Sunday, October 19, 2008

Animas-La Plata: 97% complete The Animas-La Plata project is nearly ready to roll, according to the Durango Herald. Click through for video of Dirk Kempthorne at the celebration this week. Here are a few excerpts from the article: When a project 40 years in the making reaches the 97-percent-done milestone, a near-completion ceremony such as the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation held Thursday for the Animas-La Plata Project probably is not unreasonable. Attending the ceremony were federal, state and local officials, members of three American Indian tribes, and Colorado and New Mexico residents who have followed the twists and turns of the A-LP - a settlement of water-right claims by the tribes - since it was authorized by Congress in 1968... The first earth for the A-LP was turned in 1993. But a number of miscalculations pushed the original cost of the project from $338 million to $500 million, plus inflation. The revised budget is a 48 percent cost overrun from the original price tag for a project that will send water uphill from the Animas River to Ridges Basin Reservoir. The A-LP Project includes a pumping plant on the Animas River south of Santa Rita Park, a 2.1-mile, 76-inch pipeline between the pumping plant and the dam and reservoir at Ridges Basin, a 1,400-foot outlet tunnel that allows water to be released in case of emergency, and the Navajo Nation pipeline from Farmington to Shiprock about 22 miles to the west. The Navajo Nation water will be taken from the San Juan River in New Mexico... The dam is 276 feet high and stretches 1,760 feet across a canyon southwest of Durango. An estimated 5.25 million cubic yards of material went into the earth-filled structure, which will hold 120,000 acre feet of water. Filling is scheduled to begin next year... The two Ute tribes each own 40 percent of the 120,000 acre feet of water to be stored in the reservoir, which has been named Lake Nighthorse after retired U.S. Sen. Ben Nighthorse Campbell, who lives in Ignacio and is a longtime supporter of the project. Nontribal entities, including the city of Durango, will purchase some of the water. More Coyote Gulch coverage here. Category: Colorado Water 10:16:11 AM     Cortez: Micro-hydroelectric plant Cortez is getting into the micro-hydroelectric business, according to the Cortez Journal. From the article: Cortez plugged into a $500,000 New Energy Communities Initiative grant from the state for construction of an approximately $2 million micro-hydroelectric power plant. The new micro-hydroelectric power generation unit will be located about a mile north of Cortez along County Road N, according to City Manager Jay Harrington. The power plant will provide a base level of electrical power directly into Empire Electric's local distribution network. "We originally asked the state for $1.4 million, but we're happy to get the $500,000 for this project," Harrington said... Colorado's new-energy initiative directed $10 million in Energy Impact Assistance Funds to 14 regional efforts, with a maximum of $2 million per region. Grants via the state's energy initiative were announced Tuesday. The city will have to finance the balance of the $1.9 million power-plant project, according to Harrington... Overall, the Cortez power project will generate an estimated 1.4 million kilowatts per year. The facility will produce about half of the power the city uses within its facilities, Harrington said. Timing of the Cortez project depends on the acquisition of a Federal Regulatory Energy Commission permit for operation of the micro-hydroelectric plant. However, Harrington said the city is upbeat for a 2009 construction date... Cortez Mayor Orly Lucero called the $500,000 grant a positive step in helping the city move forward to produce cleaner energy. "This (grant) is a tremendous opportunity for the city and is a step in the right direction for clean-energy development in our community," Lucero said. More Coyote Gulch coverage here. Category: Climate Change News 10:06:39 AM     Purge the Purgatoire From the Trinidad News: "The Trinidad Community Foundation (TCF) is holding its annual fall 'Purge the Purgatoire' river cleanup and restoration event Saturday, Oct. 25, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Cimino Park. Volunteers will divide into teams to pick up trash and remove unwanted growth from the Riverwalk Trail and the Purgatoire River. Every participant must sign a waiver, and participants 17 years old and younger must have a waiver signed by a legal guardian. Last spring, the cleanup event attracted more than 100 volunteers of all ages. Like the spring event, volunteers will be treated to a barbecue provided by the Foundation and the Purgatoire River Water Conservancy District beginning at 2 p.m. in Cimino Park. Drinks will also be provided." Category: Colorado Water 9:40:21 AM     Northern Integrated Supply Project: Benefit to agriculture and the state economy The Denver Post is running a commentary -- written by Mark Sponsler CEO of the Colorado Corn Growers Association -- in favor of the proposed