Monday, January 14, 2008

Bob Appel - Friend of the Arkansas award From The Pueblo Chieftain: "Nominations are being sought for the fourth annual Bob Appel - Friend of the Arkansas award, to be presented at this year's Arkansas River Basin Water Forum. The forum will be April 30-May 1 in Westcliffe. The award is named for longtime Southeast Colorado Resource, Conservation and Development District coordinator Appel, who was instrumental in organizing the forum from its inception 13 years ago until his death in 2003. The award is designed to honor an individual who has over the years demonstrated a commitment to improving the condition of the Arkansas River." Category: Colorado Water 6:55:06 PM     Dam safety Dam safety is the subject of article from The Colorado Daily. From the article: Considering the 'D' rating the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) gave the infrastructure of United States dams in their 2005 Report Card, however, a status check on the current condition of Colorado's dams seems like a reasonable request. Scoring even lower than the likes of the nation's aging infrastructure of bridges - which received a 'C' - the grade sparked concern from CU Professor of Civil Engineering Victor Saouma, who, last fall, coordinated a convention of 25 engineers from across the country including representatives from the United States Society on Dams (USSD) and the Association of State Dam Safety Officials (ASDSO) to meet at the CU campus and discuss strategies for making necessary adjustments in the infrastructure's vulnerabilities. The conclusion? "Given the limited resources available, we must develop a rational plan for rehabilitation based on thorough scientific research," he said. "Millions of dollars in rehabilitation, and many lives, can potentially be saved by properly studying and rehabilitating dams that are unsafe due to aging or at risk of failure from earthquakes or flooding." According to one attendee of the convention, Dan Johnson, Vice President of USSD and Senior Water Resources Engineer with GEI Consultants in Boulder, research is important because it gives engineers a clear idea of how a dam will perform under "loading conditions" - such as an earthquake load or a flood - which will allow them to economize on repairs - thus reducing risks and long-term costs. But since earthquakes are more of a concern for states such as California, which built a high percentage of its dams on fault lines, Colorado inspectors look elsewhere in the troubleshooting process. "The principal area of most of the inadequacies we see is in spilling capacity - for floods. Another area that needs to be evaluated and understood is the aging of the components of the dam. The aging of the structure and foundation of the dam can cause changes in performance-so that's probably the secondary area of concern," said Johnson. To find out more specific information about the condition of local dams, the Colorado Daily spoke to Jack Byers, Deputy State Engineer with the Dam Safety Branch of the Colorado Division of Water Resources, who said that Colorado's dams are not only currently in top-notch condition compared to facilities throughout the US, but also that it is a tradition that has been carried out for more than 100 years. "Historically - due to conflicts with Indians and the importance of resources as people began settling throughout America - most towns and big cities are built near large bodies of water," said Byers. Because the necessity of having an efficient supply of water was recognized so early, the state of Colorado exacted a Dam Safety Program in 1889, in accordance with which the State Engineer was responsible for reviewing plans and sites for reservoirs. Since that time, according to Byers, the program has been improved numerous times and followed to the letter. Stipulations of the Dam Safety Program include frequent and thorough inspections of the near 2,000 dams that are active in Colorado. Most are inspected annually for functionality and signs of deterioration, and the Division of Water Resources - though lacking the statutory authority to demand maintenance - does act on its authority to require dams to reduce their storage capacity to meet safe operating conditions. More Coyote Gulch coverage here. Category: Colorado Water 7:35:39 AM     Tamarisk management From The Pueblo Chieftain, "More than $100,000 in federal funds is available to find tamarisk in the Apishapa River Drainage, and landowners are encourage to apply for the cost-share funds...The Apishapa River flows more than 90 miles from west of Aguilar to the Arkansas River east of Fowler. Two years ago, there was a project to remove tamarisk on 150 acres in the upper reach of the river, [Rich] Rhoades said...About $77,000 is available through the NRCS Environmental Quality Incentives Program for matching funds to landowners who want to clear tamarisk. Another $45,000 is available through two fish and wildlife programs. More money may be available from other sources as well, Rhoades said...The Apishapa River program is one of 10 statewide funded by EQIP under a competitive grant program for tamarisk removal this year. More Coyote Gulch coverage here. Category: Colorado Water 7:22:11 AM     Southern Delivery System Reclamation has ruled out the reuse of wastewater as an one alternative to Colorado Springs' proposed Southern Delivery System, according to The Colorado Springs Gazette. From the article: Colorado Springs residents won't have to drink recycled wastewater when the city expands its water system, the Interior Department's Bureau of Reclamation has decided. Recycling was a possibility if the federal government decided to include reuse as an alternative to Colorado Springs Utilities' Southern Delivery System proposal to pipe water from Pueblo Reservoir. The bureau spent the past 10 months studying six reuse options but rejected all of them because of the cost, which would be