Coyote Gulch's Colorado Water
The health of our waters is the principal measure of how we live on the land. -- Luna Leopold



































































Urban Drainage and Flood Control District
















































































































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Thursday, December 6, 2007
 

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Urban Watershed Perspectives: "If you listen to some of the statements made by the authors of this bill [H.R. 2421, the Clean Water Restoration Act of 2007], you might be tempted to think that it wouldn't have that big of an impact on how water resources (including our urban watersheds) are regulated in the U.S. However, the language chosen for this bill appears to potentially significantly broaden the scope of federal regulation. At issue are measures in the bill that revise the definition of 'waters of the United States.' The revised definition strikes the term 'navigable' and includes 'all interstate and intrastate waters.' This would appear to open many waters that have not traditionally been subject to Section 404 of the Clean Water Act, such as agricultural stock ponds and roadside drainage ditches originally constructed in uplands. If the proposed definition were adopted, there could be significant impacts to all manner of projects. Here's a real-life doomsday scenario... imagine a 20-mile road expansion project, where borrow ditches constructed 60 years ago in uplands, that because of steady road runoff and lack of maintenance, are deemed 'jurisdictional.' The costs to permit and mitigate filling these ditches (which would probably extend down both sides of the roadway for the entire extent of the project area) could be staggering."

Category: 2008 Presidential Election
9:33:03 PM    


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Here's a report on the Great Outdoors Colorado legacy grant for projects in Pitkin County and Garfield County from The Summit Daily News (free registration required). From the article:

Great Outdoors Colorado awarded nearly $6 million in state lottery funds for a wide range of projects in the Crystal Valley Watershed and Rifle. On Monday, GOCO announced that the Crystal Watershed Legacy Project will receive about $5 million to protect essential open space areas and fund construction of the first phase of a trail up the Crystal River Valley. "This is by far the largest GOCO grant that's ever been received by an open space program on the Western Slope, so we're thrilled to have secured this level of assistance from the state," said Dale Will, director of Pitkin County Open Space and Trails. About $1 million of that will go toward building 5 miles of multi-use trail from Carbondale to the mouth of the Crystal Canyon. The trail still needs approval permitting from the Colorado Department of Transportation. Will said there are hopes to put the project out to bid early next year and complete construction before next winter. Another $1 million will go toward purchase of a boat ramp for people to access the Roaring Fork River for fishing and rafting from Carbondale. The remaining $3 million will go into land conservation projects, Will said. Property purchased for conservation includes 7 acres housing the old hydroelectric plant for the Redstone Castle. That was a "Victorian hydrohouse" completed in 1941, making Redstone one of the first towns in the Rockies to have electricity, Will said, but it's since fallen down...

According to GOCO, Centennial Park in Rifle will also receive $750,000 for improvements. The undeveloped open space surrounding Rifle Creek will receive funds for a fitness course, a wetland boardwalk and riparian area, themed play areas, interpretive signs, an outdoor learning area, picnic areas, restrooms and parking.

More Coyote Gulch coverage here.

Category: Colorado Water
7:13:34 AM    


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Here's a report on Colorado Springs' stormwater utility and collections from The Colorado Springs Gazette. From the article:

Property owners are picking up the pace in paying Colorado Springs' new stormwater fees, but a significant portion of the money the city hoped to collect this year is delinquent. As of Nov. 28, the Stormwater Enterprise reported $1.5 million past due, about 12 percent of the total. While 96 percent of the first two quarters' billings has been paid and 85 percent of the third, only 66 percent of fourth-quarter billings due by Nov. 28 has been paid. Stormwater manager Ken Sampley said he's hopeful most people will pay by year's end. Those who don't face late fees of 6 percent annually and collection procedures, including liens against properties for which fees are delinquent.

Category: Colorado Water
7:00:13 AM    


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From The Cañon City Daily Record, "Local water bills will skyrocket 20 percent Jan. 1 if the Cañon City Council follows through with Monday's preliminary approval of steep rate increases. An $11 million water infrastructure update spurred the approval of new rates for both water rates and tap fees. Taps fees are set to hike 25 percent at the same time. Residents will have the opportunity to give input on the new fee structure at a public hearing at 7 p.m. Dec. 17."

