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Thursday, June 19, 2008
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Pueblo Chieftain: "River levels are rising again and expected to increase and stay high through the weekend. "It's a surprise to many of us to see it come back this strong," said Steve Witte, Water Division 2 engineer. "The sustained, hot weather is bringing snow water out of the mountains we weren't sure was there.'"
More from the article:
By today, minor flooding is again expected at Canon City, and will most likely continue through Monday, according to National Weather Service forecasts. At La Junta, river levels are expected to peak below flood stage Monday, according to forecasts. River gauges monitored by the U.S. Geological Survey were steadily climbing Wednesday, with readings of 3,420 cubic feet per second at Nathrop, 4,070 cfs at Parkdale and 3,120 cfs at Avondale. The Arkansas River Headwaters Area has a high water advisory for the entire river and advises rafters to avoid Pine Creek Rapid, the Numbers and the Royal Gorge...
The Bureau of Reclamation has been running the Boustead Tunnel into Turquoise Lake at or near capacity and so far has brought about 37,000 acre-feet into the Arkansas River basin in the Fryingpan-Arkansas Project. However, there is a long way to go to get to the 100,000 acre-feet projected in May. About 83,000 acre-feet have been allocated, with about 49,000 for agriculture. The imported water will help farmers finish their crops if dry conditions persist. Reclamation is banking on a longer runoff to bring over the full amount of water, since diversions from the West Slope through the Boustead Tunnel are physically limited to about 1,800 acre-feet per day. In other words, it will take more than a month to bring the full amount over.
Category: Colorado Water
7:14:05 PM 
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Colorado Springs Gazette: "Douglas Bruce submitted petitions Tuesday with thousands more signatures than the 11,470 needed to qualify proposals that would dismantle Colorado Springs' Stormwater Enterprise and overhaul how the city's other enterprises operate for the November ballot."
Category: Colorado Water
7:06:45 PM
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Rob Inglis (via GOAT): "Politicians and political appointees trying to block releases from the Glen Canyon Dam have resorted to one of the oldest anti-environmental tricks in the book: claiming that the scientific case for conservation measures is still unclear, then bullying their underlings if they dare to disagree."
More Coyote Gulch coverage here and here.
Category: Colorado Water
6:47:34 PM
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Here's an article from The Wilderness Society (Drew Bush) on the potential for oil shale to impact the current energy crisis. Read the whole thing. Here are a few excerpts:
Did you know that more than three million acres of oil shale lands in Colorado, Utah and Wyoming are already in private hands[~]and have been so for decades? Companies such as ExxonMobil, Red Leaf Resources and Great Western Energy, LLC own more than 83,000 acres of prime oil shale lands while also each holding portions of the six 160-acre tracts the Bureau of Land Management leased for the expressed purpose of giving these companies space to develop viable oil shale technologies.
These companies possess all the land they need to begin a commercial oil shale program now but have not done so. Yet, despite the fact that oil shale and tar sands development relies on unproven, environmentally destructive and economically dubious technologies, the Bush administration wants to spend its last months in office handing over more of your public lands to international companies such as Royal Dutch Shell.
In fact: it's in the best interest of the American people to slow down the pace on commercial oil shale development. The Governors of Colorado and Wyoming clearly think so. Find out what Gov. Bill Ritter (D-CO) had to say about opening federal lands in Colorado to a commercial oil shale program at a recent Congressional hearing. Gov. Ritter is not alone. Find out what Wyoming Gov. Dave Freudenthal (D-WY) thinks about slowing the pace of oil shale development.
Politics West: "Power struggle hits Mountain West: The fight over energy and how to lower gas prices threw the Rocky Mountain West into the spotlight Wednesday when President Bush urged Congress to repeal a moratorium on the development of oil shale."
More Coyote Gulch coverage here.
Category: 2008 Presidential Election
6:15:37 PM
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From email from Reclamation (Kara Lamb): "This morning at 6 a.m., we cut releases from Ruedi Dam back another 50 or so cfs. We are currently releasing about 330 cfs to the Fryingpan River. But, the Rocky Fork is up. I believe it is running above 60 cfs right now, so that will put well over 360 cfs in the 'Pan below the dam."
