HB 10-1188 (Clarify River Outfitter Navigation Right): State Senate morphs bill into a study
March 23, 2010
From The Denver Post (Scott Willoughby):
Before a political end-around coordinated by Senate President Brandon Shaffer and others last Friday, HB 1188, the so-called “River Outfitters Navigation Bill,” had the potential to firmly establish the rights of Colorado’s professional and private boaters to continue floating on rivers that pass through both public and private property. The bill passed in the Senate on Monday, but not before it had been gutted by an amendment effectively reducing it to a privately funded six-month study by the Colorado Water Congress — a group that has already gone on record in opposition to the legislation originally drafted by Rep. Kathleen Curry of Gunnison…
According to Curry, boaters can float through private property without criminal trespass charges if they don’t drop anchor or touch the banks. Boaters lack the same protection for civil trespass complaints. And current law provides no guidance on what to do if a river is blocked by an obstacle such as a fallen tree or, as in the case of the Jackson-Shaw property, a poorly designed bridge.
Above it all, however, Shaw is somehow under the impression that he now owns the river that Russell and others have been floating for decades. “It is my firm opinion any individual or group or company rafting through our private property is committing an act similar to someone walking across your front lawn on a short cut to the grocery store. It may be convenient, but it is nonetheless illegal,” states the letter signed by company president Lewis W. Shaw II. “I encourage you to select counsel who can look freshly at the specific circumstance of private property and rafting in Colorado without merely arranging ideas to confirm a previously espoused opinion.”[...]
Given the vast quantity of private property lining the banks of float-friendly rivers throughout Colorado, Schumacher’s concerns are legitimate. At least one small, underfunded rafting company facing civil trespassing suits already has been put out of business by lawyers representing Shaw and other out-of-state landowners in Colorado — the same lawyers currently sitting on the Colorado Water Congress. Bear in mind that episode occurred shortly after a similar “blue ribbon” panel had been appointed to study the same matter for two years a decade ago. Until the state’s muddled right-to-float laws are clarified on both the civil and criminal sides, others realistically face the same fate…
Contributing to the problem is the antiquated bridge on the Shaw property that becomes dangerously low for boats to pass under when the Taylor runs high. In Shaw’s view, the portage necessary to avoid the hazard constitutes a further violation. Just the same, the developer — who has invested a small fortune in other upgrades — has yet to make good on a promise to replace the bridge and bring it up to code. Amendments allowing short portages around hazardous obstacles in the river and expanding HB 1188′s reach to include private boaters had been approved before last Friday’s tactical death sentence. Those amendments helped establish a solid bill that provided firm legal footing for practices that have been established in Colorado for almost half a century, while the Senate’s final version did nothing more than offer weak politicians an escape clause until the next election.
More HB 10-1188 coverage here.
From the Fort Collins Coloradoan (Bobby Magill):
Even with Friday’s snowstorm, the snowpack for the South Platte River Basin, which includes the Poudre River watershed, is 19 percent below normal, according to Natural Resources Conservation Service, or NRCS, data. That’s right in line with the well-below-normal snowpack in river basins north of Interstate 70, a product of a relatively dry winter.
Today, that all changes. A major snowstorm is targeting the Front Range, with between 3 to 6 inches on the way for the Interstate 25 urban corridor, said Don Day of DayWeather in Cheyenne. The National Weather Service on Monday afternoon issued a winter storm warning for Denver beginning at 3 p.m. today, calling for 5 to 10 inches of snow…
“We’re not on track for a very decent water year because we’re still a fair amount below average,” said Michael A. Gillespie, snow survey supervisor for the NRCS. “If we could repeat last year, in a nutshell, we’d be doing great. There might be some hope for that.” Klaus Wolter, a University of Colorado climate research scientist, said he expects the wet weather pattern to continue through May, though he won’t place any bets on a late spring similar to that of 2009, which produced “crazy” hailstorms and a plethora of cool, wet weather. The storms, he said, are a product of El Nino, which was also one of the main drivers behind last year’s frequent storms. But, Wolter said, it’s unusual to have two El Nino-driven wet springs in a row.
