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Saturday, January 19, 2008
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If President Eisenhower was still fishing the Fraser River, there wouldn't be any low flow problems up there, at least when he was in Colorado. Since that scenario won't likely happen several groups are trying to work out arrangements to keep more water in the river, according to The Sky-Hi Daily News. From the article:
A year's worth of tenacity may pay off for six partners buying a chunk of Vail Ditch shares. The sale is set to close Feb. 8, when each will pay $133,333 for 85.5 shares put on sale by a private owner. The total cost of the shares is $2.3 million; the other $1.5 million is covered through a state grant administered through the Colorado Water Conservation Board. This may put the partners' master plan in motion to work with the ditch company and Denver Water Board to possibly release some shares in exchange for Denver's, allowing water to continue flowing into the Fraser River. "We decided to pursue it because it's some water that's senior to Denver Water Board," said Bruce Hutchins, Manager of Grand County Water and Sanitation District No. 1 who has been involved in the idea from day one. "It's wet water that can be introduced to the upper reaches of the Fraser Valley."
The Vail Ditch Company formed in 1911 when the water right was filed. Vail Ditch water originates from the Meadow Creek Reservoir above the Fraser Valley and has served agricultural endeavors until today. The original architects' intent was to provide water to the Great Divide Lettuce Co.
The partners are Grand County, The Colorado River Water Conservation District, the towns of Granby and Winter Park, Grand County Water and Sanitation District No. 1 and the Winter Park Water and Sanitation District. They have already collectively spent $217,000 just "to get this far," Hutchins said. Studies analyzing the course of the water, dynamics of the irrigation system, legal work and engineering weighed in on the group's decision to go through with the deal. "We all had a shared vision of keeping that water in Grand County and to protect the water resources of the county," said County Manager Lurline Underbrink Curran. It is not the intent of the group, she added, to in any way cause detriment to current users of the irrigation system facilitated by the ditch. "We don't want to harm one part of the county to fix another," she said.
But even with the sale, there is no guarantee the exchange with Denver Water can take place, which would enhance the ability of the partners to divert water without injuring the Fraser River. The Vail Ditch Co. first must approve the sale. Then negotiations with Denver Water must take place. And that remains a long process ahead of the partners.
Category: Colorado Water
9:37:52 AM 
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Here's an update on the greening of the 2008 Democratic National Convention from The Denver Post. From the article:
Come Aug. 25 (or sooner), some 35,000 Democrats and members of the news media will flood into Denver, where they will eat at local restaurants, explore the metro area's cultural establishments, and be entertained at more than 1,000 parties and events. But while they're adding an estimated $160 million to the area's coffers, will they also be adding to its traffic congestion, air pollution and carbon footprint? The city of Denver and the Democratic National Committee hope not, so they have joined together as the DNC Host Committee to "green" the convention and create a permanent legacy of environmental improvements for the city.
The committee has established 10 task forces to ease the environmental impact of the convention. One group will focus on educating hotels, restaurants and event planners. Last week, workshops underwritten by the Environmental Protection Agency attracted 150 people from the Colorado Restaurant Association, where they learned how they can minimize water use, offset electricity use, and buy food grown locally to reduce energy used for transportation. Parry Burnap, greening director for the committee, says similar workshops are planned for the hotel industry.
A transportation task force is drawing up guidelines to reduce the amount of time that buses and delivery trucks idle in the streets. Maps will highlight green restaurants and businesses, and encourage convention-goers to walk, bike and use public transportation.
A renewable energy task force is hoping to demonstrate solar and other cutting-edge renewable technologies during the convention. Xcel Energy is involved in the planning, and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory in Golden is offering its assistance.
The committee hopes to establish a website that will allow individuals and businesses to calculate their carbon footprints, then take steps to offset them. For example, Burnap says, an event planner could use the website to enter the number of guests at his or her event, the number of miles those guests traveled, the amount of food consumed and the amount of energy used during the event. The website would assign a dollar value to the carbon footprint, and the event planner could then donate to a carbon offset fund. Schmiechen predicts that the DNC will offset its carbon footprint by more than 100 percent. The 2004 convention in Boston reached that goal, he says, and Denver is planning a much more comprehensive effort than was pioneered in Boston. The effort to "green" the convention makes good economic as well as environmental sense. As Schmiechen points out, other cities market themselves as green when working to attract large conventions and new businesses. Denver hopes the environmental changes put into place for the DNC will increase Denver's future competitiveness.
