Friday, April 13, 2007

The Crystal River Races Get on up to Carbondale for the Crystal River Races. According to the Aspen Times (free registration required), "...one of Colorado's oldest kayaking competitions -- will take place at the confluence of the Crystal and Roaring Fork rivers in Carbondale on April 21. Colorado Rocky Mountain School expects as many as 70 boaters in three river disciplines, including high schoolers from through out Colorado competing in the High School Whitewater Cup race series. Races begin at 10:30 a.m. with the slalom. Boatercross and downriver races follow; the races should conclude by midafternoon... "The Crystal River Races are a key western Colorado stop for the High School Whitewater Cup series, which draws schools primarily from the Front Range. Registration begins at 8:30 a.m.; all racers should be present for the meeting at 10 a.m. The entry fee is $15 for individual races or $20 for all three; lunch is provid ed for racers." Category: Colorado Water 6:23:46 AM     Pueblo West to lease water to Aurora From the Pueblo Chieftain, "The Pueblo West Metro District Board on Tuesday approved a one-year lease of water to Aurora in a deal that will bring more than $500,000 to the district. 'It's the same as the Pueblo Board of Water Works has done. If you've got the extra water, you've got to lease it,' said Metro District Manager Don Saling. The water being leased comes from shares in Twin Lakes, where both Pueblo West and Aurora have accounts. Twin Lakes imports most of its water from the Roaring Fork basin, so no native Arkansas Valley water will be involved. Therefore, it would not have an impact on a 2003 intergovernmental agreement that limits exports, said Terry Scanga, executive director of the Upper Arkansas Valley Water Conservancy District. Under the deal, Pueblo West will lease up to 3,500 acre-feet to Aurora at $150 an acre-foot. Aurora is expected to take the water by June 1, which will clear space in Twin Lakes for new imports from spring runoff, Saling said... "Pueblo West has approximately 12 percent of Twin Lakes shares, and storage of up to 6,000 acre-feet in the reservoir, located in Lake County. That account is nearly full. Pueblo West also is leasing 9,000 acre-feet in a year-to-year, excess-capacity contract in Lake Pueblo. It pays about $250,000 to lease that space. It also may store water in Lake Meredith through its ownership of shares in the Colorado Canal, but then must exchange it to Lake Pueblo, Saling said. Pueblo West, a growing community with more than 30,000 residents, uses an estimated 4,500 acre-feet of water annually. Pueblo West has relatively meager in-basin water stream rights, with some shares in the Colorado Canal. It has 17 wells and uses water rights from a former ranch at the base of Pueblo Dam to water its golf course. In 2001, Pueblo West purchased the water rights from the Hill Ranch in Chaffee County from Western Water, a Denver water broker. Those rights still are being adjudicated in water court and are expected to yield an average 1,600 acre-feet of consumptive use annually." Category: Colorado Water 6:17:20 AM     Farm disaster on the South Platte Governor Ritter has decided to appoint a task force to study the problems on the South Platte River due to the shutdown of wells in the alluvial aquifer last year, according to CBS4Denver. From the article, "Gov. Bill Ritter and legislative leaders [last] Friday formed a task force to study the water-supply crisis facing many farmers and ranchers in northeast Colorado. The group will be part of the General Assembly's interim Water Resources Review Committee, which will begin meeting after the 2007 legislative session ends. Morgan County officials told Ritter last month the county faces 'economic catastrophe' unless they get emergency help by April 15 for farmers whose water wells were shut down by the state in a water rights dispute. They asked for an emergency executive order for a moratorium on shutdowns for two years, but Ritter said he did not know if he could do that. Ritter said Friday the task force will bring together all the parties to study the problem." Category: Colorado Water 6:07:37 AM     Colorado Department of Environmental Conservation? From the Grand Junction Daily Sentinel, "For the second time this year, two Colorado water experts have submitted a ballot measure aimed at creating a new state agency entrusted with overseeing state regulation of water, wildlife, parks and other natural resources. Phil Doe of Littleton and Richard Hamilton of Fairplay submitted language to the Colorado Legislative Council this week that could, if passed, create the Department of Environmental Conservation. The agency, headed by an elected commission, would absorb commissions, boards and other oversight bodies and responsibilities from the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment and the Department of Natural Resources. 