Northern Integrated Supply Project: Property Rights Foundation of the West meeting recap

From The Fort Morgan Times (John Brennan):

“The region looks a lot better in 30 years with this project than without it,” said Eric Wilkinson, general manager of Northern. If NISP is not built, another 60,000 acres of agricultural land would be “dried up,” Wilkinson said. “It would accelerate ‘buy and dry,’” he said, referring to the practice of large cities buying ag land and shutting down wells. “Buy and dry would continue in some cases, but not as much as with NISP.”[...]

Area farmer Gene Kammerzell noted the estimated total cost of about $426 million and the target date of 2025 for completion of NISP, and wondered why Northern was not pursuing ways to reopen wells in the South Platte basin. Alan Berryman, assistant general manage for NCWCD’s engineering division, said many legal constraints exist on the use of wells, and well users would also have to augment what they pump. To match the yield of NISP with ground water, Wilkinson noted, a “firm” supply of 40,000 acre-feet of augmentation water would be needed. And while NISP would use existing canals for much of the moving of water, most alternatives would require an extensive — and expensive — system of pipelines, pumps and other equipment. The quality of groundwater compared to river water is also an issue, Wilkinson said. Well water would need a lot of treatment, he noted, and a percentage of water is lost during the treatment process. “That means you would have to overbuild your project in that regard,” Wilkinson said. Berryman also noted that the cost of NISP is “in line with the cost people are paying for water today.” Werner added that being a participant in NISP “would be an asset — a very valuable asset — that Fort Morgan and Quality Water would own.” As for other alternatives, one audience member noted that a long-ago plan for the Harden Dam could be resurrected, but Wilkinson said on-stream dams are not going to be approved for the foreseeable future. Wilkinson noted that drying up agricultural land for domestic water is being pursued by some Front Range cities because doing so avoids the need for a federal permit, which is what has delayed the NISP project for so long.

More Northern Integrated Supply Project coverage here and here.

Energy policy — geothermal: BLM announces geothermal lease in the upper Arkansas River Valley

From The Mountain Mail (Ron Sering):

The area has been the subject of exploration dating back to the 1970s, and recent research by the Colorado School of Mines summer field camp indicated vast potential in the area. Mt. Princeton Geothermal, LLC, conducted thermal gradient testing this summer in conjunction with the CSM field camp and discovered what is to date the hottest known water source in the state.

The area’s proximity to available power lines increases the practicality of tapping the resource, using a binary method of generating electricity. The hot water is pumped to the surface and cycled through a heat exchanger to heat a special fluid with a boiling point lower than that of water. The resulting steam is used to drive turbines that generate electricity…

The lease sale will take place on November 12.

The Chaffee Citizens for Sustainability are considering four options for Nestlé Waters Chaffee County Project

From The Mountain Mail (Jennifer Denevan):

Jay Hake of Hake, Heart and Lintzenich, who advises the organization, said there are four options. One is do nothing, second is a recall, third is a process review and fourth is going to water court. Hake said the first option would accept the project as proposed after changes and conditions were met. All those changes and conditions came from community input, he noted. A recall doesn’t provide much satisfaction, Hake said, because it wouldn’t change anything or stop Nestlé from pumping water. The last two options could become long, expensive legal battles, Hake said – requesting review of the commissioners’ approval of the 1041 permit or going to water court with Nestlé…

A review request must be filed within 30 days of the resolution signing date. Hake said commissioners will host a special meeting at 10 a.m. Sept. 23 in the courthouse to review the staff-written resolution and may approve it then. Review would raise questions about the process. He said the 1041 has been in effect since 1973. The question to ask, is if officials correctly followed the process, he said.

More Nestlé Waters Chaffee County Project coverage here and here.