Category: 2008 Presidential Election
9:18:49 AM
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The High County News featured article this issue is editor Ray Ring's speech that he's written for the next president to be delivered on inauguration day next year. Click through and read the whole thing. Here's a short excerpt:
A political speech the West needs to hear:
"One of our most urgent projects is to develop a national energy policy. The United States is the only major industrial country without a comprehensive, long-range energy policy. Our program will emphasize conservation ... solar energy and other renewable energy sources. ... We must face the fact that the energy shortage is permanent. There is no way we can solve it quickly. But if we all cooperate and make modest sacrifices ... we can find ways to adjust."
Imagine those words spoken by the next president shortly after taking office on Jan. 20, 2009, continuing a theme originally established on the campaign trail.
Category: 2008 Presidential Election
9:06:45 AM
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From The Trinidad Times, "The Culebra Range Community Coalition, which is in the process of preparing an educational workshop for the community focused on Watershed Health, had a 'kick-off' meeting Jan. 11 to organize working groups who will look at major activities in the watershed, examine potential negative effects of those activities, recommend best management practices to lessen potential negative effects, prepare a list of individuals and websites where any citizen can access data relating to these activities, and assemble educational material to inform the public and answer many of their questions about these activities and the most responsible way to conduct them."
Category: Colorado Water
8:57:21 AM
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From The Delta County Independent, "The Orchard City Board of Trustees is considering an end to the town's four-year-old moratorium on selling new water taps to private pipeline companies. An ordinance that would affect the change was given a consensus approval on first reading at the town board's Jan. 9 meeting. The ordinance would enable the town to raise money for a main water line replacement project by selling water taps to private pipeline companies outside of the town. If adopted on second reading at the Feb. 13 meeting, the town would be able to sell domestic water taps to new and existing private pipeline companies outside the town limits, and to existing private pipeline companies within the town limits. Pipeline companies wanting to purchase taps would be required to have their own infrastructure that meets the town's current standards. The ordinance would not affect the town's prohibition on the formation of new private pipeline companies inside the town limits. Orchard City has not allowed new private water pipeline companies within the town limits for several years, said Town Administrator Ike Holland. If adopted, the town will review requests for the new private pipeline taps on a case-by-case basis, Holland said. Taps may not be immediately available in all areas of the town's system, but the proposed ordinance envisions eventually making them available system-wide, he added."
Category: Colorado Water
8:49:27 AM
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HB 08-1165 was introduced on Wednesday in the Colorado House. It's an attempt to give local government control over mining operations. The current state and federal regulations do not take into consideration local opposition to mining efforts. Here's a look at the bill from The Aspen Times (free registration required). They write:
Colorado lawmakers are grappling head-on with the issue of local control over mining opera tions. House Bill 1165 [HB 08-1165, Concerning an Increase in the Regulatory Authority of the
Mined Land Reclamation Board Over Mining (pdf)], introduced this week, would confirm that local governments have con trol over what types of mining operations they want in their community, said Jeff Parsons, senior attorney with the Western Mining Action Project. "This isn't a partisan issue. This is a protect-our water issue," Parsons said. Colorado appears to be poised on the front end of a new mining boom. Market prices for molybdenum, gold, urani um and copper all have climbed in recent months, and there are new mining proposals surfacing on a weekly basis, Parsons said.
The bill could affect Summit County's ban on cyanide heap-leach gold mining. The local mining regulations were quashed in Summit County District Court, upheld by the Colorado Court of Appeals and now are under review by the Colorado Supreme Court. County attorney Jeff Huntley said he thinks the county already has the authority to regulate mining under existing law. But the proposed bill could be helfpful down the road by clarifying any issues associated with local government control over mining activities. The mining industry still is studying the meas ure, but is generally opposed to the bill. "This is an effort, in our view, to curtail mining in Colorado," said Colorado Mining Association (CMA) president Stuart Sanderson. Sanderson said the bill is an "end-run" around the current Supreme Court case on Summit County's mining regulations...
