Wednesday, April 2, 2008

Coyote Gulch outage There's trouble with the Userland servers this evening. If you're reading this some things have cleared. 7:08:28 PM     HB 08-1141: Require Sufficient Water Supply Water Information Program, "Similar to the historic Colorado River Record-of-Decision, signed in December 2007, Colorado House Bill 1141 (HB08-1141), sponsored by Rep. Kathleen Curry and Sen. Bob Bacon, could also be looked at as a landmark piece of legislation. According to one attorney, this has been an on-going conversation for more than 20 years. HB08-1141 would allow local governments to reject developments if builders cannot prove they have an adequate water supply." More Coyote Gulch coverage here. Category: Colorado Water 7:00:15 PM     Alamosa: Still in stage two Here's the latest on the salmonella outbreak in Alamosa from SLV Dweller. Category: Colorado Water 6:44:49 PM     Energy policy: Solar From The Cherry Creek News: "Gov. Ritter today announced that the Governor's Energy Office (GEO) is seeking grant applicants for $350,000 in incentives for solar innovation projects. The 'Solar Innovation Grant' funds are being made available through the Clean Energy Fund." Denver Business Journal: "Colorado was ranked No. 2 in the nation for installing the most new megawatts of wind power in 2007, according to the American Wind Association. And Colorado is sixth in the nation for installed capacity to generate megawatts by wind power. In 2007, Colorado installed the capacity to generate 776 megawatts of wind power, up from the 291 that were installed in 2006. In total, Colorado has the capacity to generate 1,067 megawatts of wind power. Colorado, along with Minnesota, Iowa and Washington, broke the 1,000-megawatt mark in cumulative capacity last year. Texas ranked first with 2,768 new megawatts, bringing its total to 4,446." Category: Climate Change News 6:28:01 PM     Colorado Supreme Court upholds Judge Kuenhold's decision on confined aquifer rules Here's a look at the Colorado Supreme Court's ruling in favor of Judge Kuenhold's decision on the state engineer's rules for the confined aquifer in the San Luis Valley, from The Pueblo Chieftain. From the article: The Colorado Supreme Court upheld the state engineer's groundwater rules last week, denying challenges by opponents who appealed the case. The rules initially were upheld by Division 3 Water Court Judge O. John Kuenhold in November 2006 following a 26-day trial earlier that year. The rules connect the confined and unconfined aquifers in the Rio Grande basin with surface water. Kuenhold ruled all waters in the basin are over-appropriated. New wells would have to comply with the rules by providing one-to-one replacement to avoid overdraft of groundwater... Water districts in the San Luis Valley are supporting the rules and are forming subdistricts which would buy land and take it out of production as a way of increasing availability of water to remaining users. Kuenhold's ruling was appealed to the state Supreme Court by Cotton Creek Circles, a company managed by Gary Boyce, who sought to develop the unconfined aquifer for use throughout the state in the 1990s. The high court said the rules are within the authority of the state engineer - now Dick Wolfe, who was appointed after Hal Simpson retired last year. The court also said the rules do not violate either the Colorado Constitution or state law, as opponents challenged. Colorado's regulation of wells in the San Luis Valley has its roots in the 1939 Rio Grande Compact with Texas and New Mexico, which allows Colorado to accumulate debits of up to 100,000 acre-feet. By 1952, Colorado was exceeding that limit. By 1958, there were 7,500 wells. The other states brought a U.S. Supreme Court case against Colorado in 1966 in an attempt to force repayment of the debit. In a negotiated settlement, the states agreed to suspend litigation if Colorado would meet its delivery obligation from that time forward. In 1968, the state engineer began administering the Rio Grande and Conejos River, curtailing some diversions. In 1972, the state engineer imposed a moratorium on new wells in the valley, except for the Closed Basin aquifer. That same year, the Closed Basin Project was authorized by Congress to salvage unconfined groundwater and pump it through a 42-mile channel to satisfy the needs of downstream states. The 170 wells in the project are 85-100 feet deep and yield 50-1,100 gallons per minute. Another 82 observation wells track water levels in the confined and unconfined aquifers. The state Supreme Court upheld a portion of rules the state engineer unsuccessfully tried to adopt in the 1970s, which looked at determining injury over the total aquifer, rather than on a well-by-well basis. The state Legislature began asking for rules to regulate new groundwater withdrawals in 1998, which included a specific study of the confined aquifer. The study was used to develop the new rules. A 2004 state law called for the state engineer to regulate the confined and unconfined aquifers to maintain a balance in both systems, consistent with fluctuations that occurred from 1978-2000. The new rules were upheld in their entirety by the state Supreme Court last week, both as a way to protect senior water rights and protect the state's compact obligations. Category: Colorado Water 6:46:13 AM     Roundtable meetings SLV Dweller, "A meeting of the Rio Grande Interbasin Roundtable, formed under the Colorado Water for the 21st Century Act, will be held Tuesday, April 8, 2008 from 2:00 to 5:00 P.M. at the Alamosa Family Recreation Center, 2222 Old Sanford Road, Alamosa (Go South Hwy 160, Left on 17th. Street & Right on County Rd. 109)." Here's the link to the Interbasin Compact Committee website. You can look up the meeting date for your favorite roundtable meeting. They also have a new sign up for news from the committee and the Colorado Water Conservation