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Saturday, September 6, 2008
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From The Telluride Watch: "For the first time in more than 25 years, the city of Ouray is exploring the possibility of harnessing power from its geothermal hot springs. Fossil fuels burning in furnaces on Main Street could be replaced with the clean energy stored in Ouray's deep natural furnaces, say proponents of geothermal energy. The U.S. Department of Energy and the Bureau of Land Management, as well as the Colorado Geological Society have identified southwest Colorado as a promising site for geothermal energy development. However, don't expect to see any major geothermal power plants cropping up near Ouray. Mayor Bob Risch and other supporters of alternative energy are currently considering small-scale projects such as a central heating district or geothermal heating for affordable housing. Ouray's 2020 Economic Development Plan recommends that the city seek assistance from the Governor's Energy Office for renewable energy programs. Prospects for grant funding are positive in view of the state's new energy standard, which stipulates that 20 percent of all energy produced in Colorado must be renewable by the year 2020. Risch said city council has received lots of support from the community for making more efficient use of geothermal and surface water resources.
"'We must cut back on carbon emissions. We owe it to the planet and future generations,' he said. 'Ouray is fortunate to have this great resource, for both tourism and alternative energy.' Risch's vision of a greener, more self-sufficient Ouray includes someday powering the city with the Ouray Hydroelectric Plant. In his address to the Ouray Business Roundtable last March, he also noted the possibility of harvesting energy from cooler springs and tail water from springs already in use."
More Coyote Gulch coverage here.
Category: Climate Change News
9:47:37 AM 
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From The Delta County Independent: "The board of directors of Coalby Domestic Water Company (CDWC) voted on July 14 to lift the moratorium on sales of new water taps. Coalby Domestic Water Company currently serves 131 members in the Coalby Canyon area northwest of Cedaredge. Over the past months, the board reviewed the availability of water, the status of the plant, and the condition of the main distribution line and the service lines. The board concluded that CDWC has the capacity to serve 300-plus taps. The plant is operating efficiently and has the capability for expansion to the point where it could serve over 300 taps when the demand for that level of service is reached. The distribution system is also functioning well and the board plans to upgrade the distribution system as the demand for taps grows. The water availability is excellent and should meet the long-term growth in the area. The fee for the new taps will be raised to $15,000, comparable to that charged by other water entities in the area. The funds generated by new tap fees will be used to increase water availability and eventual expansion of the plant and distribution system."
Category: Colorado Water
9:07:02 AM
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From The Delta County Independent: "Paonia town engineer Steve LaBonde of WestWater Engineering, gave the town some good and bad news at the Aug. 26 work session. The bad news started with the explanation by LaBonde that the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE) has sent a discharge permit good through April 30, 2010, but it failed to correct a clause on the permit stating the town needed to send a new site amendment for when Regulation 35 goes into effect. The town engineer had already prepared and sent that to the CDPHE. However, because of changes in state staff working on the town's discharge permit, they didn't realize it. Regulation 35, among other things, establishes classifications and numeric standards for the Gunnison River in Delta County. LaBonde said he will contact the CDPHE and let them know they do have a new site amendment from the town. Once the corrected discharge permit arrives for the wastewater treatment plant, he will be able to complete the maintenance manual and issue the "as builts." Mainly, the problem is just delaying the final steps, and does not pose any substantial problem for the town. The CDPHE and the town have finally agreed on acceptable affluent [sic] levels."
From The Pagosa Daily Post: "The Town of Pagosa Springs raised basic sewer rates for residential customers by 67% this quarter. And one older gentleman in Pagosa Springs raised cane about the increase, and then struck the Mayor with his cane. After a few minutes of inconclusive discussion about how these increases were affecting local residents at last week's Town Council meeting, Mayor Ross Aragon reported that the comments he is getting are quite striking. "There is a lot of concern and controversy regarding the increase, especially people on fixed incomes. It was so bad that somebody hit me with a cane. And that is the honest to God truth. It is serious and I would recommend that we do make it easier for people."