It's not exactly clear how or if passage HB 1165 would affect the Supreme Court proceedings. But County Commissioner Bob French, a strong supporter of the county's mining regulations, said he hopes that the court decides on the case before the bill is passed. "I dislike sending the signal that we're nervous about the Supreme Court appeal," French said. If the Supreme Court rules against Summit County, French added, then the language in the measure might even have to be strengthened...
A similar measure (HB 1161) [HB 08-1161, Concerning an Increase in the Regulatory Authority of the Mined Land Reclamation Board Over Mining, and, in Connection Therewith, Ensuring the Protection of Ground Water and Public Health (pdf)]. is more narrow ly aimed at uranium mining. It would require mining companies to prove that they will restore groundwater aquifers to their premining quality before they are allowed to use an in-situ leach mining technique. That process injects chemicals into aquifers to leach out radioactive uranium ore. It can release arsenic, selenium, uranium and other toxic chemicals, poisoning groundwater and the landscape. The bill also would require mining companies to show that technology exists to clean up any pollution that results from mining.
Category: Colorado Water
8:39:15 AM
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Here's a roundup of conservation easement action over in the Roaring Fork and Crystal River drainage from the The Aspen Daily News (free registration required). From the article:
Colorado Rocky Mountain School has sealed a deal with Aspen Valley Land Trust to protect a stretch of riverfront property along the Crystal River that is home to two rare species of orchids and is considered an important area for wildlife.
The deal was part of a record-setting year for the land trust, which put 7,000 acres between Aspen and DeBeque into conservation easements in 2007. AVLT has some 28,000 acres in conservation easements in the Roaring Fork and Colorado River valleys. Last year's easements included a 2,000-acre donation of ranchland along Garfield Creek, west of Glenwood Springs, the largest-single donation the land trust has ever received. That donation, from a Florida-based ranchland company, adjoins a state wildlife area and includes a broad range of habitat, from sagebrush meadows to evergreen forests.
Colorado State University lists the site as a conservation protection area, and ranks it as urgent because of nearby development pressure. Its status as a conservation protection area largely is due to the presence of two rare orchids - the canyon bog orchid and the yellow ladyslipper. The property is also home to a host of wildlife, including bald eagles, osprey, elk, mule deer, and bears. "We bought it to forestall any development being there," said CRMS spokesman Jeremy Simon. "We've always intended to keep it in a natural state, but we've been doing it by holding this piece of land." By turning it over to the land trust, the school will keep the property as open space forever. The school will be able to continue to use it for science classes and for kayak races. It also maintains the right to build a boat barn, to graze livestock, build trails and use the land for low-impact recreation.
Category: Colorado Water
7:46:26 AM
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From The Fort Morgan Times: "Morgan County may form a water board as the Morgan County Water Resource Development Team quietly retires its efforts. Although the City of Fort Morgan has plenty of water for its present needs, and even for some future customers, Mayor Jack Darnell brought up the issue of creating a water board at a city-county meeting Thursday night at the Country Steak-Out. He said he envisioned something like the Denver Water Board."
More from the article:
It does not look like there will be any action working with ditch companies, which the water development team had urged. A water board may be the only alternative, Darnell said. Morgan County Economic Development Corp. Executive Director Kari Linker, who helped form the water development roundtable, told the group that MCEDC had made water its top priority in 2007, but it now the issue needed to go to higher authorities. Effectively, that meant handing "the baton over" to a new Natural Resource Committee formed by the Morgan County government in hopes of more success in creating some kind of initiative to protect area water, she said.
