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Friday, April 18, 2008
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Here's a recap of yesterday's meeting of the Southeastern Colorado Water Conservancy board, from The Pueblo Chieftain. They write:
A member of the Southeastern Colorado Water Conservancy District board Thursday asked a top Southern Delivery System official why a route from Pueblo Dam was chosen for a pipeline, rather than a more direct route downstream. "It would appear that a downstream intake is simpler," Shawn Yoxey, a Pueblo County director of the board, told John Fredell, SDS project director for Colorado Springs Utilities. Fredell gave a presentation to the Southeastern District, claiming the connection to Pueblo Dam would best serve the water supply needs of Colorado Springs, Fountain, Security and Pueblo West for the next 40 years. The downstream alternative, which would be a river intake east of the confluence of Fountain Creek, cost $700 million more, according to a comparative analysis by the Bureau of Reclamation, which is accepting comments on a draft environmental impact statement on SDS through June 13. Additionally, it would require more energy for pumps to force water through membranes in a reverse osmosis treatment, and create solid waste for brine disposal, Fredell said. "The devil is in the details," he said...
Reed Dils, Chaffee County director, asked whether Colorado Springs would need more storage and asked whether the Twin Lakes Reservoir & Ditch Co. would push for a 20,000 acre-foot storage option that was part of an agreement when Twin Lakes was expanded as part of the Fry-Ark Project. Gary Bostrom, Colorado Springs water supply manager, stepped in and explained the Twin Lakes company operates separately of SDS, although Colorado Springs holds the majority of shares.
In other news about SDS, Colorado Springs City Council Wednesday approved an agreement with Fremont County that covers $50,000 in engineering costs related to permits if the pipeline is routed through Fremont County, as proposed in two alternatives in the draft EIS. The Fremont County routes would be longer - 53 miles, compared with 43 miles from the dam - and in Reclamation's report is estimated to cost $140 million to $230 million more to build than the $1.1 billion route from the dam. They would yield about the same amount of water as from the dam. Fredell said Fremont County remains a real option, rather than just a lever to obtain more cooperation from Pueblo County. However, Colorado Springs has not identified where, specifically, a river pumping station would be or what size holding pond for water would be needed. "We're not that far along," Fredell said. Pueblo County is still the preferred route for SDS, because it is the most scientifically and environmentally sound, Fredell said. He acknowledged there are problems with land use regulations Pueblo County revised in 2005 under 1974's HB1041.
Colorado Springs is fighting Pueblo County in court over whether it is subject to those regulations, or whether its project is similar to others that have been allowed. Nevertheless, Colorado Springs has started pre-application meetings with Pueblo County, and has asked for a finding of no significant impact. Colorado Springs has not yet applied for a 1041 permit and the timing depends on how the current round of meetings go, Fredell said. "We don't have to wait for the courts," Fredell said. Asked whether Colorado Springs would be willing to spend more on mitigation in Pueblo County to avoid paying more for a project in Fremont County, Fredell was candid. "From a gross perspective, if you spend less on the project, you have more money to spend on other things," Fredell said. "The possibility definitely exists."
More Coyote Gulch coverage here.
Category: Colorado Water
6:19:50 AM 
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The state senate local affairs committee approved HB 08-1161 yesterday, according to The Fort Collins Coloradoan. From the article:
[...]Northern Colorado residents[...]packed the Senate Local Affairs committee in Denver on Thursday to testify in favor of HB 1161, sponsored by Fort Collins Democratic Reps. John Kefalas and Randy Fischer and Republican Sen. Steve Johnson, which would require uranium miners to prove they can return groundwater either to pre-mining conditions or those in line with existing state standards. The legislation is important to property owners northeast of Fort Collins who have said they would be dangerously impacted if a proposed Powertech (USA) Mining Corp. uranium mine goes into operation. Water testing under the new law would be completed by a third-party contractor approved by the state, a shift from current state law requiring the mining company to do the testing...
The legislation was introduced in the House to encompass almost all mining operations in Colorado. But after hard-rock mining advocates protested, the bill's language was watered down to include only proposed uranium mines in Colorado. Powertech's is the only mine that fits that description. "This is probably the most important bill I have worked on this session," Sen. Johnson said. "Two years ago I didn't know what in-situ leech mining was and most people didn't know there were significant uranium deposits in Colorado. This is one of, if not the, most important issues in Northern Colorado today."
Powertech officials who testified during the time slated for opposition to the bill said they were not against the enhanced regulations but had concerns about the legislation. "We have been involved in this bill since it (began) and have spent many hours trying to make this bill better," said Dick Brown, a Powertech representative. "Powertech has never opposed this legislation...what we have worked for is amendments to make it more workable and more pragmatic for mining interests in the state of Colorado." Among the amendments Powertech proposed was a tightening of a provision that allows the state to deny a permit based on "uncertainties" in the permit application. The Canadian company asked that permits only be denied based on uncertainties based on scientific merit.
The bill's passage was also heralded by Environment Colorado, a state environmental group. "Some of Colorado's treasured lands are too important for our environment and our communities to be developed for any uranium mining," said Matt Garrington, field director of Environment Colorado. "But, where uranium mining does take place, we need to ensure proper protections to our environment."
