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Tuesday, October 14, 2008
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From email from Reclamation (Kara Lamb): "Well it's that time of year. Now that it is mid-October, we are going to scale back releases to winter operations. Beginning today, we will be dropping the releases from Ruedi Dam in three installments of 50 cfs increments.
"The first reduction will occur this evening at 6 p.m., dropping flows in the Fryingpan from about 225 cfs to 175 cfs. The second reduction will occur tomorrow morning, October 15 at 6 a.m. bringing the Fryingpan to about 125 cfs. The third and last reduction will occur tomorrow evening at 6 p.m. leaving the Fryingpan with a flow at about 125 cfs. These amounts include the 4 or so cfs contributed to the 'Pan by the Rocky Fork."
Category: Colorado Water
6:33:01 PM 
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From email from Reclamation (Kara Lamb): "We made just a small bump up in releases from Green Mountain Dam to the Lower Blue today. We bumped up 50 cfs. Apparently we are responding to a need for more water in the 15 Mile Reach critical habitat of the endangered fish in the Colorado River above Grand Junction. As a result, as of this morning (October 14), the Lower Blue should be running at about 900 cfs."
Category: Colorado Water
6:20:05 PM
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grist: "A new study in Nature Geoscience projects that 'a warming of 4 degrees C causes a 40 percent loss of soil organic carbon from the shallow peat and 86 percent from the deep peat' of Northern peatlands. And that amplifying carbon cycle feedback is dangerous for three reasons."
Category: Climate Change News
6:16:21 PM
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Water Busters calls out state water providers hoping they'll all get serious about planning for, teaching and implementating conservation plans.
Category: Colorado Water
6:06:11 PM
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From the Denver Post: "In a study session Monday night, the Aurora City Council began discussions on new water rates for 2009 and 2010. A recommendation from a water committee suggested an 8 percent increase for next year, and a 7.5 percent increase in 2010. The average monthly water bill would increase by $5.01 next year if that 8 percent is adopted. The council had originally talked about a 12 percent hike, money that is needed to help pay for the $800 million Prairie Waters project, a wastewater recycling project under construction. Because water users paid a 12 percent increase this year, the council members said it was important to ease up in the coming years."
Here's an article about Aurora's Wemlinger Treatment Plant, from the Aurora Sentinel. They write:
As one of the six recipients of this year's Excellence in Water Treatment award from the American Water Works Association's Partnership for Safe Drinking Water, Aurora Water's Wemlinger Treatment Plant has been recognized for its staff training, its equipment testing and for its monthly water statistics. "It was a very prestigious award in the water treatment community. We're the sixth plant in the country that has been able to operate at this level," said Kevin Linder, the supervisor at the Wemlinger plant. "A lot of good plants don't do it, because it requires a lot of effort and it requires a lot of plant optimization."
While the criteria for the award may not be easily understood, officials from Aurora Water cite the importance and impressiveness of the prize. "To call it the Oscar of water treatment is true," said Greg Baker, spokesman for Aurora Water. "Only six have been chosen for this highest level - there's only one award higher than this. Six plants out of 400 (entries) is pretty amazing."
More Coyote Gulch coverage here.
Category: Colorado Water
6:30:10 AM
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U.S. Senator John McCain's proposal to renegotiate the Colorado River Compact is still fodder for attack ads in the presidential race, according to the Pueblo Chieftain. From the article:
John McCain is being attacked again -- this time in television ads -- for suggesting that the Colorado River Compact be renegotiated. The new TV spots, paid for by the League of Conservation Voters, accuse the Republican presidential hopeful of wanting to rewrite the 1922 compact that divides the river basin's water in the West, and send more of it to the downstream states of California, Nevada and McCain's home state of Arizona. The new ads, which began running on cable channels statewide on Monday, are the latest attacking McCain...
Even though McCain backed off his statement a week later, the league's political director, Tony Massaro, said it's still an issue that will resonate with Colorado voters. "This is a guy who has consistently touted himself as, 'I understand Western issues, and the guy from Illinois couldn't possibly understand them like I do,'[per thou] Massaro said. "But it wasn't the guy from Illinois who came into Colorado and put his foot in the biggest cow pie that you can put your foot in in Colorado. It was the guy from Arizona. Either he isn't that good on Western issues, or he knows how this plays and was playing to Nevada." Like Colorado, Nevada is another swing state that could go either for McCain or his Democratic rival, Barack Obama...