Category: Colorado Water
6:54:45 AM    


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The Colorado State Supreme Court heard arguments from both sides regarding Water Division 3 judge O. John Kuenhold's 2006 ruling on the state engineer's confined aquifer rules for the Rio Grande Basin, according to The Valley Courier. From the article:

Arguing to the seven-member court on Tuesday on behalf of Judge Kuenhold's decision were Assistant Attorney General Peter Ampe, lead counsel for the state in the 2006 rules trial, and Bill Paddock, attorney for the Rio Grande Water Users Association, one of the proponents of the state rules. Attorney Allan Hale argued on behalf of Cotton Creek Circles, LLC, that appealed the judge's decision to the Colorado Supreme Court. "I think the court was quite interested in what we had to say and I thought Peter Ampe did a very good job on behalf of the state," Paddock said following the court hearing on Tuesday. "I am optimistic that Judge Kuenhold's wonderful decision is going to be upheld." Paddock said Ampe fielded questions from the court justices clearly and correctly. He said each side only had 30 minutes to make their arguments and answer questions on Tuesday morning. He said the arguments focused on technical legal issues regarding Kuenhold's decision. Paddock said the arguments revolved around complicated legal questions "that are fascinating to lawyers but may not be very interesting to other people." The court's questions focused on the law, Paddock said. "They do not review the facts. This is legal arguments about the correctness of the decision made by the judge so their questions are about the applicable law and the standard that they apply in reviewing the decision."[...]

The court generally takes arguments under advisement and may take anywhere from 3-6 months to render a decision, Paddock explained, "because they very carefully look at the law and tend to write very careful and reasoned opinions." Paddock said he did not expect a decision from the Colorado Supreme Court before early spring of 2008. He said proponents believe that Judge Kuenhold's decision was well reasoned and will ultimately be upheld.

Kuenhold approved the state's rules governing new withdrawals from the Valley's confined aquifer agreeing with the state engineer that the Rio Grande Basin's streams and aquifers are overappropriated and cannot handle new withdrawals without injuring existing water rights and that a one-for-one replacement required in the rules for new withdrawals is necessary to prevent injury to senior vested water rights. The judge also determined in his 191-page decision that the rules were necessary to maintain a sustainable water supply in the Valley's aquifers and protect Colorado's ability to fulfill its Rio Grande Compact obligations.

The stated issues before the Colorado Supreme Court in this case were: whether the rules, House Bill 98-1011 (HB-1011) and Senate Bill 04-222 (SB-222) violate the constitutional right to appropriate the waters of the state through the use of artificial constructs that have no basis in Colorado water law; whether the rules, HB-1011 and SB-222 perpetuate the state engineer's failure to administer existing diversions in the unconfined and confined aquifers in priority and on this basis violate the right to appropriate; whether the rules, HB-1011 and SB-222 deny equal protection of the law; and whether the rules are void because the state engineer failed to submit them for oversight review to the attorney general and Office of Legislative Legal Services as required by statute.

Category: Colorado Water
6:50:41 AM    


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From The Loveland Daily Reporter-Herald, "The Fort Collins City Council passed 6-0 a resolution expressing the councilors' opposition to uranium mining in the area. One councilor abstained...Jackie Adolph from Coloradoans Against Resource Destruction brought to the council a petition with 5,400 signatures of people concerned about the mining. Half of those signatures came from Fort Collins residents, she said."

More coverage from The Fort Collins Coloradoan. They write:

Powertech officials, who were not invited to present information to council but spoke with other residents during public comment, asked council to table the resolution until they have a chance to discuss the project with council and city staff. "We understand there are community concerns about our proposed operations, but a position on this should not be taken on the fear of the unknown," said James Bonner, vice president of exploration for Powertech. "I think they should look at both sides of the issue before passing a resolution here tonight."

City staff was unable to answer many council questions about the proposed project, including what the size the project would be, how many acres it would encompass, how much uranium would be mined, the strength of the regulatory process involved and who owns the land in question, among others. "I am concerned (that) the lack of a data-driven approach here tonight is bad public policy, shines badly on this council, is not a (standard) we should be setting for this council," [Wade] Troxell said. City Manager Darin Atteberry explained the lack of information to council. "If you want staff to take the time to give you a recommendation that is more scientifically based ... if you want more detail prior to passing this resolution, we will need more time to study that," Atteberry said. "Based on the information that we have, I think it's fair to say staff has strong concerns. Is this atypical for us? Yes, usually we spend more time getting data on these kinds of things. But with the limited information we have, staff has strong concerns."

More Coyote Gulch coverage here and here.