Category: Colorado Water
6:14:21 PM
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From email from the Colorado Water Conservation Board (Rob Viehl):
The Stream and Lake Protection Section of the Colorado Water Conservation Board is meeting with stakeholders and all other interested parties to discuss proposed revisions to the Rules concerning the Colorado Instream Flow and Natural Lake Level Program, proposed CWCB Financial Policy 19, which addresses expenditures of funds on water acquisitions for instream flow use, and recommendations received this year for new instream flow appropriations in Water Division 4. While these are separate topics, discussing them at the same meeting should prove productive.
The following stream segments in Water Division 4 are being considered for instream flow protection at this time: Bent Creek (ISF Increase), Big Dominguez Creek, Clear Fork East Muddy Creek, East Elk Creek (ISF Increase), Grizzly Gulch, Gunnison River, Henson Creek, Little Dominguez Creek, Little Spring Creek, San Miguel River, Schafer Gulch (ISF Increase), and Tabeguache Creek.
The meeting will take place at 7:30 p.m. on June 25th, 2008, and will be held in the Fred R. Field Western Heritage Center, Multi-Purpose Building located at 275 S. Spruce Street in Gunnison, Colorado. Questions about new appropriations may be directed to Jeff Baessler at 303-866-3906 or Jeffrey.Baessler@state.co.us and questions about the proposed revisions to the rules may be directed to Linda Bassi at 303-866-3263 or Linda.Bassi@state.co.us
Also from email from the CWCB (Rob Viehle):
The Stream and Lake Protection Section of the Colorado Water Conservation Board will hold three public meetings to discuss proposed revisions to the Rules Concerning the Colorado Instream Flow and Natural Lake Level Program. The Rules are being revised, in part, to implement H.B. 08-1280. A copy of the proposed revisions to the rules can be found on CWCB's website, along with a copy of proposed CWCB Financial Policy 19, which addresses expenditures of funds on water acquisitions for instream flow use.
June 24, 2008
1:30 - 3:30 p.m.
1313 Sherman Street, Room 318
Denver, Colorado
June 25, 2008
7:30 - 9:30 p.m.
Fred R. Field Western Heritage Center
Multi-Purpose Building
275 S. Spruce Street
Gunnison, Colorado
Preceding the ISF Rules discussion, CWCB staff will give a short presentation on recommendations received this year for new instream flow appropriations that staff is processing at this time for Water Division 4.
July 7, 2008
6:30 - 8:30 p.m.
Southwestern Colorado Water Conservation District
841 E. 2nd Avenue
Durango, Colorado
Category: Colorado Water
6:13:44 PM
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Are you new to the controversy over the proposed Northern Integrated Supply Project? Here's Part I of a three part series, with a lot of background that identifies the major issues of contention, from The Colorado Independent. From the article: "The debate between conservationists and growing communities that see no other possible option played out in an emotional, five-hour public hearing Monday night in Fort Collins when the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which drafts the Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) needed for the project's final approval, accepted public comment."
Here's Part II of the series from The Colorado Independent. The article looks at NISP and long-term water needs through the eyes of municipal water providers.
Here's a recap of Tuesday's public meeting for the proposed Northern Integrated Supply Project, from The Fort Collins Coloradoan. From the article:
A hearing Tuesday on the proposed Northern Integrated Supply Project and Glade Reservoir turned into two hearings. While the first 90 minutes of testimony on the controversial project was dominated by proponents of the vast water-storage proposal, the latter two hours featured a steady stream of its foes. Dozens of speakers extolled the potential virtues and problems of the project, which has been proposed by the Northern Colorado Water Conservancy District in partnership with 15 regional cities and water districts. The city of Fort Collins is not part of the project. Their comments on the draft Environmental Impact Statement, or EIS, will be included in the public record and seriously weighed, said Chandler Peter of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, who is overseeing the lengthy EIS process.
More coverage from The Loveland Reporter-Herald. From the article:
Years ago, many people were up in arms about the potential of building the Colorado-Big Thompson project to bring water to Larimer County.
