Gunnison Board of County Commissioners public meeting recap

From the Crested Butte News (Seth Mensing):

The [Hidden Gems Wilderness Campaign] hopes to set aside about 89,000 acres of public land in Gunnison County as designated wilderness. Five of the seven areas being considered would be additions onto established wilderness areas, and two remaining parcels would stand alone. One of the proposed areas, Whetstone, is right outside of Crested Butte and the most contentious part of the proposal for local hikers, bikers and snowmobilers.

Before the commissioners consider a request to draft a letter in support of the proposal, they wanted to hear from all sides of the debate, and they got their wish. People from all sides of the issue packed the commissioner’s meeting room and filled a two-hour timeslot with many disparate points of view…

Right now, nearly 22.6 percent, or 370,000 acres, of Gunnison County’s total 1,618,000 acres of public land is designated as wilderness. The Hidden Gems proposal would increase that by 5.5 percent. The additional wilderness areas being proposed would be added in Gallo Hill, McClure Pass and Treasure Mountain, along with Powderhorn and West Elk additions. The two largest portions of the proposal are more than 54,000 acres in Clear Fork and almost 17,000 acres on Whetstone.

More Hidden Gems coverage here.

Hermosa Creek watershed working group recommends protection for all 155,000 acres in the watershed

From The Durango Herald (Dale Rodebaugh):

The workgroup steering committee formed in 2007 to involve anyone interested in protecting natural resources while allowing water-consuming development to continue. The committee membership includes water-use planners, environmentalists and government and tribal representatives. Hermosa Creek is the first of five similar studies to be conducted with the same goal in mind. “Participants decided that the Hermosa Creek watershed is a special pla ce and said they want to work together to protect outstanding water quality,” Marsha Porter-Norton, who coordinated 21 months of workgroup meetings, said Wednesday. “They rallied around a common goal to find solutions to satisfy as many interests as possible.”

More Hermosa Creek watershed coverage here and here.

Snowpack news: ‘Classic El Niño’

From The Durango Telegraph (Will Sands):

As Durangoans know, El Niño can be a fickle character. The phenomenon characterized by a warming in the equatorial Pacific Ocean does influence weather patterns in the Southwest United States. However, El Niño does not always show up and bless the Four Corners with abundant moisture. That said, the winter of 2009-10 is turning out to be a benchmark year for El Niño, according to Klaus Wolter, an atmospheric scientist with the University of Colorado at Boulder and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Last week’s storm – which pounded Durango for five days and brought more than 3 feet of snow to downtown – was typical of the weather phenomenon.

“El Niño tends to favor the southwest part of our state with additional moisture,” Wolter said. “Not every El Niño delivers, but last week’s storm was classic El Niño.”

From the Crested Butte News (Mike Horn):

As of January 25, the snow-water equivalent totals for the Gunnison River Basin were at 97 percent of average, according to data from the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS). The Gunnison Basin stretches over 8,000 square miles of western Colorado, extending from the Continental Divide to the confluence of the Gunnison and Colorado Rivers near Grand Junction. The 97 percent total puts Gunnison ahead of most basins in the state, with the exception of the Upper Rio Grande (108 percent) and the combined San Miguel, Dolores, Animas and San Juan River basins (104 percent). Those numbers sound pretty good, considering the seemingly dry December and early January that preceded last week’s storms. According to Frank Kugel, general manager for the Upper Gunnison River Water Conservancy District, “We got a great shot in the arm with these recent storms. As of one week ago, we were at 76 percent of normal. We went from 76 percent to 97 percent in one week.”

Kugel also said water storage levels are doing well, with Blue Mesa at 68 percent of capacity, which is on target for this time of year. “Blue Mesa hits peak storage in June or July, and we try to get as close to full as possible by that time,” Kugel added. He noted it’s tough to forecast future water availability for the Gunnison Basin this early in the winter season.

From the Fort Collins Coloradoan (Bobby Magill):

As of Friday morning, the South Platte River Basin, which includes the Poudre River, had a snowpack 13 percent below normal. Other parts of Northern Colorado were the same: The North Platte Basin was 15 percent below normal, the Colorado River Basin 20 percent below normal and the Yampa River Basin 18 percent below normal.

Pagosa Springs to host meeting to show off plans for two new whitewater features in town

From the Pagosa Daily Post (Tom Carosello):

The meeting will be hosted by Riverbend Engineering and the Town of Pagosa Springs, and will be held in the south conference room of the Ross Aragόn Community Center Thursday, January 28 at 5:30pm. Construction of at least one of the proposed features is tentatively slated for this spring, with the possibility of an additional feature being constructed in the fall.