twice as much as a pipeline. It also determined that reuse is "less desirable from a standpoint of public health protection," according to the bureau's report, issued in late December. "From our perspective, reuse is extraordinarily high cost," said Utilities planning and permitting manager Keith Riley, noting that reuse is rarely used until a city exhausts other supplies. "Reuse will make sense for Colorado Springs at some point, but right now we have more cost-effective options with Southern Delivery," he said. Reuse is expensive because it demands a lot of power to push water through a dense membrane, he said. In addition, the process results in a 15 percent waste stream -- 15 gallons for every 100 gallons processed -- that requires elaborate evaporation and condensing operations before the waste is landfilled. The bureau also found that none of the reuse options better addressed issues raised during public meetings than the pipeline proposals, including surface water flow and quality, channel stability, sedimentation, water rights, aquatic life, wetlands, wildlife and recreation resources. The ruling comes as the bureau prepares to issue its draft Environmental Impact Statement on the city's proposed pipeline in March after five years of study. After the draft is issued, a series of public meetings will be held before the bureau issues a decision late this year. Then, the city can build the project the bureau approves, or build the "no action" alternative, which doesn't require bureau approval because it doesn't rely on federal assets. It calls for piping water from the Arkansas River above Pueblo Reservoir and reliance on a small amount of groundwater starting in 2044. The city's preferred plan is to pipe 78 million gallons a day from the reservoir along a path that generally follows Interstate 25 to the northeast area of the city. There, the water would be treated and distributed to a growing population, notably residents of the 23,000-acre Banning Lewis Ranch being developed, expanding the city's supply by a third. The $1 billion project must be approved by the bureau because it involves a federal facility -- the reservoir. More Coyote Gulch coverage here and here. Category: Colorado Water 7:15:10 AM     Glenn Gibson: It's more government and that means less freedom Larimer County is considering adopting 1041 regulations due to the wide swath of land use issues coming before the commissioners, including the proposed Glade Reservoir, according to The Fort Collins Coloardoan. From the article: Officials are taking a hard look at adopting so-called 1041 regulations - named after the state legislation that established them - that give counties and municipalities jurisdiction over projects built by other governmental entities. The regulations would give the county greater say over major projects that affect its residents and land, said County Commissioner Randy Eubanks during a recent commissioners' work session. "I want to see the county set its own destiny," he said. "We aren't able to do so because we don't have something like this ... I don't know why you wouldn't want to do this." But Commissioner Glenn Gibson said he's not convinced the additional authority is necessary. Commissioners have talked about 1041 powers several times over the years and weren't interested before, he said. "To me it's more government, and that means less freedom," he said in a telephone interview. "I need to be educated on why we would want to do this now and why it's really needed." To take on 1041 powers, the commissioners would have to adopt a resolution specifying areas of "statewide interest" over which the county would want oversight, such as power lines, pipelines, highway projects and reservoirs. Under current regulations, the county's authority over the placement and construction of public utility projects is limited to reviewing the "location and extent" of facilities and whether they fit in with the county master plan. Proposals are studied by the county planning staff members and the planning commission, but not the county commissioners. But if the planning commission opposes a proposal, the applying public body can override the decision and proceed as it wishes, said Larry Timm, director of planning. That would be different under 1041 regulations. While a project could not be rejected, the county could require mitigation for environmental and other impacts through the permitting process, he said. Eubanks said he's been frustrated in recent months by the county's inability to have more influence over proposals such as the city of Greeley's plan to run a 60-inch water pipeline through LaPorte. The pipeline would run 30 miles from Greeley's water treatment plant near the mouth of Poudre Canyon to the city's Gold Hill Reservoir... Eubanks said he's also concerned about the prospect of Platte River Power Authority building a wind-power facility near its Rawhide power plant in the north of Wellington. The commissioners directed county staff members to continue looking into the implications of 1041 regulations, particularly as they would pertain to power lines, pipelines and reservoirs. If the regulations are adopted, their potential impact on ongoing projects such as Glade Reservoir, which would be built north of Ted's Place, is not clear, said county attorney George Hass. The county may not have any authority over Glade because it is a federal project, he said. The Glade project is proposed by the Northern Colorado Water Conservancy District and several Front Range municipalities. District spokesman Brian Werner said officials have always planned to work with the county through its location-and-extent process. But they will deal with 1041 regulations if they apply. "We will work through whatever process Larimer County has in place," he said. More Coyote Gulch coverage here and here. Category: Colorado Water 7:05:49 AM

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