Category: Colorado Water
9:04:40 AM
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From The Sky-High Daily News: "A water deal struck in June with the Northern Colorado Water Conservancy District is paying off this fall, according to Grand County commissioners. Grand County spent $57,500 for use of the Northern municipal subdistrict Windy Gap pumping facility in an effort to pump 1,500 acre-feet of water into Lake Granby to be used in 2008 only. The deal was considered a cooperative breakthrough with NCWCD.
More from the article:
Timing is right to release that water into the Colorado River, county officials said at Tuesday's commissioners meeting, since NCWCD releases dropped from 40 cubic-feet per second (cfs) to 20 cfs out of Granby Reservoir at the onset of September. The water-release cutoff date Sept. 1 has been part of the Bureau's annual operating plan since 1961, when flow levels were re-negotiated as part of Senate Document 80, the Congressional decree for the Colorado Big-Thompson Project. The "free" water stored for Grand County this spring, which was excess water not owned by any entity after calls were satisfied, will be released at a rate of 25 cfs for 27 days this fall to promote river health. The county plans to hold off releases for about a week to compare the river's condition before and after releases. Grand County fundamentally disagrees with the operating plan established in 1961, commissioners say, because today's growth and river health are not taken into consideration.
Category: Colorado Water
8:59:14 AM
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Here's an update on Rueter-Hess Reservoir, Parker's solution to their water needs, from CBSDenver.com. The reservoir has now morphed into a regional project with Castle Rock and other communities south of Denver that are now dependent on the Denver Basin Aquifer system for their water. Frank Jaeger, District Manager of Parker Water, has been pushing the project since right after the U.S. Forest Service stopped the Two Forks Dam on the South Platte River. From the article:
What began as a modest sized water project will be enlarged to become the largest reservoir to be erected on the Front Range in some 40 years. It's called Rueter Hess Reservoir, and it's being built by the town of Parker. "The growth in Colorado is not going to stop. It's not going to stop on the Front Range and it's not going to stop in this area," said Frank Jaeger, District Manager of Parker Water.
Jaeger pegs the price tag of the enlarged project at $180 million and says it underscores the importance of a reliable water supply in a semi arid climate. A small earthen dam is already built along Newlin Gulch, 3 miles southwest of Parker. Plans call for using the small dam as a foundation for the new dam, which will be more than 60 feet higher and will have a storage capacity of 72,000 acre feet...
"Rueter-Hess is testament to a new way in which we will manage a very short supply of water that we have here in the west," explained Sen. Ken Salazar. Salazar joined more than 100 people gathered at the dam site to dedicate the expansion of the reservoir on Friday. Parker will own most of the storage capacity in Rueter Hess, but Castle Rock, Castle Pines North and Stonegate will also share in the project. If this is a model of metropolitan cooperation, then other challenges lie ahead. "It's great to have storage," said Bill Santos, president of the Castle Pines North Metro District. "But now we need water to put in it and a way to get that water here." Rueter Hess won't solve all the area's water problems, but it is a critical tool for managing resources 50 years into the future when it's estimated 400,000 homes will depend on the reservoir. The five-member Board of Parker Water paid special tribute Friday to Jaeger for his work in spearheading the project over two decades. The new dam will officially be designated the Frank Jaeger Dam when it's finished in 3 years.
More Coyote Gulch coverage here and here.
Category: Colorado Water
8:40:15 AM
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Here's a look at the work of the Fountain Creek Task Force, from The Colorado Springs Gazette. From the article:
For nearly two years, elected officials, environmentalists, farmers and water suppliers from El Paso and Pueblo counties - who have a long history of divergent interests - have been gathering monthly to talk about Fountain Creek. No fist fights have broken out, and the Fountain Creek Vision Task Force is ready to present its plan for solving flooding, erosion and water quality problems on the creek between Colorado Springs and Pueblo. The group, which formed in October 2006, reviewed its first draft Friday. Although the recommendations are many, the chief mantra of the plan is cooperation.