More whitewater coverage here.

Colorado Water Congress’ Wayne Aspinall Water Leader of the Year Award goes to Alan Hamel

From The Pueblo Chieftain (Chris Woodka):

Hamel, executive director of the Pueblo Board of Water Works, received the Wayne Aspinall Water Leader of the Year award at the close of the 52nd annual Colorado Water Congress. “I’m very humbled to stand here among this group of water leaders,” Hamel said as he stood on the dais with past Aspinall winners. “This was a very good secret. A total shock.”

SB 10-052: Alter Designated Groundwater Basin Area

From The Holyoke Enterprise (Marianne Goodland):

SB 52 is sponsored by Sen. Greg Brophy, R-Wray and Rep. Kathleen Curry, I-Gunnison. Brophy said this week SB 52 is designed to provide assurance for people who own large capacity ground water wells those wells cannot be pulled out of the designated basin area. Under SB 52, the Ground Water Commission, which manages the eight designated basins along the eastern plains and the Front Range, could revise the basin’s boundaries to remove previously included areas only if the area does not include wells that have had final permits issued.

Brophy said in 40 years since the boundaries were designated, no one has challenged either the maps or the engineering. Without changes in the law, “the risk is a [surface] water user would sue and pull your well out and shut it down.” If SB 52 is signed into law, “you will know the wells are safe, and the banks who lend you money for the wells will know they are safe,” Brophy said.

Michael Shimmin, a Boulder water rights attorney who represents water management districts within one of the basin areas and the ground water commission, testified Thursday there are more than 7,000 high capacity wells in the eight basins. They provide irrigation for agricultural uses and serve industrial or municipal uses. Ground water is the only water source available and there is no meaningful connection to surface water, Shimmin said…

The need for SB 52 is based on whether the decision to create these designated basins was ever final. Shimmin said in 2006 the Colorado Supreme Court interpreted state law to say they were never final—the commission could always come back and either add to or subtract from the boundaries. That case, Gallegos v. Colorado Ground Water Commission, is currently awaiting a final outcome in court. The bill exempts any lawsuit that was in place as of Jan. 1, 2010 and would exempt the Gallegos case, according to Shimmin. A second lawsuit on the issue, involving the Republican River in Yuma County, was brought by surface water users. That case was settled out of court last year when the Yuma County Water Authority spent $20 million to buy the surface water rights. Roben Wiley, a Yuma County farmer and chair of the Yuma County Water Authority, said a small group of surface water owners petitioned the commission to redraw the boundaries and curtail high capacity wells that were within 20 miles of the north fork of the Republican River. This would have affected more than 1,300 wells, Wiley said.

More 2010 Colorado legislation coverage here.

Energy policy — nuclear: Lincoln Park/Cotter Mill cleanup update

From the Cañon City Daily Record (Rachel Alexander):

A contractor is on site laying the first layer of final cover on the secondary impoundment, which was dried out over the last year. “They’re making a lot of good progress,” [Cotter Mill Manager John Hamrick] said…

He said once the impoundment dried, the top did not turn out as expected. He described the top level as “Jell-O or pudding.” The company is mixing it with dry soil prior to topping the impoundment with clean soil. The same contractor also will be excavating soil from under historic ore pads that may have pathways for contaminates to groundwater.

Also this year, Cotter is working on taking down the CCD tanks. The company had hoped to be further along in the CCD tank removal process, but discovered asbestos in the metal bands that delayed the process.

More Lincoln Park/Cotter Mill coverage here and here.

Energy policy — geothermal: BLM withdraws parcel near Buena Vista from its February sale

My friend Dave is no doubt sleeping easier tonight. Here’s a report from Joe Stone writing for The Mountain Mail. From the article:

The parcel, which straddles Chalk Creek, “will undergo additional environmental review and analysis,” said Greg Shoop, district manager of the bureau’s Front Range District. “We received several substantive comments in writing after our Jan. 14 public information meeting in Buena Vista that caused us to decide to further review the current stipulations on the parcel,” Shoop said.

Senator Gail Schwartz was among those who sent letters asking the bureau to delay the geothermal lease. “As the Colorado State Senator representing Chaffee County, I would like to communicate my concerns regarding what many consider to be a hasty timing of this lease,” she wrote…

The Mt. Princeton parcel would be the first federal geothermal lease offered for sale in Colorado, but the bureau has not set another date for offering the parcel at a future auction. “We want to assure the public that the environmental analysis process was thoroughly followed before the parcel is offered for sale,” Shoop said.

More geothermal coverage here and here.