Brush City Administrator Monty Torrez said his city is in a pretty good situation, with plans mapped out for the next 20 years or so, but water users are always competing with the Front Range. There will come a day when water rights in Morgan County are sold to the big cities, because their money talks. He said the collective financial resources of the county's cities and the county government may help give the area the ability to protect water. Torrez was one of those who helped found the water development team, but his research has shown that primary water providers are the ones who have the strength to get things done. Once they join together, they can take the next step on actual projects, Torrez said. Fort Morgan City Councilman James Powers said that local cities are going to have to deal with more stringent rules on the quality of water. They may also have to face legislation or a citizens' initiative to restrict development to those who have water available. That means the area governments need to work together, he said. Fort Morgan and the Morgan County Quality Water District are already working together to create a cooperative agreement for emergency conditions "to prepare for the worst," said Fort Morgan City Manager Michael Nagy. "Fort Morgan is in good shape right now" but must be cognizant of the future, he said.
Category: Colorado Water
7:34:05 AM
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From The Pikes Peak Courier View: "Problems at the wastewater treatment plant was among the items discussed at Victor's first city council work session of 2008. One of the largest topics of the Jan. 10 meeting was concern over the wastewater treatment plant and the operator's certification. Mayor Serena Bietz asked former longtime resident and a wastewater plant operator Jim Robinson to tour Victor's plants. Some of Robinson's needed items included a new computer, new motors because two were missing, security at the complexes and new pumps. Robinson also said the operator might need a higher certification."
From The Rifle Citizen Telegraph, "Construction of the long-planned Rifle Regional Wastewater Reclamation Facility began with a groundbreaking ceremony on Dec. 28 at the West UMTRA site in Rifle. The $23.2 million project is the largest capital improvement project ever undertaken by the city of Rifle, according to city officials. "We expect this to take two years to build, so it should be completed in the mid- to end of 2009," said Utility Director Charlie Stevens. The new wastewater treatment plant is needed because the city's two existing plants on the north and south ends of the city are old, nearing capacity with the city's rapidly growing population and outdated as far as Colorado Department of Health regulations."
From The Grand Junction Daily Sentinel, "A doubling of population is predicted for the Grand Valley, and another 52,000 homes would be needed to accommodate the new arrivals, city and county leaders say. In order to meet the needs of those new residences and businesses, the service area for the Persigo wastewater treatment plant would need to be expanded. Just how much and where, though, has yet to be decided. Starting Tuesday, the city and the county will conduct series of meetings about expansion options. A final decision on the expansion of Persigo's boundaries could be made Feb. 13, when the city and the county have their annual Persigo meeting. The city of Grand Junction encompasses about 34 square miles. If the City Council and the Mesa County Commission approve expanding the district to the maximum extent proposed, it would add another 24 square miles to the city over the next 30 years. Under the Persigo agreement, signed in 1998 by the county and the city, any property that is serviced by the Persigo wastewater treatment plant must be annexed into the city."
Category: Colorado Water
7:22:07 AM
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Once again officials from the Southeastern Colorado Water Conservancy District are heading to Washington D.C. to powwow with Congress over the Arkansas Valley Conduit, according to The Pueblo Chieftain. From the article:
The district has pushed the $330 million conduit for years, but learned Thursday there may be a threat to some of the gains made last year. President Bush is looking at blocking $11 billion in earmarks in the federal spending bill he has already signed. Among the earmarks is a $600,000 appropriation for the conduit from the State and Tribal Assistance Grant program of the Environmental Protection Agency, said Christine Arbogast, Southeastern lobbyist. "The president may announce an executive order not to fund the earmarks," Arbogast said. "That would set off a big political battle, a bipartisan battle, that could go all the way to the Supreme Court."
Even stalling the appropriation would be another setback for the conduit, which is trying to move studies ahead after a year without much action. Meanwhile, the district's representatives will also talk to members of Congress from Colorado about a suggestion by the district to apply excess-capacity revenues toward the conduit and other parts of the Fryingpan-Arkansas Project and about getting funding for conduit design through a $79 million authorization in the Water Resource and Development Act...
Arbogast said the meetings with lawmakers next week are crucial because Congress will have a short session in the election year. "We need to get in the door early this year," she said.
More Coyote Gulch coverage here.