Republican River Restoration Partnership, Colorado Association of Conservation Districts and Colorado Agriculture Preservation Association meeting recap

From the McCook Daily Gazette:

The agenda included a tour of the reservoir and upstream lands as well as a facilitated work session. The goal of the meeting was to raise awareness of the issues surrounding Bonny Reservoir including the potential impact it can have on the Republican River Basin Community. The Republican River Restoration Partnership began as a project of Southwest Nebraska RC&D. The RRRP works to positively effect management of the riparian area of the Republican River and its tributaries in Colorado, Kansas and Nebraska. Their goals are to foster cooperation between three states to develop a regional plan for the watershed, to increase economic development throughout the area, increase the quantity and quality of water within the watershed and increase educational opportunities in regard to water quantity and quality.

More Republican River Basin coverage here and here.

Interbasin Compact Committee: Is there enough water available to serve a doubling of Colorado’s population?

From The Pueblo Chieftain (Chris Woodka):

The biggest problem with water development appears to be staying out of each other’s way. In the past, the state’s system of water rights – a carefully ordered and enforced hierarchy based on historical priority of use – has done little to encourage sharing water rights.

For farmers, the system has planted a “use it or lose it” attitude that works on an emotional level. Irrigators jealously guard their share of the river and have always made it their business to know what the neighbors are up to.

For cities, the system has created a type of hoarding – checked by concepts like “reasonable” or “foreseeable” – in anticipation of the day when existing water resources reach their limit. For some cities, like Pueblo, this has rarely happened. Others, like Colorado Springs, have faced and overcome water shortage crises many times.

Whether it’s buying shares in the Bessemer Ditch (Pueblo) or building the Southern Delivery System (Colorado Springs), cities are always looking for a way to reach the next increment of growth.

“Advanced water strategies are not always 100-percent successful,” said Eric Wilkinson, a Colorado Water Conservation Board member who also heads the Northern Colorado Water Conservancy District. “Oftentimes, to implement a water project, it is difficult to get through the gauntlet of regulatory agencies.”

Federal, state and even county requirements can reduce the yield of a project, or even kill it.

Additionally, some projects – Denver Water’s undeveloped West Slope rights or oil shale development – have water rights that have not been fully used and which could curtail the plans of others, Wilkinson said…

And speaking of the environment, a statewide plan is only effective when each piece of river it touches can be accounted for, said Melinda Kassen of Trout Unlimited. Kassen said the nine basin roundtables that feed into the IBCC have yet to complete the analysis of nonconsumptive water needs throughout the state. Even then, each project will have to be decided on a case-by-case basis, since recreation interests – rafting vs. fishing, for example – are often at cross-purposes. Some reaches are fine, some need protection and some need restoration, Kassen said. “We need to make sure we use the money available for environmental protection to protect those areas we know will have problems,” Kassen said…

It has become increasingly difficult to build new storage in the state, as witnessed by the the Northern Integrated Supply Project, a controversial plan to build two new reservoirs. While the Glade Reservoir north of Fort Collins would provide up to 170,000 acre-feet of storage, some have questioned its projected impact on stream flows. Municipal conservation is an unreliable building block for future growth, and it’s difficult to measure. The state alternately has looked at using 2000 and 2008 as base years – bracketing a drought that changed how communities approach restrictions. The differences in communities make it hard to account for statewide conservation goals, since one community could be largely residential and another could have an industry that requires large amounts of water. Agricultural conservation could be a false savings, if increased consumptive use reduces return flows to other users.

More IBCC coverage here and here.

New method for measuring evapotranspiration

Bump and update: Here’s the release from the USGS (Ron Beck):

Data from earth-observing Landsat satellites plays a central role in a new, award-winning type of mapping that tracks water use.

Water-use maps help save taxpayer money by increasing the accuracy and effectiveness of public decisions involving water – for instance, in monitoring compliance with legal water rights. The maps are especially important in dry western states where irrigated agriculture accounts for about 85 percent of all water consumption.

Using Landsat imagery supplied by the U.S. Geological Survey in combination with ground-based water data, the Idaho Department of Water Resources and the University of Idaho developed a novel method to create water-use maps that are accurate to the scale of individual fields. The Ash Institute at Harvard University recently cited Idaho’s original design for these maps as an outstanding innovation in American government.

“The USGS Landsat archive, dating back to1972, has proven to be a versatile source of consistent data about land surface conditions,” said Bryant Cramer, USGS Associate Director for Geography. “This advance by the Idaho water monitoring team is both brilliant and practical. Looking forward, it’s indicative of what researchers in many countries can accomplish with the data.”