Nebraska ponies up $8.8 million for habitat for the 3 state Platte River Recovery Implementation Program

From the Kearney Hub (Lori Porter):

More than $8.8 million has been committed so far for land in Dawson and Buffalo counties that will be managed as wildlife habitat under the three-state Platte River Recovery Implementation Program. Program Land Committee member and Central Platte Natural Resources District Biologist Mark Czaplewski gave an update at Thursday’s CPNRD board meeting in Grand Island on progress made toward the first 13-year increment goal to protect 10,000 acres of habitat in the Central Platte Valley. The program’s overall goal is to enhance river flows and protected habitat used by threatened and endangered species — least terns, piping plovers and whooping cranes in the Central Platte — and allow projects in Colorado, Wyoming and Nebraska with federal permits or funding to comply with the Endangered Species Act.

Whooping Cranes were seen dancing in the streets to the music of The Piping Plovers. More endangered species coverage here.

Colorado Water Congress 52nd Annual Convention: Eric Wilkinson — ‘I guess one word strikes me, storage’

Here’s a recap of the session, from Chris Woodka writing for The Pueblo Chieftain. From the article:

“Averages are not a real tool for development,” [Eric Wilkinson, director of the Northern Colorado Water Conservancy District] said. “These numbers need to be used for planning purposes and for compact compliance discussions. I guess one word strikes me: storage.”

Wilkinson, whose northern district is trying to get approval for building two new reservoirs and firming yield from current import diversions, explained that storage is the best way for Colorado to balance the unknowns of nature. Water users need to be ready for both wet and dry scenarios, Wilkinson said. “If there’s nothing left (of the compact entitlement), a curtailment would hurt us,” he said. “If there’s water to be developed, we’ll push to get water development.”

If enough water is stored in wet years, it is easier to make it through the droughts, he said. “We need to have our eyes wide open,” Wilkinson added. “Colorado owes it to itself to explore all opportunities to use the Colorado River, but we don’t want to get ourselves into a hole.”[...]

The CWCB this week also agreed to enter into a basinwide study with the other six states in the Colorado River Compact (Arizona, California, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming). That study will use the information Colorado has spent the past two years gathering. At the same time, the state will be applying parts of the study to its other water planning efforts from decision support models to floodplain mapping. The study itself will enter another phase that will look at the potential for changing uses or climate conditions, Gimbel said. “We will get more information as we are planning for the future,” Gimbel said. “We also need to look at storage strategically and use it for our advantage.”

More coverage of the availability study from Chris Woodka writing for The Pueblo Chieftain. From the article:

The Colorado Water Conservation Board Tuesday reviewed Phase I of Colorado River Availability study, and learned there are more questions than answers when it comes to things like climate change, future demand and changed uses of water. The report will be released for public review in February. “The Colorado River is one of the most important sources of water supply for the state,” said Jennifer Gimbel, executive director of the CWCB. “Colorado needs solid information in order to make smart decisions about future water development.”

The assessment, funded by $1 million from the state Legislature in 2007, is the most comprehensive to date on Colorado River supplies. It will be used within nearly every other water planning effort in Colorado. “This study rolls into every hallway at the CWCB,” Gimbel said…

All models show the Colorado River basin will be warmer, with more precipitation in winter and less in summer. Growing seasons will be longer, and runoff earlier, meaning a net gain in agricultural water use and more draw-down on reservoirs, said Ben Harding, a CWCB engineering consultant. “One dry year is not going to do us in. We got through 1977 and 2002,” Harding said. “The sequence of years is important.”[...]

The models are drawn from both historical data from 1950-2005 and extrapolations using tree rings to look at conditions back to 1500. Looking ahead, engineers selected five models out of more than 100 available data sets to project what would happen in 2040 and 2070. Some of the models actually show increases in water availability, but all anticipate that increased demand by agriculture — which uses 85 percent of water — would soak up any gain. The 500-year trend surprisingly indicates that the past 50 years were wetter than average, because of unusual clusters of wet years in the 1980s and 1990s. There were also greater extremes in the types of wet and dry years. Models for the future shuffled both types of years to forecast various scenarios. The difference between 2040 and 2070 would not be as great as originally thought, Harding explained…

It is also unclear whether the assessment opens or closes any doors for transmountain water increases, either through existing projects or new proposals. Nearly 500,000 acre-feet annually comes across the Continental Divide to serve needs in the Arkansas and South Platte river basins. Cities are looking for future supplies. At the same time, water is used on the Western Slope to serve the needs of endangered species, and more could be needed for growth and energy development. “It’s a good first step,” said Eric Kuhn, executive director of the Colorado River Conservation District. “It’s pretty clear that there is probably a limit to what we can do. From the river district’s perspective, our approach will be wait and see.”

