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Sunday, March 16, 2008
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From The Greeley Tribune (free registration required): "Colorado State University begins a series of water events in March with a meeting on March 25 to discuss the role CSU plays in solving water challenges in Colorado and around the world. The colloquium, titled 'Global Water: From Conflict to Sustainability,' will run from 8:30 a.m.-5:30 p.m. at the Hilton Fort Collins, 425 W. Prospect Road. The event is free and open to the public. Registration is required at www.seattletech.com/registrations/index.php?612-108-i-f. Lunch is included. Brian Richter, co-leader of the Global Freshwater Team and director of The Sustainable Waters Program for The Nature Conservancy, will present the keynote speech from 12:15-1:15 p.m. Richter leads a staff of hydrologists, ecologists, policy specialists and educators in support of conservation projects across the Americas, Asia and the Pacific region."
Category: Colorado Water
9:13:10 AM 
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Drilling in the Baca National Wildlife Refuge near the Great Sand Dunes National Park is drawing a good bit of opposition, according to The Center Post-Dispatch. From the article:
A coalition of environmental groups, the Environmental Protection Agency and other agencies contend that further study and analysis is needed before drilling is approved on the Baca National Wildlife Refuge. Their comments were submitted to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) on proposed oil and gas exploration on the refuge. The comments came during a 45-day public comment period on an Environmental Assessment of the drilling proposal. The environmental groups, which include the San Luis Valley Ecosystem Council, the Natural Resources Defense Council, San Luis Valley Water Protection Coalition and the Wilderness Society, went so far as to say an earlier environmental assessment (EA) EA should be scrapped and the USFWS should conduct a full Environmental Impact Statement. The coalition urged the USFWS to "make a decision of a need for an EIS immediately so as not to burden other federal agencies, state and local government and non-governmental organizations and the public with additional review of a seriously inadequate EA." The groups asked that the proposed action alternative in the EA, which allows drilling under standards set by the USFWS, be eliminated because it fails, they claim, to protect the refuge "to the maximum extent possible." They say the USFWS should further explore buying the mineral rights from Lexam Exploration, which owns the minerals under the refuge and wants to explore developing them by drilling two 14,000-foot wells on the refuge. Another alternative that sus-pended drilling in the refuge until a comprehensive conservation plan is completed should have been included in the EA, said the environmental coalition. "While this study is woefully inadequate, it acknowledges that significant and lasting damage could happen to the refuge if natural gas development occurs," said Ceal Smith, director of the San Luis Valley Water Protection Coalition. "The Fish and Wildlife Service ought to be willing to take a good long look at this project before they risk our aquifer. What really needs to happen here is for the government to step up and buy those mineral rights."[...]
They cited four areas of concerns in their comments: air quality, water quality, groundwater and socio-economics. According to the EPA, a more rigorous analysis needs to be done of impacts on air quality on the nearby Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve and other sensitive areas, since the EA only dealt with the issue in general terms. The EPA said the EA fell short in providing enough information on the impact to surface water and wetlands in the area, reminding the USFWS that the purpose of the refuge is "to restore, enhance, and maintain wetland, upland, riparian and other habitats for wildlife, plants and fish species." More information was also needed on the potential impacts to groundwater resources, said the EPA, contnding that the EA did not fully evaluate impacts on neigh-boring communities. "In conclusion, EPA does not believe the DEA provides sufficient information to allow USFWS to determine whether this project will have significant impacts and whether preparation of EIS is necessary." The EPA comments were signed by Larry Svoboda with the agency's regional office in Denver.
More Coyote Gulch coverage here.
Category: 2008 Presidential Election
9:06:38 AM
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From KRDO.com: "Colorado's statewide snowpack is declining a bit but remains at a healthy 127% of the 30-year statewide average. The southern river basins are in great shape ranging from a high of 160 in the Arkansas to 142 in the San Miguel. The South Platte, a major provider of water for cities along the Front Range, is at 107%."
Category: Colorado Water
8:49:07 AM
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HB 08-1346 contains $60.6 million for compliance plans in the Republican River Basin, according to The Sterling Journal Advocate. From the article:
A $60.6 million loan to the Republican River Water Conservation District is by far the largest and most contentious issue in the annual water projects bill being considered by Colorado lawmakers this year. "The wolf is at the door and we have to put this issue to bed," Yuma County Commissioner Trent Bushner told lawmakers in support of the loan for constructing a 10-mile compact compliance pipeline to deliver water to the Nebraska border. The loan is included in House Bill 1346, which sets the funding priorities for the Colorado Water Conservation Board. The district, using fees collected from irrigators and other water users in the Republican River Basin, would pay back the loan over 20 years with 2 percent interest.