Board. Category: Colorado Water 6:34:19 AM     CSU Watershed Science Program turns 50 Colorado State University celebrated the 50th anniversary of their Watershed Science Program last week, according to Fort Collins Now. From the article: In honor of the occasion [50th anniversary], the department put on a three-day celebration commencing last Thursday and culminating on Saturday. Professors, faculty, alumni, graduate and undergrads, as well as numerous people involved in the watershed field, all participated in the events that included technical sessions, lectures, luncheons, a Fort Collins brewery tour, a Pingree Park snowshoe hike and a ski trip to A-Basin...Melinda Laituri, an associate professor of watershed science who has taught at CSU for 12 years and was the program's first female faculty member, was initially attracted to the program's pioneer legacy. "This was the first watershed program in the country and still is one of the best," Laituri commented. "We strive to educate the public and students on better understanding the role concerning the science of how we manage water resources." The program was initially started in 1957 under a grant from the Charles Lathrop Pack Foundation in an attempt to study and gain research of the natural processes of human activities that affect water resources on a watershed scale. Graduates tend to gravitate toward careers in environmental consulting, water quality analysis, watershed management and analysis, water conservation and land use specialty jobs. Category: Colorado Water 6:18:31 AM     Erie says yes to fluoride dosing From The Boulder Daily Camera, "Voters in Erie decided Tuesday they want fluoride in their water and a new face in town government." Category: Colorado Water 6:06:52 AM     Southern Delivery System So what's in store for the Upper Arkansas Valley if Colorado Springs builds its proposed Southern Delivery System? Here's a recap of the first public meeting on the project from The Pueblo Chieftain: While the Bureau of Reclamation is convinced Colorado Springs diversions under the Southern Delivery System would not have much of an impact on the Upper Arkansas River, the people who live there want to be sure. So, an assortment of interested citizens milled through the first of six open houses Reclamation is hosting on SDS to learn more about the project, alternatives that are being studied in an environmental impact statement and the impact on the river. The open houses continue from 6 to 9 p.m. today at the Sangre de Cristo Arts & Conference Center in Pueblo. "The only issue for us is if they take more water out of the river," said Chaffee County Commissioner Jim Osborne. "We have the biggest water right on the river (a recreational in-channel diversion for kayak courses at Buena Vista and Salida). It's a junior water right, but one that we intend to use and keep hold of. If the cities on the Front Range had their way, they'd dry up every river they could." The open house attracted a couple of dozen participants, mostly from Lake and Chaffee counties. A trickle of people came in as they voted in municipal elections at the Buena Vista Community Center, where the open house was also held. "Whenever water is being discussed, Buena Vista is concerned," said Mayor Cara Russell. "We want to make sure the flows are being kept the same. If they take more water, we want to be able to continue to have water available for growth in the county." Both Osborne and Russell are concerned because the area around Buena Vista, like much of the Front Range, is expected to see growth in the next few years. "Water is a great concern," Osborne said. "We are not sure we have enough for growth past the next 10 years." There could also be improvements to recreation through the SDS project. Two alternatives of SDS - although not the preferred alternative from Pueblo Dam - would rehabilitate the Granite diversion for the Homestake Project on the Arkansas River north of Buena Vista, which now is only a backup for the Otero Pipeline that connects with Twin Lakes. Colorado State Parks received a $58,000 grant from the Colorado Water Conservation Board last month to study how the Granite diversion and three other diversions could be made more boater friendly, said Rob White, superintendent of the Arkansas Headwaters Recreation Area. "We're looking at a new design for each structure that would improve water delivery and ensure safe boating," White said. Colorado Springs, along with Aurora, its partner in the Homestake Project, is committed to improving the Granite diversion, said Keith Riley of Colorado Springs Utilities. "One of the things we're looking at is creating a boat chute that will make it passable," Riley said. If either the no-action or Highway 115 alternative is chosen, the amount of water in the river above Buena Vista would be increased by releases from Twin Lakes to Granite. Flows would remain the same through Canon City and decrease in the river between the point of a new diversion near Florence and Lake Pueblo. Return flows would be released down Fountain Creek, decreasing flows through Pueblo as well. Frank McMurry, a Nathrop cattle rancher, was concerned about the agricultural impacts. "What I want to know is, is there any chance of their taking more water at the Otero Pumping Station?" McMurry said. Riley said that's unlikely, since the station operates at capacity now. McMurry is concerned about water leaving the area, since his ranch borders the Hill Ranch, which Pueblo West, an SDS participant if the project comes from Pueblo Dam, bought with the intention of using the water rights. McMurry has some of the oldest water rights in the area, dating back to 1867, but says he does not want to sell them because his sons, Brett and Ken, want to stay in ranching. More Coyote Gulch coverage here. Category: Colorado Water 6:02:23 AM

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