Sunday, April 8, 2007

Regional Watershed Supply Project Aaron Million's proposed pipeline project was the talk of the Southwestern Water Conservation District's 25th annual water seminar, according to the Durango Herald. From the article, "A proposal to transport water from the Green River basin of Utah and Wyoming for urban and rural users on the Front Range, including Colorado Springs and Pueblo, drew some skepticism Friday at the Southwestern Water Conservation District's 25th annual water seminar. The all-day event attracted about 130 participants to the DoubleTree Hotel, including about 40 Fort Lewis College students involved with Engineers Without Borders, a national program created in 2000 to design and construct water, sanitation and shelter projects in developing nations. The reaction arose after Aaron Million described how his thesis at Colorado State University - a comparative economic study of the Colorado and Green river basins - turned into a request to the federal Bureau of Reclamation for a project permit... "An audience member pointed out that imported water didn't stop growth in Los Angeles. Another questioner asked who would oversee the conservation and increased-efficiency components of Million's proposal. A third asked about the concerns of downstream states such as California, and Mexico, which received water under Colorado River treaties. Million, one of seven speakers at the seminar, conceded there are skeptics and naysayers. But the project is a natural use for an underutilized source of water, he said. In reply to questions Friday, he said: Growth will occur regardless, so the solution is management of a limited resource; downstream consumers of Colorado River water tend to be whiners and complainers; and economic measures could solve conservation and efficiency issues... "The public/private Regional Watershed Supply Project, as Million's three-year-old plan is called, would transfer 165,000 to 250,000 acre-feet of water a year from the Flaming Gorge/Green River basin to Colorado. A pipeline would follow the Interstate 80 corridor already used for natural-gas pipelines, then turn south through Fort Collins to Southeast Colorado cities. No new reservoirs would be required. According to Million's rationale, the 1922 Colorado River Compact allows Colorado to use unappropriated water from the Green River because the river makes a U-shaped 20- to 30-mile hook through western Colorado. He estimated construction of the $2 billion to $3 billion project would take two years. Utah and Wyoming interests would benefit from the project, Million said. Flaming Gorge Reservoir, located on the border of southwestern Wyoming and northeastern Utah, holds 3.8 million acre-feet of water." More Coyote Gulch coverage here. Category: Colorado Water 8:29:40 AM     Fry-Ark space for Aurora? The Lower Arkansas Valley Water Conservancy District is planning a lawsuit against the Aurora Long Term Contract, according to the Pueblo Chieftain. From the article, "A conservancy district would probably file a lawsuit against the Bureau of Reclamation once a contract is issued to Aurora, and will use a 60-day comment period to prepare its lawsuit. The Lower Arkansas Valley Water Conservancy District board already has agreed to oppose the contract in federal court, but the timing of the lawsuit will be discussed at the board's meeting this month, said Chairman John Singletary. 'We're still weighing our options, and it's up to the board,' Singletary said. 'We've already had our legal firm investigate our ability to file a suit. We've discovered we're on firm ground and this could be a successful legal action.'[...] "The Lower Ark district has protested the Aurora action on two major fronts, claiming Reclamation has no authority to lease any part of the Fryingpan-Arkansas Project to move water out of the Arkansas Valley, and that a full environmental impact statement is needed if a contract is issued... "The Lower Ark said Reclamation did not look at indirect effects on irrigation, economic activity, governmental revenue, out-migration, cultural changes and agricultural dry-ups associated with the contract. Reclamation said the transfer of water rights to Aurora within Colorado already has occurred and would not be affected by the contract. The Lower Ark said environmental justice issues - impacts of the contract on poor or minority residents of the Lower Ark Valley - have not been adequately addressed. Reclamation responded that it found no adverse socioeconomic impacts associated with the contract. Reclamation spokeswoman Kara Lamb said last week the contract could be delayed if 'substantial' new information about either the contract or the environmental assessment were provided during a public comment period that ends June 4." Here's an editorial about the Aurora Long Term Contract from the Pueblo Chieftain. They write, "Reclamation is in essence subsidizing Aurora's water supply. It's charging 25 cents on the dollar to deliver water to Aurora, something even admitted to in the environmental assessment. Reclamation bureaucrats seem hell-bent on doing what they want to do, not what's called for in the law or what's good for the citizens of the Arkansas Valley. It's time that they be held accountable - by the people of this valley and possibly even the courts. Reclamation officials seem to have forgotten which side of the check they sign. The taxpayers are the ones paying the bills." More Coyote Gulch coverage here. Category: Colorado Water 8:01:36 AM     Snowpack Here's the lowdown on the snowpack in the Gunnison Basin from the Grand Junction Daily Sentinel. They write, "Flows through the Black Canyon of the Gunnison dropped 50 cubic feet per second Thursday to 450 cfs as more water was diverted through the Gunnison Tunnel. The Uncompahgre Valley Water Users increased their call for irrigation water by 200 cfs but the Bureau of Reclamation, still striving to fill Blue Mesa Reservoir, increased releases only by 150 cfs. The April snowpack report said the Gunnison Basin was at 66 percent of long-term average, which means that more cuts in the Gunnison can be expected unless surface water conditions improve substantially." More snowpack news from the Fort Collins Coloradoan. They write, "Reservoir storage is in pretty good shape, about 3 percent better than the long-term average, except in the South Platte, Arkansas and Rio Grande basins, Green said. The state gets 80 percent of its surface water from snowpack, and the ski industry, which has had plenty, isn[base ']t the only business to depend on it. Cities get their drinking water and many farmers and ranchers depend on it. Dry forests can mean more wildfires. Six downstream states depend on water from Colorado rivers...The South Platte, which was hit by January blizzards, had the best snowpack Saturday, 97 percent, followed by 86 in the Arkansas and 80 in the Colorado. The southwestern corner of the state was the driest, with only 53 percent in the San Miguel-Dolores-Animas-San Juan basin." Here are the snowpack numbers from the Greeley Tribune (free registration required), "Water content [percent of average] of state snowpack as of April 1: Gunnison, 66; Colorado, 81; South Platte, 94; North Platte, 80; Yampa/White, 74; Arkansas, 81; Rio Grande, 70; San Juan, Animas, Dolores, 58; Statewide, 75." Category: Colorado Water 7:45:34 AM     State of the Rockies conference From today's Denver Post, "The fourth annual Colorado College State of the Rockies Conference will be April 9-11 on the Colorado College campus in Colorado Springs. This year's 'State of the Rockies Report Card,' which is written by student researchers at Colorado College will focus on issues of water sustainability; forest health; energy development; and growth in the Rockies. Each topic will be bolstered by keynote speakers and panels of experts. The conference is free; register at events. For information, visit stateoftherockies.com or call 719-389-6607." Category: Colorado Water 7:32:01 AM

© Copyright 2007 John Orr. Last update: 5/1/07; 9:43:40 AM.