The value of the USGS Landsat archive was endorsed by Richard Allen of the University of Idaho, one of the honored team members. “Archival support from USGS gave Idaho researchers the means to determine changes in water consumption over time by agricultural, residential and wildland systems,” he said. “These historical records were indispensable in calibrating many aspects of current data.”

As agricultural irrigation needs and swelling city populations amplify demand for scarce water supplies, water management strategy has been forced to shift from increasing water supply to more effectively managing water use at sustainable levels. Thus, accurate water-use mapping is critical. The Landsat-based method can be as much as 80 percent more accurate than traditional measurement methods.

With initial assistance from NASA, the Idaho Department of Water Resources began cooperating with the University of Idaho in 2000 to develop a computer model, METRIC (Mapping EvapoTranspiration at high Resolution with Internalized Calibration), to estimate and map water use in vegetated areas. The mapping method has since been adopted in other states including Montana, California, New Mexico, Utah, Wyoming, Texas, Nebraska, Colorado, Nevada and Oregon.

The objective nature of the technique assists these states in negotiating Native American water rights, assessing urban water transfers, managing aquifer depletion, monitoring water right compliance, and protecting endangered species. Internationally, Spain, South Africa and Morocco have already begun to employ Landsat-based water-use maps.

“I congratulate Richard Allen, Anthony Morse, William Kramber and their Idaho colleagues on their inventive work. The recognition of this prestigious award is well deserved,” Cramer said.

“I believe this success is a marker for more to come,” he continued. “The USGS policy of releasing the full Landsat archive over the Internet at no cost opens the door to a much larger pool of researchers worldwide. More researchers will lead to even more data applications that tackle major environmental issues.”

From The Washington Post (Kari Lydersen):

Using surface temperature readings from government satellites, air temperature and a system of algorithms, the new method lets officials measure how much water is “consumed” on a certain piece of land through evapotranspiration.

Evapotranspiration is a combination of the evaporation of water into the atmosphere and the water vapor released by plants through respiration — basically, a measurement of the water that leaves the land for the atmosphere, not water that is diverted or pumped onto land but then returned quickly to the water table or river for other users.

Water resource management agencies in Idaho and other states see this as the best way to measure water consumption, since it is a more exact definition of how much water is being removed from the system by a given individual or entity. The program, called METRIC for Mapping EvapoTranspiration with High Resolution and Internalized Calibration, was launched in 2000 with a NASA/Raytheon Synergy Project grant and is used by 11 states. (Though researchers do measure the evapotranspiration rates of residential developments, the method is mainly relevant to the management of agriculture, fish farms and forest or wetland conservation.)

“There’s not enough water for all uses, so you use METRIC to see exactly where water is being consumed,” said Tony Morse, manager of geospatial technology at the Idaho Department of Water Resources. “How much for agriculture, how much on the Indian reservation, how much by native cottonwoods, how much by saltcedars.”

METRIC uses images from the two Landsat satellites, which orbit Earth every 16 days, meaning an image of a given field is available every eight days unless cloud cover interferes. Until this year users had to pay the U.S. Geological Survey $600 for each 185-by-180-kilometer “scene.” Starting in 2009 the government satellite images, which are also used for Google Earth, are free to the public. METRIC developers have published their algorithms for anyone to use, though agencies must write their own computer codes.

The data have already been used to help settle a century-long fight between Colorado and Kansas over water in the Arkansas River and a dispute between Idaho irrigation districts. Previously, officials had to look at well-pumping records and electricity use to estimate each irrigation district’s usage. Water managers say the data help to settle and avoid litigation.

Aurora wins American Water Works Association taste test

Bump and update: From the Aurora Sentinel (Adam Goldstein):

The fancy bottled brands may have a new challenger, as the water coming from taps in Aurora has a new mark of recognition. Aurora Water beat competitors from other metro water utilities from three states in a recent taste test competition held by the Rocky Mountain Section of the American Water Works Association…

Aurora Water will move on to the next level of the competition, representing the Rocky Mountain Section of the AWWA during the “Best of the Best” taste test, to be held at the AWWA Annual Conference and Exposition in Chicago in June 2010.