More Colorado River Basin coverage here.

Hotchkiss National Fish Hatchery scores $1.5 million for new raceways

Around Coyote Gulch we love a good fish story. From the Delta County Independent:

The funding is provided under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA). Boise, Idaho-based McMillen, LLC received the stimulus funds for several projects to include building new fish raceways and converting old ponds into effluent ponds. Adam Mendoza, hatchery project leader, said the project was planned and in the system, but had never been funded because of its high dollar price tag. “When the money was available, they were looking for projects sitting in the system for some time and those were the ones they grabbed first. Since we had most of the paperwork and the red tape of the project accomplished, this was one of the projects picked,” Mendoza said.

Hotchkiss has 32 raceways and six earthen ponds used for raising fish. New raceways will replace the ponds. The six shallow ponds lack permanent lining, which results in water-loss and exposes fish to predators and potential disease. Creating deeper, lined raceways to replace the ponds will mitigate those issues.

Workers will convert the ponds into effluent treatment. These effluent ponds will filter nitrates and phosphates — created by fish waste — to keep them from inundating the river where the hatchery releases water. The facility presently meets Environmental Protection Agency regulation compliance, but may not meet future standards without such a system. Lining these ponds lowers the risk of diseases as they have the potential of entering the facility through the soil and moving through the facility’s system.

Weatherproof structures over the raceways will add additional protection from predators and from the elements. New asphalt roadways on the hatchery will accommodate service vehicle traffic.

Conservation groups are laying the foundation for legislation that will protect streamflow

From the Summit Daily News (Julie Sutor):

“People really understand the importance of conservation,” said Summit County native Becky Long, who works for Colorado Environmental Coalition, a statewide advocacy group. “Every drop of water you take out of a river is one you’ll never see again. Water is one of our most precious resources, and it needs to be part of the road map as we’re planning for the state’s future growth.”

Among a package of state water conservation bills is a measure to continue Colorado’s existing water-efficiency grant program, which was set to expire in 2012. The program provides financial assistance to communities, water providers and other agencies for water conservation activities and projects.

More conservation coverage here.

Colorado Water Congress 52nd Annual Convention: Governor Ritter lays out 3 pillars to solve Colorado’s ‘Gap’

From The Pueblo Chieftain (Chris Woodka):

“We face really serious challenges,” Ritter told the group at its 52nd annual convention. “Colorado has gone from an era of overabundance to where most of our streams are over- appropriated.” Cooperation, preservation of agriculture and stretching water supplies are the pillars on which future water policy must be built, Ritter said.

More coverage from The Durango Herald (Joe Hanel):

“One obvious question really shouts from the rooftops: How do we provide all the people in the state with clean water?” Ritter said at Thursday’s annual convention of the Colorado Water Congress. In the absence of a statewide plan, Front Range cities have been buying up water rights from Eastern Plains farmers. The “buy and dry” practice is the state’s default water plan, Ritter said. Conservative estimates predict Colorado will lose half a million acres of agricultural land by 2030. “I don’t believe that’s an acceptable future for the state of Colorado,” Ritter said…

Eric Wilkinson, an Interbasin Compact Committee member from the South Platte River Basin, said Ritter’s schedule [ed. 6 additional meetings this year] will mean a lot of work, but it will be worth it. The alternative is to keep drying up farms.

Flaming Gorge pipeline update

Chris Woodka (The Pueblo Chieftain) caught up with Aaron Million yesterday at the Colorado Water Congress’ 52nd Annual Convention. From the article:

“Ag water brought into the ag sector will be priced at what they can afford, and it may be one-tenth or one-twentieth of what the municipalities pay,” Million said Thursday. “I personally know the price structure of agricultural water from running cattle on a 6,000-acre ranch. There are a myriad of ways to help agriculture with this project.”[...]

Many on the list of 15 users seeking up to 300,000 acre-feet were irrigation districts, prompting comments by some who read stories in The Pueblo Chieftain to question how they could afford $15,000 an acre-foot for water.

Environmental groups doubted claims that the project would help the environment. “Front Range communities should first consider simpler, less costly measures to meet our region’s water needs, such as conservation, aquifer recharge and leasing. What’s needed most is comprehensive regional water planning, not pie-in-the-sky schemes,” Drew Peternell of Trout Unlimited wrote in a published letter to The Chieftain.

Others questioned the amount of water in some of the requests. “What’s Robert Norris going to do with 20,000 acre-feet of water?” one reader wrote. “Just say we’ll run more mother cows and it will help cool us off in the branding pen,” joked Million, who is close friends with the Norris family and would like to build a reservoir on their El Paso County ranch as part of the project.

