Wednesday, May 23, 2007

CSU lands stormwater study contract From the Greeley Tribune (free registration required), "A contract valued at $800,000 has been awarded to Colorado State University's Urban Water Center from the Water Environment Research Foundation. A press release from CSU said this is the first-ever study that plans to develop planning tools for municipalities to determine the best way to protect urban waterways from pollution due to stormwater runoff. Big-city stormwater management agencies in Denver, Philadelphia, Los Angeles and Seattle have volunteered to participate in the study." Category: Colorado Water 7:05:32 AM     Colorado Water Conservation Board lowers loan rates From the Grand Junction Daily Sentinel, "The Colorado Water Conservation Board voted Tuesday to give some help to businesses, municipalities and agricultural producers by lowering its loan interest rates for water projects in 2008. Farmers and ranchers will benefit in particular, with their rates decreasing from 2.5 percent to 2.25 percent, CWCB spokesman Dan McAuliffe said. Commercial and industrial rates will drop from 5.25 percent in 2007 to 4.75 percent in 2008, while high-income municipalities' rates will go from 4.25 to 4 percent. Middle-income municipalities' rates will go from 3.75 to 3.50 percent and low-income municipalities' rates will drop to 3.25 percent from 3 percent. The Water Project Loan Program of the CWCB is available for raw water projects that preserve water statewide, according to the CWCB Web site. Eligible projects include reservoirs, ditches and canals, pipelines, diversion structures, groundwater wells, water-rights purchases and flood-control projects. The CWCB can finance up to 90 percent of total project costs, including engineering and construction. Approximately $60 million is available for new loans each year." Category: Colorado Water 6:58:07 AM     Forest View Acres boil order Customers of the Forest View Acres Water District have been warned not to drink the water, according to the Colorado Springs Gazette. From the article, "Moore, head of the Red Rock Ranch homeowners association phone tree, made more than 200 calls over the weekend warning his neighbors in Forest View Acres Water District not to drink the water. 'Ninety percent of the people we called were unaware of the problem,' said Moore, who lives in one of Forest View's subdivisions west of Monument. They didn't get official word until Tuesday, when a state-issued 'boil order' was hand-delivered to the district's 282 homes between Monument and Palmer Lake. Residents say they should have learned about the water problems when they started Thursday -- and state officials agree. Thursday 'was the first time that they should have contacted us,' said Glenn Bodnar, drinking water technical expert with the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment. Instead, the district first contacted the state through an e-mail sent at 9:15 p.m. Sunday, Bodnar said... "Forest View's woes started a few weeks ago when its well, which draws from the Arapahoe aquifer, shut down after the pipe funneling water to the storage tank sprang a leak. That left residents relying on water from Monument Creek. May 13, spring runoff stirred up excess particles and dirt in the creek, straining treatment-plant filters. When the plant didn't have enough water to wash out the filters, it shut down. Thursday, Forest View hooked up to Palmer Lake's water system, but the water was mistakenly sent through the ruptured line and flowed into the ground, Forest View attorney Paul Rufien said Tuesday... "Saturday, the district started refilling its storage tank, and by early Monday the plant was back on line, pumping treated water into the distribution system, said Barbara Reed-Polatty, the Forest View board president. Some residents at the lower end of the system never lost water, and many of those at the top reported getting water back by the middle of Monday. Also Monday, workers repaired the well line leak... "Rufien acknowledged the district doesn't have a good emergency notification system. That will be discussed at a district meeting scheduled for 6 p.m. Thursday at the Lewis-Palmer District 38 Administration Building, 146 Jefferson St. in Monument. The district has gone through turbulent times recently. Former bookkeeper Patricia Unger pleaded guilty last year to embezzling about $300,000 from 1999 to 2004. Forest View did enjoy a bright moment earlier this year when its water won a statewide taste-testing competition run by the Colorado Rural Water Association." Category: Colorado Water 6:44:49 AM     Stocking up for Antero's re-opening Antero Reservoir is set to re-open July 17th. Many in the area are looking forward to that day, according to the Denver Post. From the article, "Owned by the Denver Water Board, the reservoir has been a popular fishing hole since 1930, but its relatively shallow depths and large surface area make it an inefficient storage facility, especially in a drought. 