"Try to imagine this area without it,"" said Mike Applegate, a board member of the Northern Colorado Water Conservancy District and 47-year area resident. "Fort Collins and Northern Colorado would be a difficult place to live,"" he said. Like the now-completed project, the proposed Northern Integrated Supply Project plans for the future in a way to protect water supplies, riparian habitat and the agricultural economy, Applegate said.
"We can use less today than we did yesterday," [Thomas] Wilding said. "NISP is like a 300-pound child asking you for a lifetime supply of doughnuts."[...]
Don Ament, a farmer from Iliff, former state legislator and former agricultural commissioner, argued that the reservoir would protect farming and the state's agricultural industry and should be approved. "Let's store water while we have it to store to ensure the future of our young people," he said.
More Coyote Gulch coverage here and here.
Category: Colorado Water
6:12:30 PM
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From The Cherry Creek News: "'RiverWebs,' a documentary film about life, death, science and streams that features Colorado State University Department of Fish, Wildlife and Conservation Biology Professor Kurt Fausch will air at noon June 22 on Rocky Mountain PBS. The one-hour documentary chronicles the life and work of Shigeru Nakano, a pioneering Japanese ecologist. Nakano, who was a leader in international efforts to increase understanding of river ecosystems, died in a research accident in 2000...'RiverWebs' was produced by Freshwaters Illustrated, a nonprofit organization dedicated to raising public awareness of freshwater life, science and conservation."
Take the time to click through (and join up) with Freshwaters Illustrated. From the website, "Our Mission is twofold: (1) to educate diverse public audiences about the life, study, and conservation of freshwater ecosystems through illustrative science-based efforts, and (2) to provide illustrative resources and services to scientists, educators, and media specialists. Our Vision is to create a public that is more conscious of freshwater life, and more sympathetic to freshwater conservation."
Category: Colorado Water
6:11:44 PM
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From email from Reclamation (Kara Lamb): "As we move into what is looking to be a hot weekend, I have a C-BT operations update for you.
"Run-off is starting to drop off in the Blue, over on the west slope. Green Mountain Reservoir, which releases to the Lower Blue River, has cut back releases signifcantly. We are releasing about 203 cfs. I do not anticipate that to change much over the weekend. Green Mountain reservoir is now at an elevation of 7933--a gain of two vertical feet over the last couple of days.
"East slope run-off is still coming down. In fact, flows into Lake Estes have been up the last couple of days. As a result, we will be bumping up releases from Olympus Dam to the Big Thompson River to about 524 cfs. That change will occur late tonight (June 19). Expect to see the 524 drop just a little over the weekend, to around 515 cfs.
Lake Estes has really come up. It is at an elevation today of 7472--it is only about 3 vertical feet down from full. It will see some fluctuation over the weekend as the run-off ebbs and flows day-to-night and also with power generation.
"Pinewood has also come up some more. It is fluctuating in elevation as we generate power below at Flatiron Powerplant. It is currently at an elevation of 6566--about 12 feet down from full. I anticipate we'll continue generating power through the weekend. Residents and visitors to Pinewood should expect to see this same kind of fluctuation through the weekend.
"Carter has been at an elevation of 5725 all day. We do not plan to fill Carter any higher, this year. As the weather heats up, visitors to Carter should expect to see water users start taking water and the water level begin its annual decline.
Similarly, Horsetooth has also maintained its elevation all day at 5405. Like Carter, as the weather heats up, visitors and residents around Horsetooth should expect to see water users start taking water and the elevation drop.
"I will be out of the office next week and unable to send an update. But, we are clearly into summer operations at this point. Warm weather will mean more water out of Horsetooth and Carter. Pinewood will continue fluctuating for power generation. And releases out of Green Mountain will most likely stay in the 200-350 cfs area."