On a more serious note, Million said he realizes there is a need for water in El Paso County — one of the listed end users was Woodmoor Water and Sanitation District. However, the El Paso County Water Authority wants more time to study how Million’s project would integrate with other plans. “Frankly, I’m hoping to get more water over the hump into the Arkansas basin,” Million said.

There is some interest in large municipal requests, notably Douglas County’s letter indicating the need for 40,000 acre-feet. The majority of larger requests, however, were from water districts in the South Platte River basin…

Million has always promoted the project as having explicit environmental and agricultural benefits, which he said would be ensured by legal mechanisms like conservation easements. “We can write the contracts so we have command and control,” Million said. “If there’s entities out there whining that we have a benevolent streak, they need to back off. The water would stay in agriculture in perpetuity.”[...]

No pricing structure has been finalized, but Million has agreed to a cost-plus arrangement some municipalities asked for.

Million has applied for appropriation of the water in Wyoming, but could also take water through a contract with the Bureau of Reclamation if the project is approved. The contract would have an added benefit of $27 million to the Upper Colorado River fish recovery program. A model of Green River operations by the Bureau of Reclamation showed that at least 165,000 acre-feet could be taken out at Flaming Gorge without harming habitat downstream, Million said. ”There is existing infrastructure through a huge artificial reservoir that has collapsed the environmental issues,” Million said. “I think if you can utilize that structure to benefit water users in both Wyoming and Colorado, then you should.”

More Flaming Gorge coverage here and here.

Colorado Water Congress 52nd Annual Convention

Here’s a recap of yesterday’s legislative breakfast, from Chris Woodka writing for The Pueblo Chieftain. From the article:

The Water Congress board voted Wednesday to oppose Amendments 60 and 61, and Proposition 101, which already have collected enough signatures to be on November’s ballot, said Chris Treece, vice president. Amendment 60, formerly Initiative 12, would allow people to vote where they own property, allow for citizen petitions to lower taxes and remove the ability for special districts to levy fees or taxes. It would phase out future property tax increases in 10 years. Amendment 61, formerly Initiative 21, forbids state agencies from incurring debt and requires voter approval of all debt for local districts, enterprises and authorities. Proposition 101, formerly Initiative 11, rolls back specific ownership taxes, vehicle fees and income taxes…

Rep. Kathleen Curry, I-Gunnison, said lawmakers are seeking a long-term fiscal solution, not just quick fixes. The choices now are coming down to water funds vs. school or college funds vs. prison jobs, however. Some proposed revenue fixes, like a state sales tax on electricity for now-exempt industry or agricultural users, could increase costs for irrigated agriculture, she added. At least 15 water bills, including a water projects bill, have been introduced this year. Lawmakers at Thursday’s meeting didn’t spend too much time pounding their chests for support, however.

Pace backed into talking about his water transfer impacts mitigation bill with a touch of humor: “Emotions on the bill go from deeply hating it to just hating it,” Pace quipped. “I talked with many people last summer who said it wasn’t too bad, but then we got into group-think.” Pace defended the bill as a way to allow conservancy districts to work out the problems of water transfers outside a courtroom. It would not block water sales or leases, he said…

Treece also took liberties introducing Curry, whose switch to an independent from a Democrat cost her the chair of the agriculture committee. “She’s missing the caucus of the independent party to be with us this morning,” Treece joked…

“The state budget is a disaster,” Curry said. “We need a sustainable revenue stream for the Division of Water Resources for water commissioners and their other core functions.”

Snowpack news

From The Greeley Tribune (Bill Jackson):

Nolan Doesken told a Colorado Farm Show crowd Wednesday afternoon that current El Niño conditions remain strong enough, even though it has weakened somewhat in the past few months, to produce a wet spring. But summer is another situation altogether different. “Summer precipitation is nightmarish to predict. There is no skillful way to predict that yet,” said Doesken, the state’s climatologist.

Eastern Colorado in particular is coming off one of the wettest years on record, but it’s not likely that will happen again, he said. In 2009, precipitation in Weld County ranged from 12 to 18 inches, while Greeley and Fort Collins had about 50 percent more moisture than the long-term average. And in Burlington, near the Kansas border, there was more than 30 inches, making it the wettest year in the past 121 years for that city. “That only happens once or twice every 100 years, so the odds of that occurring again this year aren’t good,” Doesken said…

Precipitation during the past four months has been up and down, starting with a lot of snow in October, not much in November, a lot more in December and practically nothing in January. But the eastern part of the state is above the long-term average. Southwest Colorado had been experiencing drought conditions until two major storms hit that part of the state, dumping 4 to 6 feet of snow in some areas. Doesken said that area got one-third of its annual winter precipitation in the past week to 10 days.