"We asked a lot of questions about the loan because of concerns within the district about the pipeline,[per thou] said Rep. Kathleen Curry, D-Gunnison, who chairs the House Committee of Agriculture, Livestock and Natural Resources and is the primary sponsor of the bill. "The (CWCB) board was convinced the district was very thoughtful and that this made sense as a solution," Curry said. Compact compliance "is the state's problem. They have come up with a plan to pay the money back and we need to support that."[...]
Curry's committee unanimously endorsed the measure Wednesday, but it must go through the House Appropriations Committee before it reaches the full House for debate. "Our charge is to bring Colorado into compliance with the Republican River Compact," said Tim Pautler, a conservation district board member who briefed the committee on the history of the compact and district. "After analyzing a number of proposals for the practicality and cost to citizens, we determined the pipeline to divert water to the river to be the most deliberate and cost effective," he said. Pautler said the district recently purchased 15,000 acre feet of water rights from a farm near Wray to use in the pipeline, drying up about 48 square miles of irrigated farm land. Bushner warned that without the pipeline, every well in the basin could be shut down with an economic loss to eastern Colorado of $3 billion. "We have to find a way to pay back past indebtedness or put 550,000 acres of production on the shelf," Bushner said.
The pipeline was not without its detractors during the 90-minute hearing. "The pipeline is a bad idea," said Mike Adamson of Wray, who owns water rights in the Pioneer Irrigation District. "It's a temporary solution that will continue to pump water out of the same aquifer with no augmentation." The Pioneer District is suing to have the Republican River basin de-designated at a groundwater management district. If successful, all the wells would be subject to augmentation requirements. Caribou Ranch owner Jim Guercio of Nederland also testified against the loan. He said he owns the most senior water rights in the Republican River basin and is the largest shareholder in both the Pioneer and Laird irrigation districts. "We are in trouble with the compact because of excessive pumping," said Guercio, who also complained that no senior water users are on the conservation district's board. "As sure as the sun comes up, someone is going to be back here for another $100 million in few years because we won't solve the problem."
More coverage from The Craig Daily Press. They write:
For the first time, the annual funding bill for Colorado water projects includes money to acquire in-stream water rights for environmental protection and to explore alternatives to wild and scenic rivers designations by the federal government. House Bill 1346 is the so-called "projects bill" that contains the recommendations to the General Assembly from the Colorado Water Conservation Board. It cleared its first legislative hurdle Wednesday with the unanimous endorsement of House Committee Agriculture, Livestock and Natural Resources.
"A lot of things didn't make the cut," said Jennifer Gimbel, the CWCB's new executive director who outlined about $11 million worth of expenditures from severance tax revenue. "There is an incredible public process that hones down the list for this bill."[...]
There was relatively little controversy, however, about the water projects bill, which also recommends approval of two loans -- one for $60.6 million to the Republican River Conservation District in eastern Colorado to build a compact compliance pipeline from near Laird to the Kansas border, and one for $11.2 million for the Dry Gulch Reservoir Project near Pagosa Springs in western Colorado. Rep. Kathleen Curry, D-Gunnison, who along with Sen. Jim Isgar, D-Hesperus, is sponsoring the bill, said new ideas for funding include an ongoing $1 million appropriation to the CWCB every year to acquire and maintain in-stream flow water rights. "We haven't funded acquisition of in-stream flow rights before this year," Curry said. She noted the board would have the responsibility to maintain stream flows and volume in natural lakes "to preserve the natural environment to a reasonable degree."
Gimbel said the CWCB wants $400,000 to work with Colorado stakeholders in exploring options to potential federal designations of wild and scenic rivers that could restrict Colorado's use of the water. She said portions of three western Colorado rivers -- the Colorado, Yampa and San Juan -- have been mentioned as targets for wild and scenic designation. "We want to get ahead of the (Bureau of Land Management) on this," Gimbel said. Board member Eric Wilkinson was adamant about avoiding the federal designations. "Colorado is very capable of managing its own water resources," Wilkinson said. "Colorado needs to determine its own destiny in that regard and cooperate with the federal government rather than reacting to a federal mandate."
The measure also contains funding for several activities associated with the Colorado River Compact administration, including studying what Colorado would or could do in the event downstream states demand more water under the compact than Colorado can deliver. Other proposed CWCB expenditures for the next fiscal year include $300,000 on drought mitigation; $250,000 to develop a statewide system for responding to floods; $175,000 to assist water districts and other water providers in developing cloud seeding programs; and $100,000 to develop strategies for responding to the impacts of climate change.
More Coyote Gulch coverage here.
Category: Colorado Water
8:45:12 AM
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© Copyright
2008
John Orr.
Last update:
4/1/08; 8:12:45 AM.
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