Category: Colorado Water
6:11:03 PM
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Here's a link to "Drying of the West" from National Geographic Magazine about water in the western U.S. Not much new here for Coyote Gulch readers but the author (Robert Kunzig) pulls a lot of good information togehther in one place and tells a good story. Take the time to read it. From the article:
[Scott Stine of California State University, East Bay] found drowned stumps in many other places in the Sierra Nevada. They all fell into two distinct generations, corresponding to two distinct droughts. The first had begun sometime before 900 and lasted over two centuries. There followed several extremely wet decades, not unlike those of the early 20th century. Then the next epic drought kicked in for 150 years, ending around 1350. Stine estimates that the runoff into Sierran lakes during the droughts must have been less than 60 percent of the modern average, and it may have been as low as 25 percent, for decades at a time. "What we have come to consider normal is profoundly wet," Stine said. "We're kidding ourselves if we think that's going to continue, with or without global warming."[...]
The future, though, won't be governed by that kind of natural fluctuation alone. Thanks to our emissions of greenhouse gases, it will be subject as well to a global one-way trend toward higher temperatures. In one talk at Lamont, climate theorist Isaac Held, from NOAA's Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory in Princeton, gave two reasons why global warming seems almost certain to make the drylands drier. Both have to do with an atmospheric circulation pattern called Hadley cells. At the Equator, warm, moist air rises, cools, sheds its moisture in tropical downpours, then spreads toward both Poles. In the subtropics, at latitudes of about 30 degrees, the dry air descends to the surface, where it sucks up moisture, creating the world's deserts[~]the Sahara, the deserts of Australia, and the arid lands of the Southwest. Surface winds export the moisture out of the dry subtropics to temperate and tropical latitudes. Global warming will intensify the whole process. The upshot is, the dry regions will get drier, and the wet regions will get wetter. "That's it," said Held. "There's nothing subtle here. Why do we need climate models to tell us that? Well, we really don't."
A second, subtler effect amplifies the drying. As the planet warms, the poleward edge of the Hadley cells, where the deserts are, expands a couple of degrees latitude farther toward each Pole. No one really knows what causes this effect[~]but nearly all climate models predict it, making it what modelers call a robust result. Because the Southwest is right on the northern edge of the dry zone, a northward shift will plunge the region deeper into aridity...
In the second half of the 13th century, as a drying trend set in, people who had lived for centuries at Mesa Verde moved down off the mesa into the canyons. They built villages around water sources, under overhangs high up in the walls of the cliffs, and climbed back up the cliffs to farm; their handholds in the rock are still visible. Some of the villages were fortified, because apparently their position on a cliff face was not defense enough. Those cliff dwellings, abandoned now for seven centuries but still intact and eerily beautiful, are what attract so many visitors today. But they are certainly not the product of an expansive, outward-looking civilization. They are the product of a civilization in a crouch, waiting to get hit again. In that period, the inhabitants of the Mesa Verde region began carving petroglyphs suggesting violent conflict between men armed with shields, bows and arrows, and clubs. And then, in the last two or three decades of the century, right when the tree rings record one of the most severe droughts in the region, the people left. They never came back.
Thanks to Coyote Gulch reader Greg for a heads up on the article.
Category: Colorado Water
6:05:28 PM
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From email from Reclamation (Dan Crabtree): "Shortly after 1:00 pm today one of the river by-pass gates at Crystal Dam experienced mechanical problems and drifted off its set point. This effectively cut approximately 250-300 cfs from the total release of 3900 cfs. Currently, the gate cannot be opened to its previous setting. Work crews at the dam are assessing the problem. However, since Reclamation had scheduled changes starting tomorrow, June 20th, we will incorporate today's flow changes into this weekend's reduction.
"The remainder of the release changes will occur at 100 cfs increments
spread out over the course of the next two days. The total release from
Crystal Dam after this change will be 2,900 cfs. The flows downstream
from Crystal Dam should be approximately 750 cfs through the diversion
tunnel and 2,150 cfs in the river below the tunnel."
Category: Colorado Water
5:54:25 PM
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From The Glenwood Springs Post-Independent: "If youtube.com is the measure of popularity for a person or event, then the Glenwood Springs Whitewater Park has made it big time. Clips of the fairly new wave receiving national attention in the kayaking community has several clips of kayakers riding the wave. "It's taken off a little quicker than we had expected it would," said co-owner of Glenwood Canyon Kayak Brian Wright. Wright and his business partner Chris Vogt are surprised at how fast interest in the whitewater park has spread, not only throughout Colorado but, nationally and worldwide."