From The Denver Post:

The city was crowned the winner at the recent Rocky Mountain selection of the American Water Works Association Taste Test. A five-member panel decided that Aurora water had the best appearance, smell, taste and overall impression. Denver Water and the Centennial Water and Sanitation District were among other local utilities entered.

More Aurora coverage here.

Upper Colorado River Endangered Fish Recovery Program update

Here’s an update about the monitoring of fish moving through the new fish passage at the Price-Stubbs dam near Palisade, from Gary Harmon writing for The Grand Junction Daily Sentinel. From the article:

Monitoring the fish that way gives more information about the movements and is preferable to electro-shocking or other methods of counting the fish, [Tom Chart, the new head of the Upper Colorado Basin Endangered Species Recovery Program] said. The Fish and Wildlife Service has stocked endangered razorback suckers in the river, and Chart said he is planning to do more. “We’re still in full force with the stocking program” and will build more ponds in Horsethief Canyon to grow additional razorbacks, Chart said.

Here’s an article about Mr. Chart, from Gary Harmon writing for The Grand Junction Daily Sentinel. From the article:

The Upper Colorado River Endangered Fish Recovery Program, which this summer was extended through 2023, now is headed by Tom Chart, who has worked for and with the program during a 26-year career dealing with endangered fish. Chart worked for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Ecological Services Field Office in Salt Lake City on projects to recover endangered fish in the Colorado and Virgin river systems. Before that, he was a biologist for the Bureau of Reclamation in Salt Lake City. He also worked for the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources in Moab.

More endangered species coverage here.

Climate Change and water supply in the Colorado River Basin

Colorado River District general manager, Eric Kuhn, spoke yesterday evening up at the the Aspen Global Change Institute, “…which is hosting a workshop this week to explore how climate scientists and water managers can provide better information to government decision makers,” according to report from Brent Gardner-Smith writing for the Aspen Daily News. From the article:

Kuhn cited a survey done six months ago by the Rocky Mountain Climate Organization of people in the seven states that have a stake in Colorado River water, including Colorado, Utah, Wyoming, Arizona, New Mexico, California and Nevada. The survey asked residents of those states, “Is climate change an established reality or an unproven myth?” People in Colorado are split 47 percent to 47 percent on the question. In Wyoming, only 35 percent of people think climate change is “an established reality,” while 62 percent of Californians think it is. Seventy-four percent of Democrats in those seven states think climate change is a reality, but only 25 percent of Republicans do, the survey found.

Kuhn said another survey found that in the 15 Western Slope counties that make up the Colorado River District, 83 percent of Democrats feel climate change should be given a high priority, while only 40 percent of Republicans felt the same way.

Yet Kuhn said evidence continues to point to a future with hotter temperatures and less water in the Colorado River.

More Colorado River Basin coverage here.

Lower South Platte Watershed Plan Project meeting recap

Here’s a report about last week’s meeting of the Lower South Platte Watershed Plan Project, from Judy Debus writing for the Sterling Journal Advocate. From the article:

The plan is expected to be released in late 2010 and will be the guide and focus for groups within the watershed to apply for grants to address the problems documented. After a time of sharing information about the planning process and the Lower South Platte, the meeting was opened for ideas from those attending. “We want to hear from you, your concerns, the things you think need to be addressed for the future of the watershed,” Cronquist said.

Among concerns listed by the group include:

• New water storage
• Upgrade old storage
• Baseline studies of aquatic life
• Water for livestock
• More collective/data sharing
• Site specific Best Management Practices (BMP)
• Increases in salinity, increase in salt cedar, zebra mussels, Sago pondweed
• Land use changes

Groups and organizations that have supported the plan through their involvement on the Core (advisory) Committee include: Central Colorado Water Conservancy District, Colorado Cattlemen’s Association, Colorado Corn, Colorado Department of Agriculture, Colorado Division of Wildlife, Colorado Livestock Association, Colorado State University Extension, Colorado State University, Ducks Unlimited, Lower South Platte Water Conservancy District, Lower South Platte Watershed Association, Natural Resources Conservation Service, North Front Range Water Quality Planning Association, Northern Colorado Water Conservancy, Northeast Colorado Health Department, Sedgwick County Conservation District, and West Greeley Conservation District.