Energy policy — oil shale: Exxon and others in the hunt for leases

From the Grand Junction Daily Sentinel (Dennis Webb):

The Bureau of Land Management received two applications in Colorado and one in Utah in its second offering of oil shale research and development leases, agency spokesman Matt Spangler said Monday…

Spangler was unable to provide any additional comment Monday about the new lease applications, including who applied. However, representatives of ExxonMobil and Arizona-based AuraSource Inc. said their companies filed an application…

ExxonMobil unsuccessfully sought a lease during the first round of leasing. The company is trying to develop a process involving running an electrical charge through shale deposits underground to heat and free kerogen that can be brought to the surface via wells. Eric Stoppenhagen, chief financial officer for Arizona-based AuraSource Inc., said it applied for a Utah parcel. AuraSource has been pursuing a surface retort process incorporating technology tested in China.

More oil shale coverage here and here.

Energy policy — nuclear: Lots of support in Nucla for the Piñon Ridge mill

From The Telluride Watch (Karen James):

…well over 200 people attended a public hearing held by the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment in Nucla last Thursday evening, the majority in support of a radioactive materials license application presently under the agency’s consideration…

Colorado is among 37 “agreement states” to which federal Nuclear Regulatory Commission transfers authority to regulate and license uranium. As a result the CDPHE is in the process of conducting a 12 to14-month comprehensive technical review of the license application. The mill cannot be built without the license approval.

According to a presentation by Frank Filas, environmental manager for Energy Fuels, the mill would process 500 tons of ore daily (hopefully expanding to handle 1,000 tons of ore daily at a future point). At 500 tons per day capacity it would produce 770,000 pounds of uranium oxide annually – enough to produce 1,500 megawatts of electricity each year, he said. Additionally, it would produce 2.7 million pounds of vanadium oxide annually for use in steel production. The mill, sited in the Uravan Mineral Belt, would operate seven days a week, 350 days a year, for an operating life of 40 years. It would use 144 gallons of water per minute to process the ore.

More nuclear coverage here and here.

Front Range Water Council: Colorado’s Front Range uses 19% of the state’s water and generates 80 – 86% of the economic activity and tax revenue

It wasn’t always so but nowadays Colorado’s economy is centered on the Front Range. Here’s a report from Cathy Proctor writing for the Denver Business Journal. From the article:

The report, titled “Water and the Colorado Economy,” was commissioned by the Front Range Water Council, made up of the major water suppliers along the Front Range between Fort Collins and Pueblo. The report will be formally presented to the Colorado Water Congress on Thursday, during its annual meeting at the Hyatt Regency Denver Tech Center…

The draft report indicated that the state might be able to get up to 900,000 acre feet of new water supplies from the Colorado River, and still meet its supply obligations to downstream states. But if climate change impacts are more severe, leading to less water tumbling down from high mountain snow banks, there might not be any extra water in the Colorado River available for the state’s use, according to the draft report.

“The Western Slope, we know the target’s on our back,” said Jim Pokrandt, spokesman for the Colorado River Water Conservation District in Glenwood Springs. “The Front Range water users, they make a very good point. People have to live somewhere and work somewhere…

The Front Range Water Council’s report cost $62,400 and was divided among the council’s seven members — Denver Water, Aurora Water, Colorado Springs Utilities, the Northern Colorado Water Conservancy District, Pueblo Board of Water Works, Southeastern Colorado Water Conservancy District, and the Twin Lakes Reservoir and Canal Company. The study was done by Summit Economics LLC and The Adams Group Inc., headed by Tucker Hart Adams, a former regional economist for U.S. Bank. Both companies are based in Colorado Springs…

For every acre foot of water withdrawn, the Front Range generates $132,000 in sales of goods and services. This is 11 times more than the next most productive region, which is the Central Mountains.

More Colorado water coverage here and here.

Arkansas River: Managing the water resources in winter

From The Pueblo Chieftain (Chris Woodka):

With a low snowpack — 75 percent of average statewide — and Lake Pueblo filling rapidly, some are questioning why so much water is being moved from the higher location. Bureau of Reclamation and Southeastern Colorado Water Conservancy District officials say the move is in the best interests of the Fryingpan-Arkansas Project, however. “We’re not willing to risk curtailing Fry-Ark imports,” said Roy Vaughan, Fry-Ark Project manager. “The needs of the project come first.”