Category: 2008 Presidential Election
6:36:21 AM    


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The Clifton Water District is in the news two days in a row. Congratulations to the district for winning the "Directors Award of Recognition" from the Partnership for Safe Water, as reported by Earthtimes.org. From the article:

Clifton Water District's Charles A. Strain Water Treatment Plant in Clifton, Colorado, has received the "Directors Award of Recognition" from the Partnership for Safe Water, a national volunteer initiative developed by EPA and other water organizations representing water suppliers striving to provide their communities with drinking water quality that surpasses the required federal standards. The Clifton Water District successfully completed the Self-Assessment and Peer Review phase of the Partnership program, a phase which consists of identifying factors that limit treatment plant performance. "We are thrilled to receive this award," said David Payne, Water Treatment Plant Laboratory Superintendent. "Our goal is to continually strive to improve our water quality, and by joining the ranks as one of the highest performing plants in the country, we have taken a large step toward achieving this goal." The award was presented to the utility December 4. Representatives from AWWA, U.S. EPA and the Colorado Dept. of Public Health & Environment made the presentation...

The Partnership currently includes more than 200 water utilities, collectively serving more than 85 million people. This represents more than 60% of the U.S. population served by surface water supplies. Each utility has committed to the enhancement of drinking water quality and operational excellence in water treatment. As members of the Partnership, utilities make a pledge to their communities to improve their treatment operations to reduce the risk of exposure to microbial contaminants, namely Cryptosporidium, a parasite that can cause illness. By making this commitment, the member utilities' treatment practices undergo a rigorous review developed by national experts, and includes a four-phased, self-assessment and peer-review process.

Category: Colorado Water
6:31:29 AM    


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The Bureau of Reclamation's draft environmental impact statement on the effects of oil shale development is due on December 21st, according to the Grand Junction Daily Sentinel. From the article:

Insight to the potential effect of commercial oil shale development in northwest Colorado will come Dec. 21 when the Bureau of Land Management releases a draft environmental impact study of its fledgling oil shale and tar sands leasing program, BLM Washington spokeswoman Heather Feeney said Wednesday. The document, called the Oil Shale and Tar Sands Draft Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement, is the federal government's view of how extensively commercial oil shale development in Colorado, Utah and Wyoming will affect the region economically and environmentally. It is expected to explain how water supplies, air quality and other aspects of the human environment will be changed by an industry that appears set to alter the landscape of northwest Colorado. The public will have until March 21 to submit comments on the impact statement, which will be available at local BLM offices and online at ostseis.anl.gov...When the final oil shale environmental impact statement will be released is anybody's guess, but it depends on how long it takes for the BLM to process the public comments it receives on the draft, Feeney said.

More Coyote Gulch coverage here.

Category: 2008 Presidential Election
6:18:12 AM    


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Here's a look at the snowpack around Vail from The Vail Daily News (free registration required). From the article:

Last weekend's snowfall nudged the local snowpack toward normal, and a big winter storm forecast for this weekend could bring a lot more white stuff our way. But the snow still lags behind average for this time of year, with the snowpack at Vail Mountain at 79 percent of average Monday. Local water officials aren't worrying yet about the snowpack, which, when it melts, provides much of the drinking water for the area. "Given the date ... it's just really early, and so while everybody would like more, it's not unusual," said Diane Johnson, spokeswoman for the Eagle River Water and Sanitation District...

A winter storm warning was in effect from Wednesday night through Thursday morning, with 4-8 inches expected through today, said Ken Ludington of the National Weather Service. Up to 1-2 feet could fall on Vail Mountain by late Friday, he said...

Vail Mountain has gotten 60 inches so far this year at Mid-Vail, compared to a historical average of 73 inches. Vail Mountain, which struggled to open in mid-November because of warm and dry weather, finally got a good snowstorm last weeking, reporting 11 inches of snow Sunday. Beaver Creek reported 15 inches on Sunday. Statewide, the snowpack is at 75 percent of average.

More snowpack news from The Grand Junction Daily Sentinel. They write:

Four to 8 inches of snow were expected Wednesday night in the mountains and on Grand Mesa, with another 16 to 20 inches expected for the high country through Saturday, National Weather Service meteorologist Jeff Colton said. The heaviest snow is expected Friday night, with winter storm warnings expected for Friday and Saturday. The first storm, Colton said, is coming from the Pacific Northwest and will affect primarily the area between Grand Mesa and Vail. Friday's storm is expected to tap into tropical moisture from the south, dumping plenty of snow on the mountains. But that storm will be warmer, and the snow level likely will be between 8,000 and 9,000 feet...

The storm would improve a snowpack already approaching normal in some areas. In November, the water content of the region's snowpack was extremely low, hitting 12 percent of normal or less in some river basins. As of Wednesday morning, water content of the snowpack was 79 percent of normal in the Gunnison and Upper Colorado river basins, 59 percent of normal in the Yampa and White river basins and 91 percent of normal in the San Miguel, Dolores, Animas and San Juan river basins, according to the Natural Resources Conservation Service.

Category: Colorado Water
6:11:13 AM    



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