From the Summit County Citizens Voice (Bob Berwyn):
After starting to weaken a bit in late January, this year’s El Niño was revived by a giant Kelvin wave sweeping warm water eastward across the Pacific in February. The surge of tropical water made this El Niño the fifth-strongest on record for this time of year, in a pattern expected to influencing Colorado’s weather for the next few months, according to climate researchers with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association…
Kelvin waves are bumps of warm water in the Pacific that form around Indonesia. They are typically just a few inches high, hundreds of kilometers wide and a few degrees warmer than the surrounding water, according to Bill Patzert, an oceanographer with NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Usually, prevailing easterly trade winds near the equator push sun-warmed water away from the Americas and toward Australia and Indonesia, where the globe’s biggest pool of warm ocean water forms. During El Niño, in a complex atmospheric dance, the trade winds falter, enabling pulses of warm water to slide back to the east. The waves can actually increase the height of tides along west-facing shorelines of North and South America by a few inches, as well as warm the water on those beaches.
From The Fort Morgan Times:
This meeting is designed to provide participants the opportunity to provide input and make recommendations regarding NRCS programs and activities in their communities. The meeting is beneficial for any landowner interested in helping the land. The meeting will run from 1 to 4:30 p.m. March 30 at the Haxtun Community Center, 125 E Wilson St. in Haxtun. “Please do not miss this important opportunity to contribute your input into conservation programs and initiatives that will benefit the resources in the Lower South Platter Watershed,” Loose said. For more information contact [Val Loose, manager of the Morgan Conservation District] at (970) 867-9659, ext. 126.
More South Platte River Basin coverage here.
EPA is toughening standards for tetrachloroethylene, trichloroethylene, acrylamide and epichlorohydrin
March 22, 2010
From the Associated Press via ABCNews.com (Matthew Daly):
In a speech Monday, EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson said the agency is developing stricter regulations for four chemical compounds: tetrachloroethylene, trichloroethylene, acrylamide and epichlorohydrin. All four compounds can cause cancer.
Trichloroethylene, also known as TCE, and tetrachloroethylene are used as industrial solvents and can seep into drinking water from contaminated groundwater or surface water. The other two compounds are impurities that can be introduced into drinking water during the water treatment process.
Jackson said the EPA will issue new rules on TCE and tetrachloroethylene within the next year. Rules for the other two compounds will follow.
Jackson made the comments Monday as she announced a new strategy to better protect public health from contaminants in drinking water. With budgets strained and new threats emerging, the EPA, states and utilities need to foster innovation that can increase cost-effective measures to protect drinking water, Jackson said.
More water treatment coverage here.
From email from the Colorado Water Conservation Board:
The Colorado River Water Availability Study (CRWAS) (pdf) is now available for public review on the CWCB website. There will be a 90 day review period. We value your input; please send your comments to Ray Alvarado.
More Colorado River Basin coverage here.
World Water Day 2010: Clean Water for a Healthy World
March 22, 2010
Update: From the Associated Press via The Durango Herald:
The report, launched Monday to coincide with World Water Day, said an estimated 2 billion tons of waste water — including fertilizer run-off, sewage and industrial waste — is being discharged daily. That waste fuels the spread of disease and damages ecosystems. [Clearing the Waters] (pdf) — the report from the U.N. Environment Program — said that 3.7 percent of all deaths are attributed to water-related diseases, translating into millions of deaths. More than half of the world’s hospital beds are filled by people suffering from water-related illnesses, it said. “If we are not able to manage our waste, then that means more people dying from waterborne diseases,” said Achim Steiner, the U.N. Undersecretary General and executive director of UNEP.
From the UN News Centre:
More people die from unsafe water than from all forms of violence, including war, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said today, calling for better protection and sustainable management of one of the Earth’s most precious resources on the occasion of World Water Day. “These deaths are an affront to our common humanity, and undermine the efforts of many countries to achieve their development potential,” Mr. Ban said in his message for the Day, which this year focuses on “Clean Water for a Healthy World” as its theme. “Our growing population’s need for water for food, raw materials and energy is increasingly competing with nature’s own demands for water to sustain already imperilled ecosystems and the services on which we depend,” he noted. “Day after day, we pour millions of tons of untreated sewage and industrial and agricultural waste into the world’s water systems. Clean water has become scarce and will become even scarcer with the onset of climate change,” added the Secretary-General.
In his message, Mr. Ban highlighted that water is vitally linked to all UN development goals, including maternal and child health and life expectancy, women’s empowerment, food security, sustainable development and climate change adaptation and mitigation.
Today is World Water Day. The United Nations has declared March 22 each year for this celebration and education experience. Here’s a look at some of the events via their mapping tool.
Take some time out today to look at your water footprint and the pollution you may be adding to our waters. Wastewater treatment plants don’t remove everything from effluent, only those that are mandated in their permits. Pollutants spilled onto roadways or into storm drains get to the surface water eventually, without treatment, adding to problems for downstream users.