The task force proposes an agreement between the two counties to form the Fountain Creek Watershed District, a state-authorized board to manage the creek and its flood plain. Voters of both counties would have to approve the authority, and the probable tax increase that would be required to fund it, a fact recognized by the task force, which stressed unity among the communities. "All of us need to come out of this holding hands," said task force member Jeff Chostner, a Pueblo County commissioner.
The intergovernmental agreement to form the district, as presented Friday, takes pains to maintain equality between upstream and downstream interests, with a board of directors made up of both, and a supermajority of votes required to pass measures...
A watershed district could raise money through taxes, grants and other contributions, implement improvements to the creek and help creekside property owners do the same. Its main focus would be flood control, but it would also work on projects to improve water quality, combat erosion and build creek-side parks and trails. The proposed agreement does not say how a tax proposal would be presented, and task force members were vague about the prospect. Pueblo and El Paso county officials are investigating whether the district would have a role in approving development projects. Its jurisdiction would be Fountain Creek and its 100-year flood plain, in the stretch south of Fountain and north of Pueblo...
The task force plans to present the strategic plan at public meetings next month and finalize the document by December. It would have to be signed by county commissioners in both counties - several of whom are on the task force - and would be proposed in the state Legislature next year. Once approved, its first task could be the hardest: appointing a board of directors. The makeup of the board led to a sharp discussion Friday, when the member representing the Arkansas Valley Ditch Association, a group of water-rights holders in southeast Colorado, questioned why the association didn't get a seat on the board but the Lower Arkansas Valley Water Conservancy District did. The task force eventually agreed to leave it up to Pueblo to determine the downriver interest on the board.
More coverage from The Pueblo Chieftain. From the article:
A group looking at improving Fountain Creek took another step toward asking Pueblo and El Paso county commissioners to endorse an authority for the creek, despite some haggling over details. The Fountain Creek Vision Task Force is drafting an intergovernmental agreement that commissioners would be asked to sign. However, it still needs to go through a public review. The consensus committee of the task force Friday discussed the document at length, while ironing out lingering controversy over how a state water quality decision was handled in July and editing its strategic plan. By far, forming an authority is the most critical piece - the only way of ensuring the group's work over the past two years has not been in vain.
The IGA between the two counties is only the first of three major steps that would be needed to form an authority, according to a path outlined by a subcommittee. Until cities signed on, the authority only would look at projects south of Fountain to the Pueblo city limits. The state Legislature would need to amend the statute that created the Urban Drainage Authority in the Denver area, said Gary Barber, of the El Paso County Water Authority, who led the subcommittee. After that, voters in the two counties would have to agree to fund the authority, most likely through a property tax, although no specifics have been identified. "There is an elephant in the room," said Ross Vincent, Sierra Club representative. "If we go to the voters, how are we going to justify spending the money?" Vincent asked if the authority would have any real power to do projects on Fountain Creek. "There are carrots and sticks," Barber replied. "Right now, we're all carrots."[...]
The IGA would set a broad framework that would be filled in by the counties. First, it agrees the purpose is to control the periodic flooding on Fountain Creek, while preserving other values like agriculture, recreation and open space. It also would set up technical and citizen advisory committees. The most controversial step for the committee Friday, however, was the makeup of the governing board. Initially, a three-member board consisting of appointments by each county and one member nominated by the citizens advisory group would be formed. As others signed on, more members would join the board, basically following a Senate model. "No one would be coerced to sign on," Barber noted. Eventually, a nine-member board would form, adding members from Colorado Springs, Fountain and small municipalities in El Paso County, and from Pueblo, the Lower Arkansas Valley Water Conservancy District and a citizen at large from Pueblo County, under the committee's proposal. That suggestion drew some heat from Dan Henrichs, who represents the Arkansas Valley Ditch Association. Henrichs argued the Lower Ark district board members are not elected, but appointed by a district court judge. He said the AVDA board members are elected, and added that ditches below John Martin Reservoir are similarly represented by the District 67 Ditch Association. "I've been here since Day 1," Henrichs said. "We can be your biggest foes or your biggest friends."
