Saturday, March 17, 2007

The Importance of Ground Water to Rivers in the West Here's a new report from Trout Unlimited entitled Gone to the Well Once Too Often [pdf]. They write, "Many ask, 'Why should people who care about healthy rivers also care about ground water management?' Our answer: ground and surface water are connected to each other and as a result, pumping ground water can adversely affect river flows. In too much of the West, new water users start using ground water because river flows are insufficient. Ground water is seen as a new source to solve their water needs, but ground and surface waters are not separate and will rise and fall together. Ultimately, rivers bear the burden. "This report provides basic information necessary for citizens, legislators and others to understand and address these challenges. It explains the relationship between ground and surface water and the adverse effects that ground water pumping can have on surface ecology. It describes the current regulatory management of ground water in a dozen western states. Finally, it makes a set of recommendations for wise ground water management. Interspersed throughout, there are stories of rivers in the region that have been adversely affected as a result of ground water pumping. "As more and more people populate the western states, more and more water providers consider tapping ground water to supply new cities and developments. The same urban water conservation measures that Trout Unlimited and others have advocated for more than a decade offer important ways to help address increasing municipal demand. Unfortunately, the systems of ground water management in many western states suggest that using ground water to supply these demands offers a no-lose proposition. However, states must go further and address the unsustainable use of ground water head-on, with new regulatory programs and management strategies, such as those listed in the Recommendations described above. While many of the stories in this report suggest that the situation is dire, as Wallace Stegner wrote, 'The west is the native land of hope.' Conservationists, communities, local governments, and traditional water users all have a vital stake in finding sustainable water supplies. Now, more than ever, we need to adopt common sense ground water reforms, conservation measures, and other strategies that will allow the West to grow while protecting our rivers, our springs, and the fish, wildlife, and people-all of us-that depend on them." Thanks to the Wyoming Tribune-Eagle for the link. From their article, "Rivers and streams are drying up across the West, and groundwater users are facing hard realities as scientists and, increasingly, state regulators tie pumping to dwindling surface flows. That's one of the main themes of the report Gone to the Well Once Too Often, released by Trout Unlimited on Thursday. Farmers in Colorado found this out the hard way last year. Last April the state engineer was forced to shut down 440 groundwater wells irrigating 200 farms and 30,000 acres along the South Platte River. The well owners had junior water rights in that watershed, and senior owners successfully argued that the wells were reducing surface flows and riparian groundwater on which they rely. The senior rights holders in question happened to be the Colorado cities of Boulder, Highlands Ranch and Sterling as well as several of the state's oldest irrigation ditches... "[The report] shows that increasing populations and drought are drying up rivers and streams across the West. As a result, it says, cities, counties and states need to act soon to protect senior water rights holders and wildlife by encouraging conservation and using creative regulation that limits total pumping. This new reality for groundwater users is the result of work by scientists who say below-ground and surface water supplies are linked. But Western water law never has recognized this, said Melinda Kassen, director of Trout Unlimited's Western Water project. 'Groundwater is seen as an easy source of water to many folks,' she said. '(But) many folks don't understand ... groundwater and surface water are not separate. They rise and fall together.' Excessive groundwater pumping thus can jeopardize the flow of rivers and streams essentially by pulling the water underground rather than allowing it move along the surface. Trout Unlimited undertook the study in part, it says, because groundwater pumping is inflicting damage on underground reservoirs called aquifers. Also, the majority of people in most Western states rely on groundwater for their domestic water. Yet those same users often unwittingly create the problem: Household wells are exempt from regulation in all Western states except Utah, which means an unlimited number can drilled. An individual well has little impact, but with populations soaring in many Western states, they collectively consume a lot of water, the study says." Category: Colorado Water 7:40:18 AM     Global warming: The Earth is a beautifully complex system Science Daily: "NOAA reports that February's combined global land and ocean surface temperature was the sixth warmest on record, but a strong El Niño in January helped push the winter to its highest value since records began in 1880. "In