Monday, December 17, 2007

Great Outdoors Colorado Legacy Grants Here's an update on the recent award of a legacy grant to the Black Canyon Land Trust from The Montrose Daily Press. From the article: Landowners seeking a way to continue working their lands while preserving them for future generations now have the opportunity. Montrose-based Black Canyon Land Trust received one of 15 Legacy Grants to pursue land conservation projects in Ouray, La Plata and Montezuma counties. The organization was entrusted with $4.4 million -- $1.8 million of which is set aside for Ouray County -- through the Lottery-funded Great Outdoors Colorado Trust Fund Board, GOCO announced this month... Potential conservation lands will be agriculturally productive lands, riparian (an area of land adjacent to a stream, river, lake or wetland) corridors and quality wildlife habitat, said Brandon Hatter, program director of Black Canyon Land Trust's Northern San Juan Initiative. "It's a great opportunity for landowners to stay on their land if that is what they choose, or if they want to see their land passed on to their family this can aid in that process," Hatter said. The initiative can also provide a great opportunity for landowners to use some of their property's equity without physically selling their property, he added. "Most (people) are forced to choose between their land and money, and this can provide an opportunity to take advantage of both," Hatter said. This is the first project for this type of GOCO funding for land conservation awarded to the Black Canyon Land Trust, which has had two years of program support for the Northern San Juan Initiative. The funding will be used to fund a purchase of a portion of the conservation easement value, Hawke said. As a condition of funding, the organization will need to match its grant; and in 2008, it aims to do so through a fundraising campaign. "We will be turning to the community and we know how much the community loves these areas and would want to protect them," said Hawke. More Coyote Gulch coverage here. Category: Colorado Water 9:12:24 AM     Water projects for Canon City and Rifle Cañon City is hoping to upgrade their treatment plant along with other infrastructure improvements totaling $11 million, according to The Cañon City Daily Record. From the article: Need a tall drink of water to help swallow the proposed 20 percent water-rate increase? The city is working hard to ensure its residents will have all the water available they'll ever need, both now and in the future -- and that is why it is pursuing an $11 million water infrastructure update. "The numbers are pretty shocking," Cañon City Administrator Steve Rabe acknowledged this week. "An increase this large is scary, but you need to look at what you are going to get for those dollars. We're trying to do what is prudent and responsible, but we can't continue to ignore the need." Rabe explained the increase and the elements surrounding it. He said it is not the covert deal some believe it to be. "We've been working on this since the first of the year," Rabe said. "This was not a secret. We had a formal presentation by the engineer to the Public Works committee in August."[...] First, Rabe said, the 20 percent figure contains two elements: a 3.6 percent inflationary increase and an almost 17 percent hike to pay for the three-year, $11 million list of projects. In addition to an increase in user water rates, the city wants to raise tap fees 25 percent at the same time. The 3.6 percent inflationary increase is that high because the city held off on a water-rate hike for the past two years. The last time City Council raised rates was in December 2005, when it approved a 1 percent hike. The newest fee structure was approved on first reading by City Council on Dec. 3. Public input will be accepted during a regularly-scheduled meeting Monday, and the council then will consider the increase on second and final reading. If approved, the new rates will take effect Jan. 1, but still will be far below the rates of other cities in Colorado. A study of residential water use shows 30,000 gallons over three months in Cañon City cost $73 and would rise to $85 if the new rates are approved. Right now, Park Center Water District residents pay $155 for the same amount of water; Florence, $153; Penrose, $131; and Colorado Springs, $124. Fountain, nearest in population size to Cañon City, currently pays $121. Pueblo is one of the few area cities paying less for water, $59 for the same amount... The public hearing on the issue will begin at 7 p.m. Monday at City Hall, 128 Main St. More Coyote Gulch coverage here. Rifle needs to build more water treatment capacity according to this report from The Grand Junction Daily Sentinel. They write: Just after they approved a new $23 million wastewater treatment plant, city officials have started reviewing a similar need for a new water treatment plant to accommodate future growth, Mayor Keith Lambert said. That probably will mean higher water rates in the near future, he said, but not likely in the coming year. The city