HB 10-1188 (Clarify River Outfitter Navigation Right): State Senate morphs bill into a study
March 21, 2010
From Steamboat Today (Joel Reichenberger):
Colorado House Bill 1188, which sought to settle the state’s “right to float” laws, was put on hold rather than voted into law in the state Senate. A study was commissioned and isn’t due to be reported until the end of October, ending for now what some view as a perilous threat to landholders’ rights…
“I support it because it clarifies the rules,” he said Friday. “It has always been a contentious issue. For me, this would allow me to float knowing if I do everything I’ve always been doing, respecting landowners and acting in good behavior, that I’m OK, and I’m not doing anything wrong. It could give me some peace of mind that I’m doing everyone OK.”
The status quo is full of gray area, but oftentimes rafters think they are fine crossing through private property as long as they don’t touch the river bottom or the shore. The bill would have hammered that right into stone and would have made allowance for touching the bottom of the river and the bank…
The bill read as a disaster to [Steamboat-based lawyer Michael Holloran] and those who stood against it. “It is like the state saying, ‘We’ve decided we want people to walk through your house,’ like it would open our doors and let them come through,” Holloran said. “It would have a very serious impact on owners, and it is what I consider an egregious taking of private property.”[...]
The long-term effects of such a bill, he said, could be far more devastating than those short-term changes, removing fishing leases as a potential revenue source for farmers and ranchers who make up the fabric of Steamboat.
More HB 10-1188 coverage here.
Moffat County Collection System Project: Boulder County wants deeper study of impacts
March 21, 2010
From the Boulder Daily Camera (Laura Snider):
The document outlining the purpose and impacts of the proposed Gross Reservoir expansion is “inadequate,” and fails to consider the big picture, according to Boulder County’s Board of Commissioners…
“We were surprised by how many things there were that the EIS did not adequately address,” Commissioner Will Toor said. “Fundamentally, in terms of purpose and need, I think that the EIS gives remarkably short shrift to water conservation. We’ve seen in the efforts of the last several years since the drought that there’s an awful lot of potential for significant reduction of per capita water use.” The commissioners also expressed specific concerns over taking more water from the Fraser River and the fact that the EIS does not take into account the cumulative effects of other proposed projects seeking to divert water from the Colorado River watershed. And closer to home, the commissioners are concerned about the flooding of hundreds of acres of high-quality forestland, and the impact of construction trucks on county roads. “We are hopeful that the federal agencies will really require a full explanation of these issues and an adequate analysis,” Toor said, “and if the project does move forward, adequate mitigation.”
Western Resource Advocates, based in Boulder, also expressed concern that the need for the project wasn’t adequately explained and that Denver Water hasn’t fully explored its conservation options. Denver Water does plan to meet half of the water shortfall it projects in 2030 with water conservation measures, and it has a strategy to reduce overall water use in its service area by 22 percent — compared to water use before the 2002 drought — by 2016.
“Denver Water has done a great job of what they’re doing with conservation,” said Drew Beckwith, water policy analyst for Western Resource Advocates in Boulder. “They have a pretty holistic conservation program, but what they’re missing is an outdoor landscape retrofit program for the residential sector.” These types of programs in other arid regions often offer “cash for grass” to incentivize people to plant drought-tolerant native plants in their yards instead of lawns. And in Denver, where 62 percent of residential water goes to outdoor use, that kind of program could make a big difference, Beckwith said. “Conservation is the cheapest, it’s the fastest and it’s the smartest water-supply strategy,” he said.
The Environmental Protection Agency also weighed in on the EIS last week, giving the document an “EO-2 rating,” which means the agency has environmental objections based on “insufficient information.”
More Moffat Collection System Project coverage here.
Windsor: Town is sorting out options for long-term supply
March 21, 2010
From the Windsor Beacon (Ashley Keesis-Wood):
Windsor Engineering Director Dennis Wagner agreed, saying the CBT’s carryover system has allowed the town to manage its water needs. The carryover allows the town to “bank” a certain amount of water to be used the following year. The primary concern, and one that is addressed extensively in the new plan, is that the town’s water portfolio relies heavily on CBT water. “I know we’re in the NISP (North Integrated Supply Project) pool for water shares,” Vazquez said. “I do wonder though, with the delays in that project, whether that’s truly going to be the biggest bang for our buck.”
Vazquez said he felt the Windy Gap [Firming] project, which [will include the Chimney Hollow Reservoir] will be constructed near Carter Lake, would be a better buy. “I’m not saying we should abandon NISP but that we want to look at other options,” he said.