the U.S., the December 2006-February 2007 winter season had an overall temperature that was near average, according to scientists at the NOAA National Climatic Data Center in Asheville, N.C. Precipitation was above average in much of the center of the nation, while large sections of the East, Southeast and West were drier than average. The global average temperature was the warmest on record for the December-February period. "The combined global land and ocean surface temperature was the sixth warmest on record in February, but a record warm January helped push the winter (December-February) to its highest value since records began in 1880 (1.30 degrees F/0.72 degrees C above the 20th century mean). El Niño conditions contributed to the season's record warmth, but the episode rapidly weakened in February, as ocean temperatures in the central equatorial Pacific cooled more than 0.5 degrees F/0.3 degrees C and were near average for the month. "Separately, the global December-February land-surface temperature was the warmest on record, while the ocean-surface temperature tied for second warmest in the 128-year period of record, approximately 0.1 degree F (0.06 degrees C) cooler than the record established during the very strong El Niño episode of 1997-1998. "During the past century, global surface temperatures have increased at a rate near 0.11 degrees F (0.06 degrees C) per decade, but the rate of increase has been three times larger since 1976, or 0.32 degrees F (0.18 degrees C) per decade, with some of the largest temperature increases occurring in the high latitudes of the Northern Hemisphere." University of Colorado at Boulder: "Arctic sea ice that has been dwindling for several decades may have reached a tipping point that could trigger a cascade of climate change reaching into Earth's temperate regions, says a new University of Colorado at Boulder study. "Mark Serreze, a senior research scientist at CU-Boulder's National Snow and Ice Data Center who led the study synthesizing results from recent research, said the Arctic sea-ice extent trend has been negative in every month since 1979, when concerted satellite record keeping efforts began. The team attributed the loss of ice, about 38,000 square miles annually as measured each September, to rising concentrations of greenhouse gases and strong natural variability in Arctic sea ice. "'When the ice thins to a vulnerable state, the bottom will drop out and we may quickly move into a new, seasonally ice-free state of the Arctic,' Serreze said. 'I think there is some evidence that we may have reached that tipping point, and the impacts will not be confined to the Arctic region.' "A review paper by Serreze and Julienne Stroeve of CU-Boulder's NSIDC and Marika Holland of the National Center for Atmospheric Research titled 'Perspectives on the Arctic's Shrinking Sea Ice Cover' appears in the March 16 issue of Science." Category: 2008 Presidential Election 7:13:02 AM     Glenwood Springs water and sewer rates rising Glenwood Springs water and sewer customers rates are going up, according to the Glenwood Springs Post Independent (free registration required). From the article, "For the second year in a row, rates are going up for Glenwood Springs water and sewer customers. City Council on Thursday increased rates as part of a multi-year plan to bring them in line with the city's cost for providing those services... "Water customers will be charged $8.47 a month, along with $1.45 per thousand gallons for the first 5,500 gallons, with higher consumption rates for higher usages. City residents will pay a monthly minimum bill of $25.56 for sewer, up from $21.30, also with higher rates for higher usage... "The water and sewer rate hikes have been aimed at making those utilities pay their own way rather than continue to rely on city sales tax revenues as well. Hecksel said more rate increases are planned in future years, although the plan will be reassessed each year to make sure they are warranted. A consultant last year recommended 10 percent water rate hikes from 2006-08, no rate hikes the next two years, and then possibly another 10 percent increase in 2012. It suggested 20 percent annual increases in sewer rates through 2010, with 15 percent increases the following two years. The city is looking to rate increases to help soften the blow of the upcoming expense of relocating the sewer plant to West Glenwood. Last year it was estimated that could cost $25 million, but area construction prices have risen rapidly since then... "Also Thursday, council decided to charge a minimum of $57.05 a month for out-of-town sewer users not on the city's water system. The city doesn't know their rate of water consumption, so it has no way of determining and charging for higher sewer usage. But it also is assuming their homes are bigger and use more water than homes that pay the in-town minimum. Council also is attempting to charge those users about 50 percent more than they would pay if they lived in town. Few such out-of-town customers exist now, but the city is anticipating eventually providing sewer service to hundreds of homes expected to be built outside city limits up Four-Mile Road." Category: Colorado Water 7:00:54 AM

© Copyright 2007 John Orr. Last update: 4/1/07; 9:47:13 AM.