doubled its sewer rates to help pay for the wastewater plant... The city's engineering consultant, Schmueser Gordon Meyer Inc. of Glenwood Springs, recently told the Rifle City Council that water treatment capacity must increase within the next three to five years to handle growth from a number of large planned subdivisions. Growth demands have accelerated the demand for a new plant or expansions of the city's two water plants, or a combination of both, Lambert said. Cost estimates range from $8.9 million to $25 million, according to Schmueser Gordon Meyer. The company recommended the city increase its water rates by 25 percent and tap fees to $5,000, with 4 percent annual rate hikes for the next decade and annual tap fee hikes of 6 percent to pay for the work. Lambert said federal funds and grants could help reduce the amount, but rate hikes are likely. Category: Colorado Water 8:59:25 AM     Wilderness protection for Rocky Mountain National Park? The bill to provide wilderness protection for Rocky Mountain National Park is still stalled in committee. The sticking point is over the liability for the owners of the Grand Ditch, according to The Denver Post. From the article: A bill to designate Rocky Mountain National Park as a federal wilderness area is stalled in Congress over the question of whether to give an irrigation ditch company what some consider to be extraordinary liability protection. The Water Supply and Storage Co., which operates the Grand River Ditch, is pushing Congress to include a clause that would offer legal protection for all damages, except in cases of negligence. But the bipartisan wilderness measure, supported by the state's entire congressional delegation and the park's neighbors, is deadlocked in committee because the Bush administration claims the protections would exceed those in other agreements. "The administration, the Department of the Interior and the National Park Service all support the wilderness designation, so it is the change in liability that is the sticking point," said park superintendent Vaughn Baker. More Coyote Gulch coverage here. Category: Colorado Water 8:46:41 AM     RIP Bob Hite Bob Hite, who managed the Metro Wastewater Reclamation District, has passed away, according to The Denver Post. From the article: Hite, who died Dec. 4 at age 71, had battled cancer for five years...[Beverly McAdam] praised Hite for "bringing financial stability" to the reclamation district. The district has been nationally recognized as one of the best wastewater treatment centers in the nation. The treatment plant will be named for Hite. Robert W. Hite was born in Fort Scott, Kan., on March 18, 1936, and graduated from Colorado Springs High School. On Aug. 20, 1960, he married Sarah Hoper, whom he had met in junior high school. He earned a bachelor's degree in political science at Colorado College in Colorado Springs and his law degree from New York University. He was a judge advocate general in the Navy and then became general counsel for Mr. Steak restaurants in the Denver office, a job he held for many years. He was on the Wastewater Reclamation District board for 17 years before being named district manager in 1988. He had been chairman of Mountain States Employers Council and a board member of Water for People. Category: Colorado Water 8:30:47 AM     Climate change: The earth is a beautifully complex system It seems that almost everyone agrees now that climate change is effecting water supplies and the ability to predict them in the future. Here's an article about the impending clash between those that would build more storage and those that oppose new dams due to the damage they can do to riparian environments, from The Durango Herald. From the article: We should build more dams, water managers say. Global warming might melt the snow earlier, making it all the more important to store water through the longer, hotter summers. But environmentalists remain critical of dams. The Natural Resources Defense Council's report on global warming and the water supply - titled "In Hot Water" [pdf] - argues against reservoirs. New dams might not be effective, said Brad Udall, head of Western Water Assessment, a federal office in Boulder. The problem, Udall said, is global warming will reduce the average - or mean - flow of rivers. "No amount of storage is going to recover that lost mean amount," Udall said. Besides, he said, the Colorado is one of the world's most heavily dammed rivers already, with 60 million acre feet of reservoir storage on a river that carries less than 15 million acre feet a year. If the river gets drier, there will be extra space available in current reservoirs, he said. But Marc Waage, head of raw water supply for Denver Water, said dams bring some certainty for water managers in the unpredictable era of global warming. "There's always going to be the need to shift where water's available to where it's needed for societal or environmental purposes. It usually takes a reservoir to do that," Waage said..."The more efficient you become, without adding new supply to your system, the