By 2030, it’s projected an additional 2 million residents will live in Colorado’s portion of the South Platte River Basin, and these additional people will need about 400,000 acre feet of water to meet their demand.

Information: For more, visit www.LSPWP.com.

More South Platte Basin coverage here.

Northglenn: Work begins on new clear well at treatment plant

Here’s a release from Northglenn Water via YourHub.com (Celeste Olinger). From the article:

Work has begun on a major capital improvement project as excavation is underway for construction of an additional clear well for the city.

The overall project consists of the construction of a new clear well at the Northglenn Water Treatment Plant, located at 2350 W. 112th Ave.

A clear well is a large water storage tank where chemicals are injected into the filtered water as a disinfectant. The clear well will provide adequate detention time to allow for the disinfection of any bacterial water contamination during peak flow and will meet the new requirements set forth by the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment regulations.

This project is in its initial stage and the city has partnered with The Engineering Company (TEC) to complete the design and construction administrative services and with Jennison Construction Company for construction of the clear well. Currently, digging is underway to accommodate a 330,000-gallon clear well at the Water Treatment Plant. On May 28, City Council approved CR-66, a resolution approving construction of the clear well addition and authorizing $1,802,161 from the 2009 CIP?Budget Water Connection Fund for the project.

Northglenn’s Water Treatment Plant provides safe drinking water to its residents and is in compliance with state and federal drinking water standards and regulations. The clear well addition will assist the city in continuing to maintain its high standards and continuous operations.

This major capital improvement project is scheduled to be complete in March 2010.

More infrastructure coverage here.

Clear Creek Watershed Festival recap

From the Clear Creek Courant (Ian Neligh):

They came in throngs to the information booths along Clear Creek to learn about the watershed, listen to music and play games, all the while trying to stay dry. I think there is an awful lot of good stuff going on,” Ed Rapp, president of the Clear Creek Watershed Foundation, said while working in an information booth. The foundation is a nonprofit charged with improving the ecological, recreational and economic conditions in the Clear Creek Watershed.

More Clear Creek watershed coverage here.

Ruedi Reservoir update

From email from Reclamation (Kara Lamb):

As you have probably noticed over the past week, releases from Ruedi Dam to the Fryingpan River have been cutting back. Tomorrow morning, we will cut releases back another 50 cfs, putting the flow in the Fryingpan at about 115 cfs. The demand for water for the Endangered Fish Recovery Progam ends tomorrow. As a result, we have been curtailing releases accordingly. The 115 cfs rate will continue until further notice.

More Fryingpan-Arkansas coverage here.

Pueblo Board of Water Works to mull financing alternatives for Bessemer Ditch shares

From The Pueblo Chieftain (Chris Woodka):

The resolutions Tuesday will set the terms under which the bonds will be sold and authorize the issuance of the bonds. The resolution on terms also sets forth how other debt, present or future, would fit into the structure of the bonds. Bonds would be issued Oct. 22. The bonds would be sold during October, paralleling the time frame for the board to finalize its contracts with 67 shareholders for 5,339 shares on the Bessemer Ditch Ñ a little more than one-quarter of the total. “We did two of the contracts on the Bessemer Ditch, as pilots, to make sure everything was worked out,” said Alan Hamel, executive director. “We wanted to make sure our process was going to work, and there weren’t any problems.” The water board wants to complete all of the contracts by Oct. 30. Closing on the contracts will be coordinated to the flow of money used to buy the shares.

More PBOWW coverage here.

Hot Sulphur Springs: Revamped rate structure scares businesses

From the Sky-Hi Daily News (Tonya Bina):

The town brought its rate structure up to standard in response to an aging system that drained town coffers. The town revamped water billing by increasing the base rate of SFEs, or single-family equivalencies. One SFE — the rate for most residences — amounts to $94.20 a month. Commercial structures amount to greater numbers of SFEs.