A low snowpack this early in the season does not mean the project will yield less water later this spring, he added. “We can see an increase in the yield of 30,000 acre-feet in a month,” Vaughan said. “With the operational changes we’ve made on the West Slope, we can increase the yield (over historic levels) 10-15 percent.”

Water users were stirred up last week at a meeting to discuss flows by a draft of a routine letter from the Department of Natural Resources on the Upper Arkansas River flow management program. Under a voluntary agreement, Reclamation now moves water in the Upper Arkansas during the winter months to improve fish habitat. It also props up flows for rafting during summer months. A five-year extension of the 1990 agreement ends this year, and is expected to be renewed. Moving the water also helps balance the reservoirs in order to make room for imports through the Boustead Tunnel into Turquoise Lake during runoff, primarily in May and June. Along the way, there are several environmental concerns to consider, Vaughan said. The largest, and the reason for creating the program, is to prevent a large slug of water moving down the river at one time. In Lake County, where Turquoise and Twin Lakes are located, there is concern about keeping Turquoise levels high for recreation and flows in Lake Fork Creek, which connects the reservoirs, manageable…

Pueblo Reservoir is nearing its capacity and is about 96 percent full, and filling every day. Right now, it’s storing winter water for downstream irrigators and needs to store even more in order to satisfy needs of ditches like the Bessemer, Catlin and High Line. Ditch companies like the Holbrook, Fort Lyon and Amity have other options and are being encouraged to use them to preserve space in Lake Pueblo, said Division Engineer Steve Witte…

There is also an agreement to leave 100 cubic feet per second (including fish hatchery flows) in the Arkansas River below Pueblo Dam. Finally, the level in Lake Pueblo technically could increase further than the conservation level of 256,949 acre-feet. The dam can actually hold almost 350,000 acre-feet, but must reach the lower level by April 15 to allow for the possibility of flooding upstream. Winter water storage ends March 15. Winter water held over from 2009 must be evacuated from the dam by May 1.

More Fryingpan-Arkansas coverage here.

Pueblo: Fountain Creek greenway park in the planning stages

From The Pueblo Chieftain (Chris Woodka):

[A] project is under way to create a greenway park from the confluence of Fountain Creek and the Arkansas River to Eighth Street. “The access to the greenway is the biggest thing,” Atencio said. “How do we get people from other parts of town to access the greenway from their neighborhoods?”[...]

The other side of the coin is making Fountain Creek a place people want to be, rather than a public nuisance with signs warning people to stay away from the water. The greenway is adjacent to the urban renewal zone. Shanks, whose planning team has been working on the Fountain Creek Corridor Master Plan for two years, has been hired by the City of Pueblo for planning the greenway park. “There is a momentum now that was not there in the past on Fountain Creek to push to improve, restore and protect Fountain Creek,” Shanks said.

While $600,000 has been spent on the corridor project, and another $400,000 is planned in the next two years, the real effect of the effort so far has been to identify $7.8 million in resources to work on Fountain Creek erosion and water quality issues, Shanks said. The planning dollars have come through an intergovernmental agreement among Colorado Springs Utilities, the Lower Arkansas Valley Water Conservancy District and the Fountain Creek Watershed Flood Control and Greenway District. More fund-raising efforts have been undertaken by the Fountain Creek Fountain, led by Pueblo native David Struthers, a Denver lawyer. Through Saturday’s meeting, and others like it in months to come, Shanks wants to form a vision for the greenway park in Pueblo that combines safety, creating a gathering place for the community, trails, picnic grounds, wildlife viewing and more.

More Fountain Creek coverage here and here.

Energy policy — nuclear: Uranium Processing Accountability Act cleanup bill to be introduced in the Colorado legislature

Update: More coverage from the Fox21.com (Christina Salvo):

This new legislation wants to make sure taxpayers are no longer the ones left on the hook for cleaning up toxic messes if a uranium facility goes belly up…the bill would also require operators to amend their operating license before accepting new sources of “alternate feed” such as radioactive, toxic waste from other industrial or medical operations with recoverable minerals…

Environment Colorado and CCAT with support from the nonprofit law firms Western Mining Action Project and Energy Minerals Law Center brought forward the legislative idea to Rep. Buffie McFadyen in response to Cotter’s announcement last year of plans to reopen in 2014 and the proposal by Energy Fuels for a uranium facility in Montrose County.

More than thirty organizations and businesses in Fremont County and more than fifty organizations and businesses across the state have endorsed the legislation.