more susceptible you are going to be to climate change," Waage said. "It's a tough dilemma for water providers." Here's another article on climate change from The Durango Herald. They write: Among other tasks, these computers are helping run the center's Community Climate System Model, which makes predictions about global warming. The model requires the computers to do 3 trillion math problems to simulate a single day of weather on Planet Earth. The model covers decades, and scientists run it repeatedly. It is just one of the models used by 2,500 scientists around the world on the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Over and over, they come to the same conclusion: It's very likely that Earth is getting hotter because of extra greenhouse gases, caused by human use of fossil fuels and agriculture. Average temperatures around the globe are likely to rise 1.5 degrees Fahrenheit by 2029, even if we cut back our greenhouse gas emissions today, according to the IPCC. And for the Western United States, there's a simple conclusion: hotter means drier. Summer temperatures in the Southwest are expected to rise. And winter snows probably will melt earlier. That poses a problem for farmers, who will get a rush of water earlier than normal, then have to cope with dry summers. "You've got to love these things and you've got to hate 'em," Udall said of the climate models. "We have a good sense of what's coming at us now in terms of temperature. What they don't do well is precipitation." Not even the best global computers can make predictions for individual rivers. That's a problem for anyone concerned about the Colorado River Basin, which encompasses the Southwest and includes Colorado's Four Corners. So Udall closely monitors other researchers who focus on the Colorado River. All six major studies Udall has tracked show a reduction in Colorado River flows. The studies vary widely, but share a common element: The river is drying up. The latest two are from 2006. One predicts a 10 percent reduction by the end of the century. The other predicts a 45 percent drop by 2060... Werner has brought in an IPCC critic, Roger Pielke Sr., to talk to [the Northern Colorado Water Conservancy District] board. Pielke argues that climate models overstate the role humans play in warming the globe. And the models aren't useful for long-term local climate predictions, says Pielke, a professor at the University of Colorado's Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences. Northern managers pay close attention to the issue, Werner said, but he's not sold on the certainty of a drier future. "I'm not sure anybody can say we're going to have 14 percent less water, and there's some out there saying that," Werner said... Other researchers try for a simpler approach and don't try to predict rainfall. Pat Flood with Wright Water Engineers in Denver examined how a 1-degree Celsius rise in temperature would affect the Colorado River Basin, even if the same amount of rain and snow fell every year. She found it would suck an average of 1.7 million acre-feet a year out of the four upstream states. That's a lot for a basin that is legally entitled to 7.5 million acre-feet at best. Blame it on thirsty trees. When the summers are longer, plants sprout earlier and take more water. It's true for forests, farms and suburban lawns. Flood wants to have her study peer-reviewed and published. Her boss, Ken Wright, hopes to call attention to the simple calculations that led to the alarming conclusion. Wright has an office in Durango and has done research on the ancient waterworks at Mesa Verde National Park. "We wanted to make sure we didn't get into arguments and politics," Wright said. "We didn't want to get into global warming. We said we'd stick with physics."[...] Koren Nydick with the Mountain Studies Institute is paying attention. From offices in Durango and Silverton, she is leading a study of alpine plants. She's also organizing the San Juan Mountain Climate Initiative, a community group that hopes to produce a plan for mitigating and coping with climate change in Southwest Colorado. Next June, MSI will bring 120 of the region's top researchers to Silverton for a conference. The institute is working with a Rutgers University graduate student on a detailed look at area streamflows, rain, snow and temperature - something that's never been done for the local mountains, Nydick said. The results should be ready in time for the Silverton conference, she said. Nydick expects to find several clues to climate change in her research - animals fleeing the heat by migrating up mountains; earlier snowmelt; earlier flowering of plants. "Some things, we're going to have a hard time," Nydick said. "In terms of water, we'll have a hard time. Ecosystems will change. But I also think there's a lot of room for us to figure out how to adapt and eventually halt these changes." Here's a recap on the recent climate change conference in Bali from The Denver Post. From the article: Delegates from nearly 190 countries emerged from a final 24 hours of bruising negotiations Saturday