Category: Colorado Water
7:18:35 AM
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Here's and update on the land for water swap proposed by the BLM to ensure a sustainable water supply for the Blanca Wetlands, from The Pueblo Chieftain. From the article:
The Bureau of Land Management continues to receive comments on a proposed land for water swap that would keep the Blanca Wetlands wet. But some of those comments may change the direction of the project by pushing the federal agency to a new water source for the swap or changing the land parcels up for consideration...
The BLM is in the midst of the scoping process, which, through comments from the public and other government agencies, helps determine what factors the BLM will consider when it conducts an environmental assessment on the proposal later this year. Sue Swift-Miller, the project leader and a wetlands biologist, said the agency has gotten feedback from environmental and water management groups that the BLM might look into securing the needed water from the state Division of Wildlife. Currently, the BLM leases water from the wildlife agency on an annual basis.
Rio de la Vista, a consultant for the Rio Grande Headwaters Land Trust, is among those who'd like to see the agency work a deal with the state, since leaving water in the river near Monte Vista would also benefit wildlife. "We obviously value the Blanca Wetlands, but if there is a way to secure its water supply in a way that protects the river corridor, we'd sure like to see that happen," she said. Roy Smith, statewide water rights coordinator for the BLM, said the bureau has had discussions with the state wildlife agency for 15 years to that end. In the past month, Dan Dallas, director of the San Luis Valley Public Lands Center, and the director of the DOW office in Monte Vista have started talks over the possibility, Smith said. "We're pursuing that but I think what people have to recognize is it comes with all sorts of issues because basically it's a state agency permanently committing its resources to assist a federal agency," he said...
Smith said a long-term lease may turn out to be too expensive. "We need some very stable cost or low-cost source of water for this purpose," he said. "We were thinking that the most economical way to accomplish that would be to own our own water right because then we're not making payments every year." Swift-Miller said another concern that's been expressed is whether the BLM can ensure that the area where the water rights are being taken from can actually be dried up.
Seepage from the groundwater aquifer or from other nearby ditches emerged as a concern at the meeting of the Rio Grande Water Conservation District earlier in the week. "The grass can only use so much water and it doesn't care where it gets it," said David Robbins, an attorney for the district. "You take one of the other irrigation ditches away and if groundwater and or the other ditch still provides the supply, you haven't changed the consumption at all." District officials said Tuesday that the agency would submit comments on the BLM's proposal, although the submission was still under review.
The BLM is also looking at the possibility that some of the land parcels up for exchange may be pulled from the proposal because of their value as habitat for deer, elk and antelope. If that happens, Tom Malecek, a field office manager for the BLM, said the agency would open a new comment period, although all of the old comments would be saved for consideration. He added that the land parcels that would be included in the exchange will not be finalized until an appraisal sets their value. The BLM has capped the proposal at 10 parcels, totaling 2,693 acres, although Malecek believes if the exchange goes forward, it won't require that much land. "I don't know the number of parcels we're going to exchange, but it's going to be less than 10," he said. The deadline for comments is Feb. 2. Written comments should be sent to Sue Swift-Miller, La Jara Field Office, 15571 County Road T-5, La Jara, CO 81140; or faxed to her at 719-274-6304.
Here's the link to the San Luis Valley BLM website. More Coyote Gulch coverage here.
Category: Colorado Water
7:11:08 AM
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Here's an article about the proposed efficiency rules in the Arkansas Valley from The La Junta Tribune Democrat. They write:
Proposed rules governing increased irrigation efficiency of surface water irrigation systems from the State Engineer brought a large crowd with lots of questions to Wednesday's meeting of the Lower Arkansas Valley Water Conservancy District. Everyone in the valley knows the importance of water, and with the agricultural community, it is the usage rules of water that create the most problems. In a draft of proposed rules for governing increased irrigation efficiency of surface water irrigation systems in District 2, the State Engineer has not only suggested rules moving forward, but also rules that will be enacted retroactively.
