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Wednesday, March 19, 2008
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Here's the lowdown on the recently release Annual Operating Plan for Colorado River Reservoirs 2008 [pdf] from All American Patriots. They write:
Secretary of the Interior Dirk Kempthorne today issued the 2008 Annual Operating Plan (AOP) for the operation of Colorado River reservoirs and distribution of Colorado River water to Arizona, Nevada and California. A letter transmitting the approved AOP was sent to the governors of each of the seven Colorado River Basin States.
The AOP is normally issued in December, but was delayed this year to allow the incorporation of new interim river operating guidelines. Those guidelines, contained in the Record of Decision for Colorado River Interim Guidelines for Lower Basin Shortages and the Coordinated Operations for Lake Powell and Lake Mead (Interim Guidelines), were approved by the Secretary on December 13, 2007. "The Interim Guidelines ensure the Colorado River will be managed to protect and conserve its water supplies for current and future generations," Kempthorne said. "Developed through a collaborative and cooperative effort by the Department, the basin states, and other interested stakeholders, they encourage water conservation, allow us to plan for potential shortages, implement closer coordination of Lake Powell and Lake Mead, and provide the flexibility to deal with such potential challenges as climate change and persistent drought."
The AOP establishes a minimum objective release of 8.23 million acre-feet (MAF) from Lake Powell to the Lower Basin in water year 2008 (October 1, 2007-September 30, 2008). And it provides that if, on April 1, Lake Powell's elevation is projected to be above 3,636 feet mean sea level on September 30, additional water would be released from Lake Powell into Lake Mead to more closely equalize the amount of water in each reservoir. Under the 2008 AOP, Arizona, California and Nevada will be entitled to take their basic Colorado River entitlements in water year 2008 (2.8 million acre-feet, 4.4 million acre-feet, and 300,000 acre-feet, respectively), while also providing for some modification of these deliveries. For example, to promote efficient and prudent water use, these states may conserve part of their annual entitlement through extraordinary conservation measures, and leave that water in Lake Mead for use at a future date. The states, which have previously conserved small amounts of water in Lake Mead, could also take delivery of that water. And, finally, the AOP makes available 1.5 million acre-feet of water for delivery to Mexico in accordance with the 1944 United States-Mexico Water Treaty.
Category: Colorado Water
6:41:01 AM 
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Governor Ritter was in southeastern Colorado recently and sat down with The Lamar Ledger for a round of talks about water problems. From the article:
Colorado Governor Bill Ritter acknowledged during his visit to Lamar and southeast Colorado that there are no easy answers when it comes to water issues in the Arkansas River Valley. During his visit the governor answered a few questions from The Lamar Ledger. When asked to comment on water issues in the Lower Arkansas River Valley and specifically proposed changes for District 2 irrigators that would require efficiency studies to be completed by individual irrigators, the governor said we as a state need to work together to become more efficient and work together to utilize water more effectively. "I think all of us, agricultural users as well as municipal users and industrial users have to understand its a scarce commodity and that we all have to focus on conservation and efficiency in order for us to move in the right direction as a state," said Ritter. "We talk about conservation and reuse, we talk about shared use with municipal users and agricultural users sharing the use of water off the land and we talk about how we build additional storage. But on the efficiency part of it, it's important that everybody is thinking about it and focusing about it."
State Secretary of Agriculture John Stulp said the rule changes while originally intended to be set in place relatively quickly after their proposal have been delayed by the State Water Engineer Dick Wolfe to allow further review of the rules with concerned irrigators and water users. Stulp said the state engineer was considering conducting studies on a regional basis versus an individual ag producer basis. "The state engineer is trying to be proactive and not get into a situation we found ourselves in then," said Stulp in reference to when the state of Colorado was sued by the state of Kansas over compact violations. "I think he (Wolfe) was under the impression there was expanded acres. I've visited with several groups here and I don't think there's an expansion of acres, but a different way of irrigating those same acres," said the secretary of agriculture.
Category: Colorado Water
6:32:43 AM
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From The Cañon City Daily Record: "Decreasing the debt retirement fees while increasing water rates were discussed during a Florence City Council meeting Monday. Effective May 1, the water rates will be increased for inside city water users from $10 to $12.65 and from $18.75 to $21.30 for outside water users. A resolution on water rates will be voted on by the council in the next meeting."
Category: Colorado Water
6:25:30 AM
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It was a long time coming but Glenwood Springs' shiny new water park is open for business, according to The Glenwood Springs Post Independent. From the article:
When Colorado River flows hit about 3,500 cubic feet per second, it's the kayaking equivalent of a powder day on the standing wave in South Canyon. Right now flows are around 1,550 cubic feet per second (cfs) near Glenwood Springs, and whitewater park enthusiasts are waiting to see exactly how the newly constructed wave feature on the Colorado River just upstream of the Midland Avenue bridge will react to bigger flows. Chris Tonozzi, one of the kayakers who's surfed and played at the new park, has driven by several times just to see what kind of waves the concrete boulders create...
Workers diverted the Colorado River this winter to construct both sides of the park. In early March, some final adjustments were made. The park is designed to create waves during a wide range of flows. The highest flow this year so far was about 1,700 cfs. "It's going to create something at almost every level," said Chris Vogt, owner of Glenwood Canyon Kayak. "It's going to get better and better as it comes up to that 2,000 cfs mark."[...]