Northern Integrated Supply Project. He writes: We have an opportunity to participate in the first significant water storage project proposed in decades. It is called the Northern Integrated Supply Project or NISP. The decision on this project will determine in part our ability to contribute to the economic growth and the advancement of our quality of life we will have in Northern Colorado. Generations of Colorado farmers recognized an essential requirement for sustainable food stocks for our population was the management of water. They not only recognized the need for water, they took action. They built and paid for the water systems that served Colorado for more than 100 years. And with this water supply farmers built Colorado agriculture into a major economic force that now provides over $17 billion in annual receipts. It represents one of the largest economic engines powering the Colorado economy. It is an engine that serves Colorado far beyond the farm gate, generating jobs for our economy from products inputs for the ground, to crop management to food processing and retailing. And finally to the food on your plate every evening. Water, of course, serves vital needs far beyond agriculture. And already there is more demand than supply of this precious commodity... With demand outstripping supply, an implicit requirement of this doctrine is the prerequisite of cooperation among us all. The Northern Integrated Supply Project is a magnificent example of just such cooperation. It is a partnership among 15 communities and the Northern Colorado Water Conservancy District. More Coyote Gulch coverage here and here. Category: Colorado Water 9:27:36 AM     Amendment 52 From the Pueblo Chieftain: "the [Southeastern Colorado Water Conservancy District] board unanimously backed the [Colorado Water Conservation Commission] in its opposition to Amendment 52, which would cap mineral severance revenue available for water projects in order to make more available to transportation." More Coyote Gulch coverage here. Category: Colorado Water 9:19:34 AM     Arkansas Valley Conduit: Route and connection study underway A planning committee is settling down to do the hard work in making the Arkansas Valley Conduit a reality, according to the Pueblo Chieftain. From the article: Nearly 10 months after receiving a federal grant, backers of the Arkansas Valley Conduit will begin working on engineering studies that are expected to lead to an environmental study and design... New legislation that would use future revenues from excess-capacity contracts to pay down the costs is moving through Congress, and could pass this year if Congress reconvenes after elections, as expected. Meanwhile, the Southeastern Colorado Water Conservancy District has nailed down the final details in applying for a $600,000 State and Tribal Assistance Grant that will allow planning to continue, said Phil Reynolds, project manager. While the meat of the next planning phase will be to refine routes for alternative needs of the communities along the way and other technical information, it will also provide an opportunity for the communities to look at their own systems and how the conduit would fit in, Reynolds said. "Many participants have been on wells and this will be a big change for them," Reynolds said. The process is expected to take a little more than two years. The federal money - reduced to $573,000 after budget shaving and state administrative fees - should arrive in November and will be matched by $472,000 in state and local funds. The district has received a $200,000 grant from the Colorado Water Conservation Board. This week, the Lower Arkansas Valley Water Conservancy District committed to adding $70,000, and could add a similar amount next year. The rest of the local match is expected to come from the Southeastern district and participants, and the district is still negotiating with the Environmental Protection Agency about whether any past expenditures would count against the local share. The grant will not cover lobbying expenses, legal work and certain administrative costs. Meanwhile, district staff has met with the Colorado Water Conservation Board to resubmit its application for a $60.6 million loan to pay local costs of construction. The loan was approved in 2006 and tied to federal progress on the conduit with a two-year time frame. More Coyote Gulch coverage here. Category: Colorado Water 9:14:52 AM     Energy policy: Nuclear From the Denver Post: "The federal government has begun a required but long-delayed comprehensive review of public health in Cañon City as newly found toxic pollution spreads from a shuttered uranium mill. "The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry launched the review in response to new data and community concerns that pollution may contribute to unexplained ailments including cancer, miscarriages and neurological problems. "Researchers now are analyzing data in what environmental scientist Teresa Foster called 'the first comprehensive public-health assessment' for the city since the government declared the Cotter Corp. mill an environmental