Many are pressing for nuclear energy as one tool to help combat the effects of climate change. Here’s a report on legislation designed to make sure that Colorado’s mill operators clean up after operations wind down. It will be introduced in the coming days in the Colorado legislature. From the article:

Members of Environment Colorado, Colorado Citizens Against Toxic Waste, as well as elected officials and business community members, gathered here Tuesday to talk about the Uranium Processing Accountability Act bill, sponsored by Rep. Buffie McFadyen, D-Pueblo West; Sen. Ken Kester, R-Las Animas and Sen. Bob Bacon, D-Fort Collins…

The bill interests Fremont County Commissioner Mike Stiehl, who said he believes the state health department doesn’t have the tools to enforce cleanup measures that it should have…

The bill … would require companies like Cotter to send letters to people who own contaminated wells to notify them the wells are contaminated…

The bill also would address licensing of alternative feed use like the contaminated soils from Maywood, N.J. Superfund site, which Cotter Corp. tried to get permission to process in 2002. The bill also would put more scrutiny on the bonding process, which estimates costs of cleanup.

More nuclear coverage here and here.

Snowpack news

While there is no such thing as a typical El Niño year there is one pattern that has been common over the years — dry north and wet south — and it is showing up in the snowpack map (pdf) for today. Click on the thumbnail for the full view.

Colorado Springs: Utilities still working on plan to open the south side of Pikes Peak to recreation

Update: More coverage from The Colorado Springs Gazette (R. Scott Rappold):

Monday, the city-owned utility released its long-awaited “concept plan” for public access to the area, which is home to several reservoirs built from 1878 to 1912. A public meeting will be held tonight , and Utilities is taking comments through Feb. 26. Under the proposal, Utilities would not allow camping, ATVs, hunting, rock climbing, fishing in streams or ice-fishing in the south slope watershed…

“This is the conceptual plan. It is not final. This is just what we’re putting out there to get public feedback on,” said Kirsta Scherff-Norris, a Utilities wildlife biologist. The area is mostly pristine, with one road in, and Utilities aims to keep it that way. Under the proposal, Utilities would not allow camping, ATVs, hunting, rock climbing, fishing in streams or ice-fishing in the south slope watershed. The main access would be from a trail head at Mason Reservoir, a half-mile past what is now a locked gate on Forest Service Road 376. The proposal calls for the construction of two trails, a 5.6-mile trail along the west side of Mason Reservoir, to Boehmer Reservoir and back, for foot and equestrian use only, with a parking lot and bathrooms, and a trail from where the national forest trail 667 currently ends to Lake Moraine, for foot, horse and bicycle traffic. The Lake Moraine Trail would also connect with an existing trail that runs to the Cog Railway, but it would not have its own trail head, meaning long approaches would be required to reach the lake. A picnic area would be built at McReynolds Reservoir, and non-motorized boats would be allowed in the reservoir.

From KKTV.com (Lauri Martin):

The area provides 20 percent of the city’s drinking water. Parts of the 9,000 acres, that include several reservoirs, could be open as early as the summer of 2011. “Our biggest concern is balancing what we’re there to do, which is providing drinking water to our customers, as well as provide for recreational opportunities that are appropriate that don’t impact the environment,” says [Kirsta Scherff-Norris with Springs Utilities]…

Springs Utilities says if all goes as planned, they’ll present the final plan to city council by late summer. Council members will have the final say. The big question now is much this will cost and who will pay for it?[...]

Construction could begin in 2011, though officials have not determined how it will be funded. While new trails and expanded uses are possible in the future, for now Utilities is being cautious. “It’s been closed for 100 years and we want to make sure we open it in a responsible way that protects our infrastructure and also the environment,” said Scherff-Norris.

Arkansas River: Contractor turning dirt (well streambed) for Cañon City whitewater park

From the Cañon City Daily Record (Charlotte Burrous):

“The first phase consists of two features,” said Will Colon, WKRP chairman. “One is located between the old Fourth Street bridge that they moved and the new Fourth Street bridge. The other one will be just above the new pedestrian bridge.”[...]

During this phase, the company will place the stones, donated by Siloam Stone and Front Range Aggregate in a pattern along the river bed for kayakers to compete in various contests. “There’s going to be rock features that will be in the channel in the river,” Colon said. “They’ll include beautification of the banks so you can actually come down and sit to watch kayakers. There’s going to be planters and scrubs, donated by Seifert Tree Farm, so it’ll be a rock feature in the middle of the river, which will cause a wave.”

The first time it will be used for a public event will be during the Whitewater Festival from June 25-26, which is a two-day event, filled with music, competitions, games and more…

In December, the city received a $200,000 Greater Outdoors Colorado grant to help create the park, including two separate water features. “It is going to not only be a tourist attraction, but it will also be great for the locals and other people on the Front Range,” Colon said in an earlier interview.

More whitewater coverage here.