Barber said the committee looking at formation of the board chose the Lower Ark district because it primarily represents the five counties downstream of Fountain Creek and has been involved at every level in the Vision Task Force. It was included in order to balance El Paso County interests, Barber said...
Heather Bergman of the Keystone Center, who has moderated the group for most of the past two years, suggested the proposed IGA be submitted as written for public review, with an explanation of why the choice to include the Lower Ark was made. After more discussion, the group agreed.
In other business, the committee discussed the decision by the Colorado Water Quality Control Commission in July to designate Fountain Creek as a reviewable stream, a more stringent criteria than its previous designation as "use protected." Vincent publicly criticized Pueblo, Colorado Springs and several El Paso County sanitation districts for fighting the designations. On Friday, representatives from those organizations explained they fought the change in designation primarily because it means diverting money from more worthwhile projects on Fountain Creek. Bergman suggested more sharing of information among task force members to prevent future flareups.
More Coyote Gulch coverage here.
Category: Colorado Water
8:26:27 AM
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Here's an update on Nestlé's plans for the Hagen spring near Nathrop, from The Pueblo Chieftain. From the article:
Nestle Waters North America, Salida and the Upper Arkansas Water Conservancy District are working on a deal that would allow the bottled water giant to ship up to 200 acre-feet of water a year to its Denver plant, possibly to market as spring water...
Essentially, Nestle would take advantage of the Upper Ark's augmentation plan to use Salida's water to replace the water it pumps from a well near a spring on property it is buying near Nathrop. Salida would sell the company excess water for 20 years, and the Upper Ark's augmentation plan would allow the water to be used to replace flows, since Salida's water cannot be used outside the city without a change in court decree. "Our interest is to protect the river," said Terry Scanga, general manager of the Upper Ark district. "We didn't want to see a situation where ranchland was dried up. This is bringing some money into the community instead of spending money in a court action." The agreement is still tentative...
Nestle, headquartered in Switzerland, controls about 19 percent of the world's bottled water market, employing 33,500 people at 100 factories in 37 countries. It would not build a factory in Chaffee County, but instead truck the water to Denver. Nestle already bottles water purchased from Denver Water, but looks for water of a certain quality for its spring water brands, Scanga said. Some have asked why the Upper Ark would support moving water from the basin, but Scanga believes bottling water is no different than his family business, meat packing and marketing, where animals are raised on water in one basin, slaughtered and shipped all over the country. "It's the same thing, putting water in a bottle or putting water in an animal," Scanga said. Salida and the Upper Ark district would get some payments from the water. Additionally, Nestle has agreed to share its water engineering reports with the Upper Ark district.
More Coyote Gulch coverage here.
Category: Colorado Water
8:16:29 AM
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From The Fort Collins Coloradoan: "The Save the Poudre Coalition is planning a public meeting to lay out its proposal for managing Northern Colorado's water supply and preserving the Poudre River without Glade Reservoir. The meeting is scheduled for 7 p.m. Wednesday in the mini theater at the Lincoln Center, 417 W. Magnolia St. Coalition members also are expected to release their comments on the draft Environmental Impact Statement for the proposed Northern Inte-grated Supply Project. The group will call on the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to develop a new draft EIS for NISP rather than a supplement to the current document, which it describes as seriously flawed."
More Coyote Gulch coverage here and here.
Category: Colorado Water
8:07:26 AM
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© Copyright
2008
John Orr.
Last update:
10/1/08; 6:32:56 AM.
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