disaster." Category: Climate Change News 8:48:33 AM     Water transfers Here's an update on the Arkansas Basin Roundtable's attempts to establish a template for water transfers, from the Pueblo Chieftain. From the article: The roundtable will see if it has willing volunteers to submit a project to the template developed by a committee over the past two years. The roundtable accepted the water transfers committee report at its October meeting, but has not endorsed it. The committee's work was funded by the Colorado Water Conservation Board and there were deadlines to be met. Several members of the roundtable were reluctant to accept the report because there are no guarantees that it will bring third parties to the table. "Transfers should not be a simple buyer-seller transaction. I think third-party interests will have to be given a voice by some mechanism of enforcing this. If it's voluntary, it will be useless except in congenial circumstances," said Leadville Mayor Bud Elliott. Others thought it did not emphasize enough that it was a template to use only if transfers occurred, but does not advocate transfers. "We just need to be sure that folks reading it or hearing about it don't think it means the roundtable is promoting or endorsing transfers," said Jonathan Fox, a Fowler banker... Initially [the committee's work]...led to a fusillade of position statements from [Las Animas Mayor Lawrence Sena], speaking for rural communities, and from the cities who had made big water deals in the past, Aurora and Colorado Springs. Understanding the positions took time. The committee was open to any member of the 50-member roundtable, and about 10 rode out the entire process. The meetings were sometimes all-day affairs and were facilitated by MaryLou Smith of Aqua Engineering. The end product was probably not what many thought it would be, Smith said last week, discussing the project. "It's not concrete. The document says, if you do transfer the water, what considerations are needed for the remaining shareholders on the ditch, the environment and the communities?" Smith said. The roundtable's next task will be to define the role of the document, Smith said. Suggestions included making it a part of county land-use regulations, passing legislation or incorporating it into water court cases. The roundtable hit upon the idea of finding a project already in progress and attempting to apply the template to it. The group could identify that project at its November meeting. "We have an excellent tool to get started from, but we need to take it for a test drive and see if it needs to be fine-tuned," said Chris Haga of the Round Mountain Water District in Custer County. Roundtable members also want to make sure others who weren't at the October meeting are aware of the report. Last week, directors of the Southeastern and Lower Arkansas Valley Water Conservancy districts were given copies of the report to evaluate. Jay Winner, general manager of the Lower Ark District and the Roundtable's newest representative on the Interstate Compact Committee, plans to meet with several boards of county commissioners to explain the document. "It's just a report," Winner said. "But in a typical transfer, the ag guy gets the money; the city gets the water. We've got to figure out a way to bring the third party into it. We have to create a win-win-win situation." He said it could be a way to protect the valley's water without some of the traditional expenses... Some sample areas of concern and possible mitigation contained in "Considerations for Agriculture to Urban Water Transfers," a report by the Arkansas Basin Roundtable. A total of 15 areas were listed, with numerous questions and possible mitigation posed in each group, along with a guide about how to use them. Size of transfer: What are the affected areas? What percentage of the water supply is being considered? Will there be sufficient water left for viable agriculture, growth or drought? Mitigation could include things like leasing water back, changing the timing of transfers or investing in infrastructure. Location of transfer: Will remaining irrigators be kept whole? What are local land use planning objectives? Will lands with special qualities like historical sites be affected? Remedies include changing the location of the transfer, compensation or replacing disturbed resources. Water quality impacts: Are there potential negative or positive impacts? Everything from providing treatment plants, assisting in studies and restoring wildlife habitat were suggested. Other areas: Also considered in the template outlined in the report were length of time until transfer occurs, point of diversion, time of diversion, means of conveyance, storage issues, impact on environment, recreation impact, economic impacts to communities, social impacts, local government issues such as tax base, length of lease, frequency of transfer and ways to improve agriculture through methods such as removing less productive farmland. More Coyote Gulch coverage here. Category: Colorado Water 8:44:18 AM

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