'It was so hot and dry that we were afraid we were going to lose most of our water because of evaporation,' said Marc Waage, the agency's manager of raw water supply. Officials began refilling the reservoir in 2004, but it was slow going until a string of heavy snowstorms hit this winter. Last week, Denver Water began releasing extra water for the first time. Meanwhile, the Colorado Division of Wildlife last year began restocking the water with thousands of trout and splake, hoping to rebuild the population of big lunkers that drew a loyal following to Antero." Category: Colorado Water 6:35:05 AM     Dave Wegner: Western water has become a 'religion' Here's a report from the first day of the 32nd Colorado Water Workshop, from the Pueblo Chieftain. They write, "The three-day conference is focusing on Colorado River issues, which could have an impact on the amount of water imported into the Arkansas and South Platte river basins. The impact could be negative, if the growing states of California, Arizona and Nevada pressure upstream states - Colorado, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming - to deliver water in a system that is already stretched to the limits. Negotiators from all seven states have been working for several years to find a way to share surpluses and shortages under the 85-year-old compact. "On the other hand, more water could be brought to the Front Range through a proposal by Aaron Million to use private funding to construct a pipeline from Flaming Gorge Reservoir. Million spoke about his plan to build a $2 billion-$3 billion pipeline that would deliver 165,000-200,000 acre-feet of water from the 3.8 million acre-foot reservoir in Wyoming. 'Flaming Gorge was built for the benefit of the upper basin states and Colorado should share in those benefits,' Million said... "The harsh reality of compact negotiations could make it difficult to use the water as Million envisions, said Scott Balcomb, a Glenwood Springs lawyer who has represented Colorado in interstate negotiations for six years. 'On paper, it looks great,' Balcomb said. 'But we're at the point where any new water comes out of the hides of industry in California and Arizona.' Balcomb explained the downstream states have become dependent on Colorado River water and suggested the river might already be overappropriated. 'The 1,000 people a day who are coming into Las Vegas aren't calling ahead to see if there's enough water,' Balcomb said... "Boulder environmental lawyer Larry MacDonnell said the lower basin states already are using more than their share of the Colorado River, because the compact - or 'law of the river' - does not take tributaries or evaporation in Arizona and Nevada into account. He said upper basin states are held accountable for all inflows and evaporation in the way the river is measured... "Dave Wegner, a former Bureau of Reclamation scientist, said a basinwide environmental impact statement is needed. He said the doctrine of Western water has become a 'religion' [amen] based on the dogma of irrigation rights and muddied by lawyers, lobbyists and politicians. 'Reservoirs are not the Holy Grail they were intended to be,' Wegner said. 'We have to figure out a way to protect landscapes, yet still make sure everyone has enough water.'" More coverage from the Grand Junction Daily Sentinel. They write, "According to Fort Collins entrepreneur Aaron Million, it's going to take his $3 billion water pipeline to get people on both sides of the Continental Divide to work together to solve Colorado's water problems... "Butch Clark, who devised Colorado's never-built 'Big Straw' project two decades ago, told Million a better use for his pipeline and Flaming Gorge water is to provide water for northwest Colorado[base ']s booming energy industry... "Dave Wegner, chief scientist for Ecosystem Management International in Durango and a former Bureau of Reclamation scientist, said it's 'high time' for all of the Colorado River Basin states complete a basin-wide environmental impact statement. Such an effort, he said, would fully outline all the demands on Colorado River water and the water needs of Indian tribes, show how the basin could be managed as a whole rather than in parts and illustrate how the states could work together to manage the river. Such a proposal was made in the early 1980s, he said, but the political climate wasn't right. Not so today. 