Joe Mollica, a driving force behind the whitewater park, plans to reduce the Glenwood Springs Whitewater Park Committee's role and turn over the park to the Parks and Recreation and the Chamber Resort Association. A parking lot, kayak drop-off site, landscaping and installation of portable toilets still need to be finished. A second phase of construction to begin next year would include a permanent bathroom facility, benches and a kayak viewing area and additional rock work along the riverbanks. The park committee also recommends adding signs stating life jackets are required and helmets are recommended, plus a sign upstream of the park explaining that the wave feature is below and the easiest passage for boats is on the right.
More Coyote Gulch coverage here.
Category: Colorado Water
6:17:23 AM
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The Pueblo Chieftain asks, "Could Fountain become a creek of hope?" From the article:
A small group of people met Tuesday at St. Leander Church Hall to discuss Fountain Creek, and those attending were dismayed that more people had not bothered to show up. Some said the East Side has given up on trying to make the creek better. It's populated by homeless people. Its trails are strewn with broken glass. It smells bad. The city has turned its back on the problems of flooding that still occur in East Side neighborhoods after any big rain. For others, there was a trickle of hope. "I think it was the organization of the community that began to bring attention to Fountain Creek," said Margaret Montano, Southern Colorado director of the Colorado Progressive Coalition. "There's a lot happening with talks about providing flood control and recreation along the creek. But it's more complicated than throwing up a dam. How does this neighborhood play a role and how does this affect Fountain Creek?"
One answer to the question was provided by Jay Winner, general manager of the Lower Arkansas Valley Water Conservancy District, who spent most of the two-hour meeting alternating between technical terms like "sinuosity" and weaving elaborate dreams about what Fountain Creek could be. "We need to start looking at the river again and see it as an amenity," Winner said. "It's going to take everyone working together. We don't want another plan sitting around on a shelf."[...]
East Side residents have not pushed hard enough to have their concerns about Fountain Creek addressed, even though in 2005 they were one of the most vocal groups about problems on Fountain Creek, Montano said. Since that time, a Fountain Creek Vision Task Force has formed and met on a regular basis, largely focusing on problems upstream that ultimately will affect the East Side. "The East Side needs to start demanding answers," Montano said. "It's difficult to organize the neighborhood. Many people have lost hope." City Councilman Larry Atencio and State Rep. Dorothy Butcher, D-Pueblo, a candidate for county commissioner, also attended Tuesday's meeting, along with staff members from the offices of U.S. Sen. Ken Salazar, D-Colo., and District Attorney Bill Thiebaut. Both Atencio and Butcher encouraged the community to begin working toward its own vision of Fountain Creek and offered to help.
More Coyote Gulch coverage here.
Category: Colorado Water
6:09:21 AM
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From The Denver Post: "As mining claims in Colorado and the West skyrocket in a kind of modern-day gold rush, Congress wants to rewrite an arcane law governing mineral exploration. The measure hasn't been overhauled since President Ulysses S. Grant signed it into law in 1872. "Efforts to comprehensively reform the Mining Law (of 1872) have been ongoing literally for decades but have repeatedly failed," said Sen. Jeff Bingaman, a New Mexico Democrat who leads the Senate Energy Committee. That panel is crafting legislation to update the law. Following the lead set by House members last year, Bingaman and others in the Senate believe they now have a good opportunity to rewrite the mining rules. Even the mining industry is willing to agree to some changes, said Carol Raulston, spokeswoman for the National Mining Association."
More from the article:
The Senate is looking for the first time at charging royalties for minerals pulled from federal lands. Mining companies currently don't pay anything for using property owned by taxpayers. That money could be used to clean up abandoned mines, including the 23,000 in Colorado. "Many of these sites continue to pollute the water, land and air," said Sen. Ken Salazar, a Colorado Democrat who sits on the Senate Energy Committee. As he toured the Colowyo coal mine near Meeker on Tuesday, Salazar pointed out that coal mines are not covered by the 1872 law but provide money to the federal government for cleaning up remnants of the country's mining past. The Colowyo Coal Co., for example, paid $2.8 million in 2006 for abandoned-mine cleanup. "Coal carries the responsibility now for abandoned-mine reclamation," Salazar said. "If the 1872 mining law is updated, part of that will be to figure out how the other mining resources in the public domain can help."
In Colorado, mining is big business. Minerals pulled out of mines in the state sold for more than $2.6 billion in 2006, said Stuart Sanderson, president of the Colorado Mining Association. The state ranks first in the nation for the amount of molybdenum harvested and fourth for gold production, he said. And like many Western states, Colorado has seen a surge in new mining claims. Those claims skyrocketed to 23,473 this January, from 5,430 in January 2003, according to a study by the Environmental Working Group and the Pew Campaign for Responsible Mining.
More Coyote Gulch coverage here and here.
Category: 2008 Presidential Election
6:02:05 AM
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Climate Change deniers are trumping the refreezing of the Arctic sea ice since the summer as news that the planet is not in a long-term warming trend. This article from The Insurance Journal reports that the ice is thinner, exactly what you would expect, according to NASA. From the article:
NASA has released the findings from its most recent satellite observations, which, taken in conjunction with other reports, confirms that "the Arctic is still on 'thin ice' when it comes to the condition of sea ice cover in the region. "A colder-than-average winter in some regions of the Arctic this year has yielded an increase in the area of new sea ice, while the older sea ice that lasts for several years has continued to decline." NASA's scientists said they believe that the increased area of sea ice this winter is due to recent weather conditions. However, the bulletin explained: "The decline in perennial ice reflects the longer-term warming climate trend and is a result of increased melting during summer and greater movement of the older ice out of the Arctic."
Category: Climate Change News
5:55:44 AM
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© Copyright
2008
John Orr.
Last update:
4/1/08; 8:14:01 AM.
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