Tuesday, May 20, 2008

Runoff The Dolores River is over 90% of flood stage, according to the USGS Water Watch website. There was a lot of snow down there this year. Coyote Gulch lost the carport at the retirement site in Dolores to snow. Category: Colorado Water 6:54:27 PM     Environmental policy grist "There's definitely a survivalist streak building in the environmental movement. Mainstream newspapers are starting to run stories about survivalism." Category: Climate Change News 6:13:37 PM     Reclamation: Blue River 'will be going up' From email from Reclamation (Kara Lamb): "As we prepare for run off this week, we are moving more water out of Green Mountain Reservoir to the Lower Blue. Today, we bumped up releases to 900 cfs and anticipate we will get to 1000 cfs, and probably above, over Memorial Day weekend. If you will be spending time on the Lower Blue, please be aware river flow will be going up." "colorado river" 5:56:09 PM     Energy policy: Nuclear From Fort Collins Now: "Coloradoans Against Resource Destruction is hosting a town hall meeting in Eaton on Monday night to discuss the proposed uranium mining in northern Colorado. The meeting will be from 7-9 p.m. Monday in the Eaton High School auditorium, 114 Park Ave. According to a news release from the organization, a petition that supports tighter regulation of uranium mining in Colorado will be available at the meeting. More than 9,000 signatures have been collected. The town hall meeting is open to the public. For more information, go to www.nunnglow.com or call (970) 372-0029 and leave a message." More Coyote Gulch coverage here and here. Category: 2008 Presidential Election 6:26:03 AM     Runoff The Elk River was out of its banks Sunday, according to The Steamboat Pilot & Today. From the article: The high-flying Elk River backed off during the day Monday, but the National Weather Service predicted the river would crest above flood stage again Monday night, posing a threat to buildings in the vicinity of U.S. Highway 40 and Routt County Road 44, about 7 miles west of Steamboat Springs. The Elk peaked just over its 7-foot flood stage about 1:30 a.m. Monday, but by late morning had retreated to 6.73 feet. Routt County Emergency Ma nagement Director Chuck Vale said the overnight event did not pose any human impacts, but he remained cautious about what might happen later this week... The Elk and other rivers in Northwest Colorado and Utah are under a flood warning imposed by the National Weather Service in Grand Junction. The warning also applies to the Yampa River at Deer Lodge Park in western Moffat County, where there are no homes, and the Green River near Jensen, Utah. The combination of an unusual amount of water stored in the snowpack for this late date, and the sudden arrival of summer-like temperatures is contributing to the danger... Complicating the situation is a snowpack that still was increasing less than two weeks ago, and in many sites around the Yampa and White river drainages, the snowpack is well above average for the date. A case in point is the Natural Resources Conservation Service snow-measuring site on the Elk River above Clark. Remote sensing equipment maintained by the Conservation Service shows that at 8,700 feet elevation, the terrain surrounding the site still contains 12.6 inches of water. That's not a lot of water compared to the amount stored elsewhere. For example, the west summit of Rabbit Ears Pass still holds 31.1 inches at 9,400 feet, and the Tower site on the summit of Buffalo Pass holds 50.2 inches. However, the Tower site is right on par for May 19, and the Rabbit Ears site is 135 percent of average. But the Elk River site is a notable 229 percent of average... The Yampa River where it runs through Steamboat remained several feet below flood stage even as the Elk was pushing its limits. Vale said Oak Creek still is under control, and Steamboat Springs Assistant Fire Chief Bob Struble reported that Butcherknife Creek was within its banks in Old Town Steamboat Springs, but there were some sandbags on the streambank in Stehley Park. More runoff news from The Aspen Times. They write: "The Fryingpan is experiencing its own version of spring runoff -- it continued to run at 325 cubic feet per second (cfs) Monday -- considerably higher than its typical late-summer flows. The Bureau of Reclamation is drawing down Ruedi Reservoir to make room for the coming snowmelt, hence the higher flows below the dam, but the dam-fed river is somewhat immune to the runoff phenomenon that has turned the Roaring Fork and Colorado rivers into muddy torrents. Here's an update from The Denver Post. From the article: Monday morning, the National Weather Service issued a flood watch for the East River near Almont, the Green River in Uintah County and the Yampa River in Moffat County. Isolated flooding was reported on the Rio San Antonio near Manassa, and a creeping landslide along Archuleta County's East Fork of the San Juan River was threatening a gas line. The Elk River north of Steamboat Springs is expected to reach flood stage this week. And a record snowfall above Aspen is raising flood concerns along the Roaring Fork River, which has yet to begin surging with any whitewater... The Gunnison River basin's snowpack, for example, climbed from 128 percent of average on April 1 to 141 percent of average in mid-May, a time when snowpacks typically begin to dry out. The East River, which feeds the Gunnison River and runs through Crested Butte, saw its snowpack climb from a barely manageable 147 percent of average in early March to 205 percent of average in early May. Gunnison County's emergency-management team on Friday sent out reverse-911 calls to all residents along the East River, warning them to watch for a surge that could slip the banks. More coveage from KJCT8.com. They write: "On Monday the Colorado River measured 8.3 feet. The Gunnison river measured over 9 feet. A couple more feet and we'll see some flooding. Residents in the Riverside area and neighborhoods along the water are concerned the rivers could crest. For the past couple days, the river has been rising about a foot a day. In the next couple days we'll see it rise a lot more." Here's the link to the USGS Water Watch website for Colorado. Category: Colorado Water 6:06:08 AM

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