But now that the town has concrete financials in place due to receipt of federal stimulus dollars, Bernal hopes it’s in a position to find compromise with business owners. “We understand the town’s position — and we hope they can come to understand ours,”

More Hot Sulphur Springs coverage here.

Flaming Gorge pipeline: Reclamation estimates that 165,000 acre-feet per year is available for development

From the Associated Press (Ben Neary) via CBS4Denver.com:

The study found that up to 165,000 acre feet of water could be drawn from the reservoir each year through 2049 while still allowing enough water to generate hydropower and to meet the needs of endangered fish species downstream.

Drawing 165,000 acre feet a year over 40 years would draw the level of Flaming Gorge Reservoir down from its current elevation of 6,030 feet a bove sea level to just above 5,900 feet, the study found. According to bureau figures, the reservoir has a surface area of nearly 30,000 acres when its elevation is at 6,000 feet and its surface area would drop to just under 11,000 acres at the 5,900 foot level.

After 2050, as development in Wyoming increases, the bureau study projected Flaming Gorge Reservoir could sustain an annual diversion rate of 120,000 acre feet. The agency is updating that draft analysis, and agency officials say their projections of the amount of available water may well go lower.

More Flaming Gorge pipeline coverage here and here.

Grand County has 3,479 acre-feet of water for streamflow in the upper Colorado

From the Sky-Hi Daily News:

September 1-15, Grand County released an additional 45 cfs. From September 16 – 30, Grand County will reduce its release to 30 cfs. Releases will decrease to 20 cfs on October 1-15 and 10 cfs on October 16-30. In March 2010, 321 acre-feet of county water will remain in Granby Reservoir, which is predicted to fill in spring. Depending on conditions, the commissioners may decide to release the remaining water. The county paid Northern $72,000 in 2009 pumping costs. “We are pleased Northern has allowed us to pump again this year,” says County Manager Lurline Underbrink Curran. “The relationship between Northern and the county has blossomed, allowing us to put unclaimed water to use to benefit Grand County.”

More Colorado River Basin coverage here.

Aurora wins American Water Works taste test

Bump and update: From the Aurora Sentinel (Adam Goldstein):

Aurora Water will move on to the next level of the competition, representing the Rocky Mountain Section of the AWWA during the “Best of the Best” taste test, to be held at the AWWA Annual Conference and Exposition in Chicago in June 2010.

From The Denver Post:

The city was crowned the winner at the recent Rocky Mountain selection of the American Water Works Association Taste Test. A five-member panel decided that Aurora water had the best appearance, smell, taste and overall impression. Denver Water and the Centennial Water and Sanitation District were among other local utilities entered.

More Aurora coverage here.

Standup paddling

From The Denver Post (Scott Willoughby):

“My main concern as an advocate of stand-up paddling is to educate the managing agencies that it’s a valid way of paddling,” said Earl Richmond, co-owner of Buena Vista-based Colorado Kayak Supply and a member of last week’s Westwater SUP team. “I know there are going to be a bunch of stop signs out there and barricades to SUP, but education is key to get people to understand that it’s a safe way to get down a river. It’s like snowboarding back in the mid-’80s. You needed education to show people it would work to get down a mountain.”

For the small but growing legion of river surfers using lengthy paddles to maneuver through rapids on thick boards ranging from 9-12 feet long, Westwater Canyon is a dream destination. Its deep water and well-defined rapids combine with surfable waves and playful eddy lines to form a 17-mile ride through some of the most spectacular scenery this side of the Grand Canyon.

More whitewater coverage here.

Coyote Gulch outage

I’m heading down the two lane blacktop with Mrs. Gulch, Hellchild and Beaver. We’re hoping to try out the rod, reel, fryingpan and corn meal method of non-native trout control

I’ll be back in a few days.