with an agreement on a new framework for tackling global warming, one that for the first time calls on both the industrialized world and rapidly developing nations to commit themselves to measurable, verifiable steps. The deal, which will form the basis for a two- year, United Nations-sponsored process aimed at forging a binding international climate pact by the end of 2009, could transform the way rich and poor nations work together to preserve a rapidly warming Earth, observers said. But it also postponed many tough decisions and provided more in the way of incentives than penalties when it comes to addressing global warming. The consensus document was accepted by acclamation after an acrimonious confrontation among delegates, who hissed and booed the U.S. delegation and accused Washington in blunt terms of pressing them for commitments while refusing to make its own. Finally, after a succession of delegates lambasted the American position, the United States delegation acceded to language pledging industrialized countries to provide quantifiable technological and financial aid to less well-off nations, including the burgeoning economies of China, India and Brazil. In a session marked by high drama and a series of temporary setbacks, the developing nations also agreed to take specific steps to reduce their greenhouse-gas emissions with the assistance of wealthier nations... Bush administration officials, who fought vigorously to keep mentions of specific emissions targets out of the document, said they were pleased with the ultimate result. The agreement will guide negotiators in their quest to produce an accord outlining how deeply industrialized countries should cut their emissions between 2012 and 2016, after the 1997 Kyoto Protocol -- which the U.S. never accepted -- expires. "We, in coming here to Bali, have not foreclosed options," said Paula Dobriansky, U.S. undersecretary for democracy and global affairs. " There's a real need to look at the developed countries and the developing countries, especially the major emerging economies, and pull together on behalf of the planet." The consensus among the delegates here, however, came about only after two weeks of tense and emotional discussions that included last-minute exhortations by former Vice President Al Gore and U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon -- as well as a final, hostile confrontation in which the developing nations took turns chastising the United States for not, in their view, doing its part. Despite the difficult bargaining that lies ahead to produce an actual treaty, a number of participants said the conference's success in reaching a compromise showed that politicians no longer feel they can afford to ignore public concern over global warming... ...the Bali session nearly collapsed after Dobriansky told the delegates that the United States was "not willing to accept" language calling on industrialized nations to deliver "measurable, reportable and verifiable" assistance. Her comments sparked a stunning round of boos and hisses from the audience and sharp rebukes from representatives of developing countries. Then, the delegate from Papua New Guinea leaned into his microphone. "We seek your leadership," Kevin Conrad told the Americans. "But if for some reason you are not willing to lead, leave it to the rest of us. Please get out of the way." The conference exploded with applause... In many ways, the Bali "road map" agreement marks a turning point. Rapidly industrializing nations such as China and Brazil pledged to account for their global-warming contributions as long as developed nations provide them with clean energy technology and help bolster their ability to respond to the impact of climate change. The Kyoto Protocol, to be replaced by the new pact, exempted emerging economies from climate obligations, even though they are poised to overtake industrialized nations in greenhouse-gas emissions within year. Here are the key points of the Bali agreement from The Los Angeles Times (free registration required): Greenhouse gas emissions: It recognizes that "deep cuts" in global emissions will be required to prevent dangerous human interference in the climate. It makes reference to scientific reports that suggest a range of cuts between 25% to 40% by 2020, but prescribes no targets. Deadline: Negotiations for the next climate accord should last two years and conclude in 2009 in order to allow enough time to implement it at the end of 2012. Four major climate meetings will take place next year. Rich and poor: Negotiators should consider binding reductions of gas emissions by industrialized countries, while developing countries should consider moves to control the growth of their emissions. Wealthier countries should work to transfer climate-friendly technology to poorer nations. Adjusting to climate change: Negotiators should support urgent steps to help developing countries adapt to inevitable effects of global warming, such as building sea walls to guard against rising oceans. Deforestation: Negotiators should consider "positive