Massaro said that while his group has discussed running attack ads on this issue for weeks, it didn't decide to do so until McCain thanked a Pueblo audience for Colorado's water at a campaign stop there earlier this month. During that visit, clips of which are used in the television spot, McCain repeated a joke he's said at the start of several Colorado events, thanking the state for sending water to Arizona. Though Massaro, a Glenwood Springs native, admitted McCain just may have been joking, he said there's a kernel of truth in what he says. "In any good joke, there's always an undercurrent of truth to it," he said. "He was also joking when he did the bomb Iran thing. It makes the joke funny, but unsettling."
As we've written elsewhere, "Voters will have to decide if McCain's current position really reflects his views. He has done an about face on many issues over the summer in an attempt to shore up his faltering campaign. Which statement contains the 'straight talk,' renegotiate the compact to provide more water to Arizona or never, never, renegotiate?"
More Coyote Gulch coverage here.
Category: Colorado Water
6:25:42 AM
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U.S. Congressman Mark Udall is still trying to hang 2003's failed Referendum A around Bob Schaffer's neck, according to the Pueblo Chieftain. From the article:
U.S. Senate candidate Mark Udall gathered a flock of fellow Democrats on the banks of Fountain Creek in Pueblo to discuss water, an issue he says distinguishes himself from opponent Bob Schaffer. "Water is precious. Water is the lifeblood of the West," Udall, a Democratic congressman, said. "I want to bring people together to make sure we protect and enhance this precious resource."
Udall pointed to his own positions on Southern Colorado water and land use issues as decisive.
- He called for a more complete environmental impact statement on the Southern Delivery System, for the same reason he asked for an EIS on Aurora's contract with Reclamation last year: to avoid litigation.
- He advocated adequate flood control on Fountain Creek.
- He wants to make eminent domain off-limits for the Army in its desire to expand its area at the Pinon Canyon Maneuver Site.
- He supports legislation to build the Arkansas Valley Conduit, a project to deliver water to communities east of Pueblo provided for under the 1962 Fryingpan-Arkansas Project.
"We owe it to people to deliver on a promise we made in the 1960s," Udall said.
Meanwhile Schaffer and Udall squared off on Monday night in Pueblo, according to the Colorado Springs Gazette. From the article:
... both favored additional studies of the Southern Delivery System, a proposed pipeline to bring water to Colorado Springs from Pueblo Reservoir. Schaffer went further, calling on Colorado Springs to come up with additional "tens of millions" to reduce the impact of additional water flow in Fountain Creek, which carries Colorado Springs' effluent into downtown Pueblo. Colorado Springs says the pipeline is crucial to its economic health and wants to complete the project by 2012, but more studies would jeopardize that deadline.
Update Here's the coverage of the debate from the Pueblo Chieftain. They write:
With a Senate seat at stake, Rep. Mark Udall and former Rep. Bob Schaffer came to Colorado State University-Pueblo and challenged each other over the war in Iraq, energy development and Southern Colorado water and land questions during a one-hour televised debate Monday night...
...Udall touted his regional work on Southern Colorado water projects, such as supporting the Arkansas Valley Conduit pipeline, Schaffer acknowledged that he had been a parochial congressman in fighting for 4th District issues...
On energy, Schaffer said Aspect Energy supports wind power and other renewable sources, as well as oil development. Noting he supports offshore drilling as well as oil shale production, Schaffer said, "I am the only candidate that supports a broad-based energy policy."
Udall acknowledged that he has fought the Bush administration's effort to speed up Colorado oil shale development, saying the technology is still not ready. "I'm not going to let others tell us how to develop oil shale before we know its impact on our communities," Udall said.
Category: Colorado Water
6:16:13 AM
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From email from Save the Poudre:
The Friends of the Poudre (FOP), one of the partner groups in the Save the Poudre Coalition, will hold their annual Poudre River Ball and Masquerade Party on Saturday, November 1st at 6:30 to 10:30 pm, upstairs at the Rio Grande Mexican Restaurant, 143 W Mountain Ave., Fort Collins, CO 80524.
This fundraiser for FOP is a lot of fun, with good food, great margaritas, and lively
music. It's a black tie, blue jeans or masquerade ball. They are starting at 6:30 pm
because they will have two dance instructors there to teach swing dance to people. The
Poudre River Irregulars will start playing at about 7:30 p.m.
There will also be a silent auction with items donated by local merchants. Ticket price: $10 at the door. (No advance sales.) More information: www.friendsofthepoudre.org or Gary Kimsey, 221-2957
Category: Colorado Water
6:08:18 AM
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© Copyright
2008
John Orr.
Last update:
11/1/08; 8:01:50 PM.
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