Monday, December 1, 2008

Funny Smelling Water Facts: Part One Here's Part One of Bill Hudson's series "Funny Smelling Water Facts" from the Pagosa Springs Daily. Category: Colorado Water 5:58:15 PM     Supply news From the Grand Junction Daily Sentinel (Gary Harmon): "Ute Water today will complete work on a new water system serving about 250 properties in the Rosevale and Connected Lakes areas. Ute Water was called in when the Artesian Water Service system serving the area was failing and the owner was about to abandon it because of a pending balloon payment he couldn't make." More Coyote Gulch coverage here. Category: Colorado Water 5:53:32 PM     Mexican Garter snake on endangered species waiting list From the AP (Amanda Lee Myers) via The Durango Herald: " Encroaching humans and an exotic bullfrog with a voracious appetite have taken such a toll on the Mexican garter snake that federal wildlife officials have deemed it worthy of being listed as an endangered species. The aquatic snake, which is found in Arizona and Mexico, is now one of 282 species awaiting approval to be protected under the Endangered Species Act. While authorities have not been able to estimate its current population numbers, the olive-colored snake with striking yellow stripes has been reduced to possibly less than 10 percent of its former distribution, according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Wildlife officials say the snake is important because its health is an indication of the well-being of other species and the river systems that share their habitat. Category: Climate Change News 5:48:42 PM     Colorado Association of Conservation Districts From the Greeley Tribune: "Five students from Franklin Middle School in Greeley have been awarded honors for posters they created for a program sponsored by the West Greeley Conservation District. This year's theme was 'Water is Life.'" More from the article: Natalia Diaz, 11, had the winning poster. She is the daughter of Imelda Diaz. Her poster, which won her $100, presented a snapshot of everything she had learned about water in her classes. It was presented at the Colorado Association of Conservation Districts, where she competed with other sixth-grade winners from across the state. Alejandra Mora, 11, daughter of Maria Gonzalez, earned $75 for her second-place poster. Third place honors and $50 went to Jesus Dominquez-Esparza, 12, son of Nayeli Esparza. Kendall Sparkman, 11, daughter of Randy Sparkman, won $35 for fourth; Mercedes Ferman, 11, daughter of Cynthia Ferman, won $25 for fifth. Category: Colorado Water 5:36:31 PM     Adams recommends Obama adopt a bottled water tax Tucker Hart Adams puts in her two cents about bottled water and joins the people offering President-Elect Barack Obama advice in a column from Colorado Biz Today. From the article: [President-Elect Obama] You need to impose a high tax on bottled water. Five dollars is a nice, round number, don't you think? With the new tax, we'll get rid of the pollution caused by producing and disposing of the plastic containers. We have perfectly good water coming out of our taps; let's drink it. Tap water doesn't have to be shipped, so that will have the added benefit of reducing the number of big trucks on our highways. More Coyote Gulch coverage here. Category: Colorado Water 5:21:05 PM     Who will lead Interior under President Obama? Here's an update on the speculation around President-Elect Obama's choice to lead Interior from Joan McCarter writing on New West. She believes the president-elect should choose Rep. Raul M. Grijalva, D-Ariz for his progressive credentials and experience. McCarter points to this article from Juliet Eilperin writing in the Washington Post who writes: Grijalva's experience and background meshes nicely with some of the Obama team's top requirements. The son of a migrant worker who grew up in Tucson, Grijalva boasts a strong environmental record and chairs the House Resources Subcommittee on National Parks, Forests and Public Lands. Choosing the congressman, who was just re-elected to his fifth term, would please both Latino advocates and the environmental community. Grijalva boasts a 95 percent lifetime score with the League of Conservation Voters, and he oversaw a federal study that linked oil and gas development on public lands with the decline in Western hunting habitat. He has also questioned the cheap grazing permits the Interior Department has leased to ranchers in the West. More Coyote Gulch coverage here. Category: Colorado Water 6:38:49 AM

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