Republican River Compact: Timeline for arbitration in dispute between Colorado, Kansas and Nebraska

From the Yuma Pioneer (Tony Rayl):

he time frame shows Wednesday, September 16, as the last date for the states to meet and agree on an arbitrator (or arbitrators). Dick Wolfe, state engineer for Colorado, reported late last week that an arbitrator had not been selected yet, meaning the states likely will take it to the deadline. While the arbitration is classified as “fast track” it still will be more than five months before an arbitrator issues a decision, which, on the time frame supplied by Wolfe, is March 1, 2010. The fall and early winter will be the “discovery period,” such as submitting bries and responses to those briefs on legal issues, as well as disclosing experts, witness lists, expert reports and exhibits. The trial itself is set for February 1-5, 2010. A location has not been set yet. However, in his notice to his counterparts in Kansas (David Barfield) and Nebraska (Brian Dunnigan) that Colorado was invoking arbitration in regards to the pipeline issue, Wolfe again reiterated his desire to keep working with the other states to reach a mutually acceptable resolution.

More Republican River Basin coverage here and here.

Arkansas Valley Conduit: Will congress fork over the dough to get it built?

From The Pueblo Chieftain (Chris Woodka):

“We’re working with the whole delegation, and they understand how important this is to Southern Colorado,” lobbyist Ray Kogovsek told the Southeastern Colorado Water Conservancy District Thursday. “I think we will be successful coming out of conference committee.”[...]

The district will attempt to get up to $14 million in the 2011 budget, as it attempts to make progress on the $300 million conduit after finally winning authorization. Federal contributions to the conduit and other parts of the Fryingpan-Arkansas Project would be repaid using excess-capacity revenues under the legislation signed into law by President Barack Obama earlier this year. Meanwhile, the Colorado Water Conservation Board still has funds available – about half of the $60.6 million loan approved three years ago – for its loan to cover local up-front spending for the conduit, said CWCB board member Reed Dils. At its meeting this week in Steamboat Springs, the board struggled with financial issues including a reduction in mineral lease revenues and the absence of new mineral severance taxes to support CWCB loans, he said…

The board also approved a contract of up to $118,000 with CDM Engineers for a water resource study related to the conduit. The money comes through local contributions and an EPA grant.

More Arkansas Valley Conduit coverage here and here.

Horsetooth Reservoir update

From email from Reclamation (Kara Lamb):

[September 17], we are sitting at an elevation of about 5391. At this time, all boat ramps are still in the water. We have about 85 cfs going out of the reservoir. This means it has slowed the drop of the reservoir’s elevation. Earlier this week, the water level was going down about 2/3 of a foot a day. By this afternoon, it is dropping only very slightly.

Because we do not have any water coming into Horsetooth at this time, the water elevation is being determined by what is going out. Currently, the Horsetooth Feeder Canal (the canal that brings water in) is undergoing some regular fall maintenance. That work will be done the last weekend of September. We will be able to start bringing a little bit of water to Horestooth at that time, but not very much because there are still water demands downstream on the Big Thompson River.

Earlier this week, we projected that the reservoir will hit an elevation of 5385 by the last weekend of this month. If water demands return to around 400 cfs coming out of the reservoir, that will likely be the case. At 5385, the Satanka boat ramp and the southern-most ramp in South Bay are out of the water. The large six-lane boat ramp in South Bay, however, should be useable well into October.

More Colorado-Big Thompson coverage here and here.

Colorado River: Reclamation implements basin study program

Here’s a release from Reclamation (Kip White):

Reclamation Identifies Three Western River Basins for Implementation of Basin Study Program Bureau of Reclamation Commissioner Michael L. Connor today announced the implementation of a new Basin Study Program that will better define options for future water management of Western river basins where climate change, record drought, population increases and environmental needs have heightened competition for scarce water supplies. Each study will include state of the art projections of future water supply and demand on a basin-wide scale, including an assessment of the impacts of climate change on water resources; analysis of how the basin’s existing water and power operations and infrastructure will perform in the face of changing water realities; and recommendations on how to optimize operations and infrastructure to supply adequate water and power in the future while accounting for environmental values. Reclamation will provide a 50% cost share contribution to state, local and tribal partners to implement the studies.

