmland just to pay for itself. Northern's own data indicates that Glade's subscribers -- most of them in suburban Denver -- plan to borrow nearly all of the $405 million price tag and sell water tap fees (read 'build new subdivisions') to pay down the debt. Building Glade would require the subscribing communities to grow up to three times faster than the regional growth rate. Erie, for example, plans to borrow about $65 million ($130 million with interest). That is over $20,000 in debt ($40,000 with interest) for each four-person family. If tap fees sell slowly or the economy slows, existing residents will see their water rates rise. The bottom line: NCWCD's 'save the farms' lingo is bait-and switch -- Northern is spinning this project as a savior to local agriculture, preying on public sympathy for farmers. I don't buy it, and neither do any of the farmers that I've talked to. It is an especially cynical move considering little to none of the water from Glade would go to farmers." Category: Colorado Water 6:21:11 AM

© Copyright 2007 John Orr. Last update: 4/1/07; 9:44:59 AM.