'No single state department or agency has legislated authority to comprehensively investigate the potentials of development impacts to the public's resources or manage the public's resources,' Doe and Hamilton wrote in a letter submitted with their ballot title... "As part of the constitutional amendment, which would go before voters in 2008 and, if passed, go into effect in 2010, the new agency would take over the duties and oversight responsibilities of various regulatory boards and commissions, including Colorado's Division of Wildlife; Division of State Parks; Water Quality Control Commission; and Wildlife Commission. Doe and Hamilton's ballot measure is arguably the largest ballot initiative submitted yet this year, but the usual suspects in the conservation community said Thursday they have no involvement in the initiative. Ben Davis, spokesman for Colorado Conservation Voters, said reorganizing the state's environmental regulatory bodies was not one of his group's priorities... "Sen. Josh Penry, R-Fruita, said the ballot measure has the potential to clutter state government and interfere with the regulatory efforts the amendment seeks to improve. 'I think it's a terrible idea,' Penry said. 'For starters, there are a lot of issues we should be focusing on above and beyond rearranging bureaucratic deck chairs.' Additionally, Penry said the reconfiguration of state government would result in a 'loss of accountability,' where nameless, faceless elected commissioners take the place of gubernatorial appointees." Category: Colorado Water 5:56:24 AM     Regional Watershed Supply Project The Deseret News sat down with water officials in Utah to get their take on Aaron Million's Regional Watershed Supply Project. From the article, "The idea of Aaron Million, Fort Collins, has received largely favorable reactions from several federal and state officials. Flaming Gorge Reservoir, operated by the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, sprawls across the Utah-Wyoming border, backed up behind the dam near Dutch John, Daggett County. Flaming George National Recreation Area encompasses more than 207,000 acres, about equally divided between the two states. Currently, the dam holds back more than 3 million acre-feet of water from the Green River system, according to the bureau. News reports from Colorado peg the project's cost at $4 billion, much of it for a 400-mile pipeline. Exact locations of the project's features have not been announced, with discussions continuing about the details. At one point, project supporters said they were interested in more than 400,000 acre-feet from the reservoir, but the number has dropped. One official said the latest estimate is for 165,000 acre-feet... "Million has been working with the Bureau of Reclamation to obtain a contract to use water stored in the reservoir. 'And of course the water would be charged to the state of Colorado,' which has an allotment under interstate compact. The pipeline's water might be withdrawn from a site outside the state of Colorado, but [Don Ostler, executive director of the Upper Colorado River Commission] said that is allowed under the Law of the River. If the pipeline runs through Wyoming, that state might be able to use some of the water, he said, and "that water would be charged to Wyoming. 'Right now this project is just in the feasibility stage,' Ostler added. It would be privately funded, which would make it unusual or unique among large Western water projects... "Flaming Gorge reservoir's level would drop, but the reservoir was built to allow managers to handle a fluctuating water supply. What Utah is concerned about, he said, is meeting the rights of the state's water users. If the project won't impact Utah water users, Strong added, 'we support Colorado.'" More Coyote Gulch coverage here. Category: Colorado Water 5:48:10 AM     Rumble over stormwater fees in El Paso County El Paso County is balking at paying the new stormwater fees imposed by Colorado Springs' Stormwater Enterprise, according to the Colorado Springs Gazette. From the article, "Colorado Springs has billed El Paso County about $11,750 in stormwater fees for the year's first quarter, and that bill could rise. Two commissioners already have said they shouldn't have to pay, and all five commissioners are skeptical the 28 invoices are accurate. The bill came up at Thursday's commission meeting when Commissioner Douglas Bruce urged the county not to pay and not to help the city determine if it's been billed for all county parcels within the city. 'The city is attempting to impose this de facto tax or charge on the county, school districts and other independent local governments, the state itself and even the federal government,' Bruce said. 'I think that's illegal, unconstitutional, reckless and reprehensible.'" 5:34:36 AM

© Copyright 2007 John Orr. Last update: 5/1/07; 9:44:45 AM.