The first three basin studies announced by Connor today include:

The Colorado River Basin Water Supply and Demand Study ($1 million Reclamation, $1 million matching) covering portions of Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming;

Yakima River Basin Study and Associated Basin Restoration Implementation Plan, covering south central Washington ($1.3 million Reclamation, $1.3 million matching); and
Modeling for the Future of the Milk and St. Mary River Systems in north central and southern Montana ($350,000 Reclamation, $350,000 matching).

“Given today’s challenges in the area of water resources, it is imperative that the federal government be a strong and reliable partner in working with state, tribal and local water managers,” Connor said today. “The Bureau of Reclamation is addressing this need by partnering with key stakeholders to conduct comprehensive studies and create basin-specific plans recommending collaborative solutions that will meet water demands and foster sustainable development.”

The Basin Study Program will incorporate the latest science, engineering technology, climate models and innovative approaches to water management. Options that will be evaluated in the studies include changes to the operation of water supply systems, modifications to existing facilities, development of new facilities, and non-structural strategies. The basin studies will generally be two years in duration.

The Program announcement follows Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar’s signing of a Secretarial Order earlier this week which details Interior’s coordinated strategy to address the current and future impacts of climate change on America’s diverse natural resources, including water. The Program is part of the Water Conservation Initiative (WCI) and a key element of Reclamation’s implementation of the SECURE Water Act, which was enacted into law as part of the Omnibus Public Land Management Act of 2009. Components of the WCI include providing competitive financial assistance for water conservation, efficiency and marketing projects and other activities that enhance water management; conducting basin-wide planning studies that will address the impacts of climate change; and continued funding of water reuse and recycling projects.

Hat tip to Peter Soeth.

More Colorado River Basin coverage here and here.

Sterling: Public meeting for fall ballot issues includes new water treatment plant

From the Sterling Journal-Advocate (Forrest Hershberger):

The city of Sterling has a question on the ballot that asks voters for permission to go into debt for as much as $29 million. The reason for the question is the city is faced with constructing a new water purification system, or facing the possibility of daily fines and loss of federal funding in the area. The fines and loss of funding would be a result of the city’s water supply system being declared non-compliant by the state health department and the Environmental Protection Agency.
“There’s a $2,000 per day fine for non-compliance,” Kiolbasa said. He stressed that this need to build a water treatment plant is not because the city’s water is getting worse, but because allowable standards as determined by the EPA have changed. The chemicals of concern are uranium, a natural erosion byproduct, and trihalomethanes, a result of water purification. Additionally, new health regulations say that any well deemed to be under the influence of surface water must be purified. The health department determined that the city has wells directly under surface water influence.

The unranium drawn from the city water supply will offer a problem of its own. The residue is expected to be concentrated to the point it has to be handled as a hazardous substance. The plan is to dispose of the remaining uranium with deep injection wells. The deep injection wells will be drilled at least 7,000 , well below the average depth for an oil well, Jones said…

Water softness is also a concern that was addressed. The chemical makeup of water is such that requires a proper balance between too soft and too hard. Water that is too soft, 0-2 grains, is considered corrosive and could damage pipes. Kiolbasa said water that is too soft could also be a health issue. The city is focusing on water quality better than what city customers experience now, but harder than the 0-2 soft water range. “We’re talking about a hardness of 7-9 grains. Most people will notice less scaling of the water,” Kiolbasa said. One of the losses in the process, when the new water system is completely online in 2012, is less need for water purification systems.

Many of the residents present in the meeting were concerned about how the increased water rates will affect their home budgets. A flyer distributed to the audience included a chart that shows conventional treatment would increase monthly costs by about $49 per month, and a decrease in cost for the reverse osmosis system of $2 per month if the customer is using an in-home treatment system. Customers who use bottled water, but no in-home treatment system, will see an increase cost under the conventional treatment system of $49 per month, and a $32 decrease under the reverse osmosis proposal. People who chose to use the water as provided, no treatment or bottled water, will experience the largest price increases: $49 per month with conventional treatment and $53 per month for reverse osmosis. The city council is preferring the reverse osmosis process because it has the best chance of staying ahead of changing standards in the future.

More Sterling coverage here and here.