Among the concern with the proposed rules is that their implementation will seriously affect the ability of the family farmer to stay in business. The new rules will significantly decrease the ability of a farming operation to increase it's size and may ultimately making farming unprofitable and more likely that farmers will sell their water rights. It was also put forth that the rule inaccurately assume an increase in efficiency by sprinkler systems and other items such as drip irrigation, ditch liners and pipes. It was asserted that seepage from ponds makes up for any increased efficiency from the sprinkler system, and that timing of the water application decreases the irrigation efficiently of surface water rights systems.
Discussions during the LAVWCD meeting concerned this retroactive enactment and attorney Peter Nichols is already researching the legal validity of the rule concerning retroactive enactment as well as a host of other issues that farmers and the district have raised with the rules.
More Coyote Gulch coverage here.
Category: Colorado Water
7:00:08 AM
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What's it going to cost to clean up the nation's watersheds? $202.5 billion is the answer from the new EPA report 2004 Clean Watersheds Needs Survey delivered to Congress this week, according to The Environmental News Service. From the article:
A total of $202.5 billion is the nationwide capital investment needed to control wastewater pollution for up to a 20 year period, according to a new report by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, EPA. Delivered to Congress this week, the 2004 Clean Watersheds Needs Survey summarizes the results of the agency's 14th national survey on the needs of publicly owned wastewater treatment works. These surveys are conducted every four years. The 2004 estimate includes $134.4 billion for wastewater treatment and collection systems, $54.8 billion for combined sewer overflow corrections, and $9.0 billion for stormwater management...
The needs in this survey represent a $16.1 billion increase - 8.6 percent in constant 2004 dollars - over the previous report, dated 2000. [Assistant Administrator for Water Benjamin Grumbles] says the increase in overall national needs is due to a combination of population growth, more protective water quality standards, and aging infrastructure. The largest total publicly owned wastewater treatment works needs, both more than $20 billion, occur in New York and California, the survey shows. Florida, Illinois and Ohio each have needs in excess of $10 billion. The states with the largest needs per capita are the District of Columbia ($3,670), Hawaii ($1,660) and West Virginia ($1,400).
Over three-fourths (76.8 percent) of the total needs reported are concentrated in 18 States, while 20 States each reported less than one percent of the total needs. The figure of $9.0 billion for stormwater management includes the capital costs for developing and implementing municipal stormwater management programs to meet the requirements of Phases I and II of the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System municipal separate storm sewer system, MS4, regulations. These needs generally do not include projects such as installing or rehabilitating storm sewers. The largest stormwater management program needs were reported by Texas, Florida, Arizona and Minnesota, each with more than $0.9 billion in needs. Florida, Minnesota and Texas experienced the largest increase in these needs. Recycled water distribution, a new category, surveyed for the first time in 2004, accounts for $4.3 billion in needs.
The increases in wastewater treatment needs and in sewer repair needs are due to a variety of factors. These include rehabilitation of aging infrastructure, facility improvements to meet more protective water quality standards, and in some cases, providing additional treatment capacity for handling wet-weather flows. Most (94 percent) of this increase can be attributed to needs increases of more than $100 million each in only 92 of the 10,152 facilities with reported needs. An additional 78 facilities had needs that decreased by at least $100 million each. The increase in stormwater management program needs is due to greater availability of planning documents as well as increased intrastate coordination between various agencies in reporting these needs. Yet the EPA says these needs are still underreported. Only 28 states and the District of Columbia submitted stormwater management program needs data.
Category: Colorado Water
6:52:57 AM
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Congratulations to Pete Kasper the new president of the Colorado River District Board of Directors and to Andy Mueller the new board vice president. Here's the press release from the Colorado River District. From the article: "The Colorado River District was created in 1937 to protect Western Colorado water. The Colorado River District is the principal water policy and planning agency for the Colorado River Basin within the state. It is responsible for the conservation, use, protection and development of Colorado's apportionment of the Colorado River. The District provides legal, technical and political representation regarding Colorado River issues for its constituents in northwest and west-central Colorado, encompassing approximately 28 percent of the state's land area. The District also strives to raise public awareness about water issues in the arid west."
Category: Colorado Water
6:38:12 AM
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© Copyright
2008
John Orr.
Last update:
1/31/08; 9:19:51 AM.
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