HB 1161 heads to the Senate Appropriations committee before going to the floor for a second vote.
More Coyote Gulch coverage here and here.
Category: 2008 Presidential Election
6:06:45 AM
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From CNN Money: "Pure Cycle Corporation was notified yesterday that the Colorado Water Court supports its position and denied the City of Aurora's ("Aurora") motion for reconsideration and upheld its order of November 6, 2007, granting Rangeview Metropolitan District's Motion for Partial Summary Judgment. The November ruling requires the City of Aurora to remove three reservoir sites included in its 2003 Water Court filing because the reservoir sites substantially overlap reservoir sites which are subject to a previous agreement between Rangeview Metropolitan District and the State Land Board and in which Pure Cycle holds certain interests."
More Coyote Gulch coverage here
Category: Colorado Water
5:57:45 AM
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Save the Poudre and other opponents of Glade Reservoir and the Northern Integrated Supply Project rallied yesterday in Fort Collins. From their press release:
American Rivers, the nation's leading river protection organization, today designated the Cache la Poudre River as one of the "Most Endangered Rivers in America." In response, a rally and press conference was held in Fort Collins this morning to increase awareness about the Poudre's plight and to protest the Northern Integrated Supply Project (NISP)/Glade Reservoir. The project is a water diversion plan that would severely degrade the ecological health of the river, dry up farmland, and threaten the quality of life and economy of the region. "This is a very unfortunate day for Fort Collins and northern Colorado," said Gary Wockner, a member of the Save The Poudre Coalition, who sponsored this morning's event. "What's happening on the Poudre today is 'ground zero' for the next phase of regional water wars. We are standing at a place, and in an issue, of national significance." Today's announcement by American Rivers, designating the most endangered rivers, was based on three criteria: (1) a river's threat level, (2) a major decision in the next year regarding the river, and (3) its regional and national significance. For the Cache la Poudre, the threat is the NISP/Glade Reservoir, a project that will drain even more water out of the already degraded Poudre. The major decision coming this year will be the Environmental Impact Statement by the Army Corps of Engineers regarding the project. Finally, the Cache la Poudre has great significance regionally as a driving force for recreation and business in Fort Collins. The river is also the only "National Wild and Scenic River" in Colorado as designated by an Act of Congress.
Here's an article about the rally from The Loveland Reporter Herald. They write:
A line of anglers in the Poudre River were trying to draw attention Thursday to what they see as a danger to the river they love. They stood, thigh deep, in water they say will disappear if Glade Reservoir is built northwest of Fort Collins. Nearby, others who also are concerned about the river rolled up pant legs and stood in the same water, all hoisting signs: "Save the Poudre."[...]
Conservation is only part of the solution, said Brian Werner, spokesman for the Northern Colorado Water Conservancy District, the agency planning to build Glade Reservoir. "Twenty-first century solutions aren't a single solution," he said. "It will include water conservation, of which I think we are doing a darn good job. It also includes water storage. "They are missing a piece of the pie. No matter how good of a job we do conserving water, we have to have somewhere to store it."[...]
The water will be diverted at the mouth of the canyon, not as it winds through the mountains, where the Cache la Poudre is federally designated as Colorado's only Wild and Scenic River. So it won't affect recreation, Werner said. And with the reservoir, water managers could choose when and how much water to release at any given time, which Werner believes might even increase flows for anglers, rafters and others west of Fort Collins.
Members of Save the Poudre Coalition do not buy that argument and also worry about the stretch of the river that winds through Fort Collins. The city has invested millions of dollars into natural areas and open space along the river and into downtown development plans that rely on the Poudre River, according to Wockner and Lisa Poppow, a Fort Collins City Council member.
More coverage from The Fort Collins Coloradoan. From the article:
American Rivers ranked the Poudre third on its Top 10 list of threatened rivers, claiming the proposed reservoir would drain the river before it reaches Fort Collins. The Washington, D.C.-based group called on communities and water districts that would store water in Glade to pursue ramped-up conservation programs before resorting to building a dam. "Water will be the oil of the 21st century," Rebecca Wodder, president of American Rivers, said in a prepared statement. "Yet all across the country, water mismanagement is on full display as politicians resort to placing another straw in their rivers, or outright stealing water from their neighbors, instead of adopting water policies that will make our communities more resilient in the face of global warming."[...]
In a telephone interview, a spokesman for the Northern Colorado Water Conservancy District, which has proposed the project, said Glade Reservoir would not damage the river as critics claim. Minimum stream flows would be maintained through Fort Collins, Brian Werner said...
American Rivers solicits nominations for its annual most-endangered rivers list, said Amy Kobler, communications director. A technical advisory team reviews 50 to 100 nominations each year.
The goal is to draw national attention to rivers that are threatened by specific issues or projects, she said, not to list rivers that are in the worst environmental shape. This is the first time the river has made the list. Criteria for receiving a designation are facing an imminent threat, having an upcoming "decision point" when the public can have a say on the outcome of an issue and being a significant river.
More Coyote Gulch coverage here and here.
Category: Colorado Water
5:52:03 AM
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© Copyright
2008
John Orr.
Last update:
5/1/08; 7:44:08 AM.
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