Category: Colorado Water
6:35:30 AM
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No matter how much you want to pay less at the pump for gasoline oil shale is not an answer in the short term and may not be an answer in the near term either. Here's a look at the current discussion over the moratorium and whether or not it should be repealed or the term lengthened, from The Denver Post. From the article:
The fight over energy and how to lower gas prices threw the Rocky Mountain West into the spotlight Wednesday when President Bush urged Congress to repeal a moratorium on the development of oil shale. In a speech that spurred protests from Democratic leaders and environmentalists, Bush called for harvesting oil from shale rock found in Colorado, Wyoming and Utah. The president also advocated drilling for oil in coastal waters and the Alaskan wilderness, saying the tight supply is pushing up gas prices...
"I suggest that if the president really wants to develop oil shale, that he first come to the Western Slope of Colorado and learn something about our experience with the economic crash in the 1980s," said U.S. Rep. Mark Udall, D-Colo. "We can develop this resource, but we need to do it in a way that proves up the potential for jobs, economic stability and protects scarce water resources."
Additional caution is needed on oil- shale development, said Gov. Bill Ritter, a Democrat, because the technology is mostly untested. "No one -- not even the companies working on oil-shale development -- can tell us with any certainty how much energy it will take to develop this resource, where that energy would come from, what the impacts on Colorado's water supplies or quality would be, and what housing, transportation and other infrastructure needs will be," he said.
Here's a link to our column about oil shale development at The Examiner/Denver
More Coyote Gulch coverage here.
Category: 2008 Presidential Election
6:31:11 AM
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The Lower Arkansas Valley Super Ditch company is starting talks with potential customers to formalize lease arrangements, according to The Pueblo Chieftain. From the article:
Water leases by the Super Ditch may be possible as early as next year, and the group has begun meeting with potential customers. An update on the progress of the corporation, which formed in May, was given Wednesday to the Lower Arkansas Valley Water Conservancy District by Peter Nichols, a water attorney who represents both Super Ditch and the district. The Super Ditch board has met with representatives from the Pikes Peak Regional Water Authority, Pure Cycle, the Department of Natural Resources (including the Wildlife and Water Resources divisions), Colorado Springs and Aurora, Nichols reported...
In July, the Super Ditch board has scheduled a meeting with the South Metro Water Supply Authority, Pueblo Board of Water Works and Morley Companies, Nichols said. The Super Ditch is still in its infancy, and has to fine-tune information it gleaned from about $750,000 in studies already done by the Lower Ark district in preparation of actually forming a corporation. The group has tentative approval of a $320,000 Colorado Water Conservation Board grant, subject to an opinion by a lawyer on potential anti-trust issues, which was actually a topic listed in the grant application.
There are some barriers to leasing water, Nichols said after the Lower Ark meeting Wednesday. "There is not adequate exchange capacity," he said. "Pipelines are expensive, and it is more economic to cooperate than to build more pipelines."[...]
The more pressing question is how much water is available to lease. The Super Ditch was incorporated by about 40 water rights owners, many of them farmers or companies with large acreages, at a May 7 meeting in Rocky Ford. The idea behind the corporation is to allow farmers to keep their water rights while leasing some of the water each year to those who need the water. An appropriate amount of farmland would have to be fallowed while the water is being leased. Eventually, a water court decree would be needed to operate the program, as well as approval from ditch company shareholders. Currently, only the Fort Lyon and High Line canals allow for use of water outside their systems, and then certain conditions have to be met. Super Ditch members also have rights on the Catlin, Holbrook, Otero and Oxford ditches. Some customers, like the Division of Wildlife, might want to lease water every year, while municipalities would probably lease in drought or drought-recovery years...
...the Super Ditch continues to attract statewide and national attention. Lower Ark General Manager Jay Winner presented a program on Super Ditch to a regional water conference in Phoenix last month, and Wednesday he talked to the state Legislature's Water Resources Committee as well as the Corn Growers Association about the program.
Category: Colorado Water
6:19:37 AM
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© Copyright
2008
John Orr.
Last update:
7/1/08; 8:06:10 AM.
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