'The climate of understanding within Washington and the states realizes that we need to come to grips with how we manage this,' Wegner said." Category: Colorado Water 6:30:23 AM     State to draw down Bonny Reservoir From the Rocky Mountain News, "To fulfill a three-state water compact, the state engineer Tuesday ordered that water be released from a reservoir in northeastern Colorado. The state plans to release about 2,200 acre-feet of water over 25 days from the reservoir in Bonny Lake State Park, north of Burlington and just a few miles from the Kansas border. About 9,800 acre-feet will be left, roughly the same amount that was in the reservoir last year. The decision to release the water comes as Colorado, Nebraska and Kansas prepare for a meeting in August to determine whether the states are complying with a compact that first divvied use of the Republican River in 1942." More coverage from the Denver Post. They write, "Starting immediately, the state water engineer will begin releasing 2,200 acre feet of water downstream to Kansas, roughly the amount that has accrued from spring runoff. The flow will come at a rate ranging from 55 to 70 cubic feet per second until the desired level is reached. This will leave about 9,800 acre feet in the reservoir - a shadow of the 30,000 it held in 2000 - but enough to keep most sport fish and water-based recreational opportunities at a popular state park alive. As reported on this page three weeks ago, Colorado is faced with hard decisions involving a compact requiring a stipulated water delivery to Kansas. Subsequent drought conditions greatly reduced the Republican River flow. Even though Bonny has been drained steadily in recent years, the delivery remains in considerable deficit... "After considering a plan to drain the reservoir this month, DNR decided even that drastic move would be merely a stopgap for a greater problem, which is the continuing weather-related deficit. King raised the spectre of eventually having to withdraw acreage from agricultural production to meet the water obligation. 'There are no free lunches in all this,' King said. King drew a parallel between the Republican River water fight and a similar conflict involving the Colorado River Compact. In both cases, a stipulated volume of delivery to downstream users severely pinched upstream participants when precipitation failed to materialize." Category: Colorado Water 6:20:10 AM     Glade Reservoir? Here's a report from last night's meeting of the Fort Collins City Council study session on the proposed Glade reservoir, from the Fort Collins Coloradoan. From the article, "A proposed reservoir northwest of Fort Collins would diminish the Poudre River through the city, critics and supporters told City Council members at a study session Tuesday night. The question is how much. The decrease in Poudre River flows could hamper city efforts for economic redevelopment, most Council members said. 'One of the things this City Council has pinned a lot of vision on is an economically and vibrant river corridor and I frankly don't see anything in this project that helps us achieve our goals,' Council member David Roy said. 'This project would be the death to the Poudre River.' "Northern Colorado Water Conservancy District's proposed 170,000 acre-foot Glade Reservoir could cut river flows from one-third to one-half as the Poudre winds through Fort Collins. The city could help mitigate that by partnering with the district and other water rights holders to move a water diversion from west of North College Avenue to near Interstate 25, a Northern spokeswoman said. That would allow more Poudre water to flow through the city before it's diverted to the reservoir system... "About 60 people attended the meeting, which saw presentations from Northern and the Fort Collins-based Save the Poudre Coalition, a group fighting plans for the Northern Integrated Supply Project. The project would rely on the off-channel Glade Reservoir near the mouth of the Poudre Canyon and a plains reservoir east of Ault to supply growing communities along the Front Range. The project would have to be approved by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which is slated to issue an environmental impact statement this year. Fort Collins is not part of the project. River flow is important to the city as it looks to add a whitewater kayak park on the Poudre east of College Avenue. Those parks require higher river flows to be successful. There are also environmental concerns that need to be considered, said Gary Wockner, a spokesman for Save the Poudre Coalition." Category: Colorado Water 6:13:22 AM

© Copyright 2007 John Orr. Last update: 6/5/07; 1:28:14 PM.