incentives" for reducing deforestation in developing countries, many of which are seeking international compensation for preserving their forests that absorb carbon dioxide. More Coyote Gulch coverage here. Category: 2008 Presidential Election 8:04:43 AM     Snowpack From The Denver Post, "Snows the past two weeks have deepened Colorado's all-important snowpack considerably. The South Platte River Basin, a major water supplier for the Front Rangee went from 68 percent of the 30-year average on Dec. 2 to 94 percent Sunday morning. The Upper Colorado, a source for downstream states, went from 79 percent to 104 percent of the 30-year average. The statewide snowpack was at 113 percent of average as of Saturday." More coverage from The Colorado Springs Gazette. They write, "The Arkansas River Basin, which includes Colorado Springs and much of its reservoir system, was at 124 percent of the 30-year average on Sunday, according to U.S. Department of Agriculture statistics. The South Platte Basin, a major water supplier for the Front Range, went from 68 percent of the 30-year average on Dec. 2 to 94 percent." Category: Colorado Water 7:41:55 AM     Water problems loom for industry? Businesses are starting to pay attention to a sustainable water supply when expanding or re-locating according to this article from Financial Week. They write: Drought conditions cover almost half the country and are at their worst where the population is growing fastest -- the Southeast and Southwest -- raising concern among corporate users about the reliability of their supply and making access to water an increasingly important factor in many companies' real estate math. "We are slowly but surely seeing industry look at its water supply issues in a way that they may not have had to in the past," said Clay Landry, managing director of WestWater Research, a Boise, Idaho, consulting firm... Industries that are already feeling the pinch include obvious water hogs such as power plants, pulp and paper mills, chemical processors, and farmers, ranchers and meat producers. Food and beverage companies, in particular those in the booming bottled water business, have also become acutely aware that they must consider local water resources when deciding where to locate a new plant or expand an existing one. For example, Coca-Cola, a major consumer of water worldwide, voluntarily adopted more efficient water use procedures and wastewater treatment standards at company and franchisee-owned facilities beginning in 2002, said Lisa Manley, the company's director of environmental communication. "We are definitely making a very significant investment, not only in water use efficiency but to ensure our wastewater is treated to a standard we believe is the right standard," she said... Those executives are quick to dismiss potentially troublesome locations, since water shortages are the type of headache they want to avoid altogether, he said. That's because they're aware that already water-starved communities could put restraints on their consumption and hence impede production, while some cities are instituting tougher standards for the treatment of the wastewater that is a manufacturing by-product, raising the specter of ever higher wastewater treatment costs, Mr. Stavriotis said. "Pre-treating is very expensive, sometimes in the millions of dollars annually," said Mr. Stavriotis. That cost can be incurred in the form of investment in technology and the cost of running the treatment process or in payments to a community for the use of its own treatment plant. "If one were siting a brewery today, [the owners] would want to know that there is going to be an extra 1 million or 2 million gallons a day you can be sure you can get from another source if the primary one isn't available," said Chris Woodcock, president of Woodcock & Associates, a water and sewer industry consulting firm... But Mr. Woodcock said the cost of water, which has been rising at about twice the rate of inflation for residential users over the past few years, or about 7% annually, is still not an issue for most corporate decision-makers. One industry in which the cost of water is a major factor, however, is residential real estate development. That's because developers must describe how they're going to pay for new water resources before getting new development plans approved in some communities in the Southwest, said Mr. Laposa of PricewaterhouseCoopers. Although the buying and selling of water rights is not new to the perennially water-short Southwest, it is now occurring at a higher rate than ever before, to the extent that it has caught the eye of private equity investors who see an opportunity to turn water into gold. Among them is well-known opportunist T. Boone Pickens, whose Mesa Water has purchased 200,000 acres of Texas water rights. With approvals for future residential developments depending on their ability to provide their own water sources, Mr. Pickens will be positioned to supply them via pipelines. Category: Colorado Water 7:38:53 AM

© Copyright 2008 John Orr. Last update: 1/1/08; 1:21:33 PM.