Wagner acknowledged the delays in NISP’s construction. “We definitely should meet with the Windy Gap participants and see about that,” Wagner said.
Windsor Town Manager Kelly Arnold recommended a joint work session between the town board and the Water and Sewer Advisory Board to discuss the next steps moving forward.
More Windsor coverage here.
Snowpack news: Snow water equivalent in some areas of the northern mountains increase with latest storm
March 21, 2010
From the Vail Daily (Edward Stoner):
Just before the storm hit, the snowpack for the Colorado River Basin region of the state, which includes Eagle County, was 76 percent of average. It was 85 percent of average statewide. “It is a little bit (troubling), especially given that we’ve got about two to three weeks of our normal season remaining when we can really accumulate much snow,” said Mike Gillespie, snow survey supervisor for the Natrual Resources Conservation Service…
Municipalities and farmers with more junior water rights may not get all the water they want this year, Gillespie said. The Vail area will need three times average snowfall between now and April 14 to return to normal, Gillespie said. This is the lowest snowpack year in Colorado Basin since the 2002 drought year, he said. But Friday’s storm is a good boost. Eight inches of wet snow would boost the area’s snowpack by 10 percentage points compared to average, he said.
On Fremont Pass, where the Eagle River Water and Sanitation District gets much of its water supply, the snowpack was at 85 percent of average as of Monday.
the northwest part of the state is at just 73 percent of average snowpack, while the Rio Grande Basin in the south is at 108 percent of average.
From the Colorado Daily (Vanessa Miller):
Flakes started flying after midnight Friday, and 12.3 inches of snow had stacked up in Boulder as of 6 p.m. — breaking the previous record of 10.8 inches for the date, according to a local meteorologist…
On March 1, in two locations where snowpack experts measure the weight of water content just below the Continental Divide near Nederland, readings were 81 percent and 59 percent of the long-term averages for that time of year, respectively. Boulder also gauges its water-supply conditions at a “snow pillow” in the same area. As of March 15, the pillow was at 64 percent of the long-term average, [Carol Ellinghouse, Boulder's water resources coordinator] said.
From The Tri-Lakes Tribune (Nicole Chillino):
Several months ago, [Dick Brown] said he became concerned about the state of Colorado’s budget with respect to water due to the loss of severance tax, the largest source of revenue to Colorado Water Conservation Board projects. According to him, severance tax is paid by producers of minerals, mining, oil and gas pay on their operations, with oil and gas paying about 90 percent of the total tax revenue received. In large part as a result of the loss of oil and gas production on the Western Slope, revenues from the severance tax have dropped off, he said. Brown added that he and Gary Barber came up with a fee on containers of non-alcoholic beverages to fill in the gap created by the loss of revenue to go toward the state water conservation board, the state engineer and toward projects for municipal and agricultural water use. “The real common denominator in a lot of the things that we want is the sale and production of non-alcoholic beverages that are basically water; they’re flavored water,” he said…
The Colorado Water Congress has appointed a subcommittee to evaluate the state budget, Brown said. It is his plan to introduce the idea to the subcommittee in the anticipation of putting it on the November ballot. It could take another year or two before it appears on the ballot, he said, but he and Barber thought it necessary to get people thinking about a solution to help finance a long-term water supply.
More infrastructure coverage here.
Energy policy — nuclear: Piñon Ridge mill could be operating by 2012 according to Energy Fuels’ president
March 21, 2010
From The Grand Junction Daily Sentinel (Gary Harmon):
“Uranium is back in favor,” Glasier told the Colorado Plateau Section of the Society of Mining, Metallurgy and Exploration Inc.
Energy Fuels’ Piñon Ridge mill in the west end of Montrose County is being evaluated by the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment. Energy Fuels also is looking to establish long-term contracts that will help it to establish the revenue stream needed to gain financing for the mill, Glasier said. Energy Fuels has put $10 million into the project so far and has yet to turn dirt on the mill, which will be permitted at first to process 500 tons per day of ore. Eventually it will process 1,000 pounds per day, Glasier said.
Uranium now is about $40 per pound on the spot market, but it was $138 per pound a little more than two years ago, he said. The relatively low price could change quickly, in 2013, when the United States no longer can use uranium taken from the former Soviet Union’s warheads to power the nuclear-generation stations in the U.S., Glasier said. Largely as a result of using uranium from sources such as Russia, uranium production has fallen sharply in the United States, but it will go up when stockpiles no longer exist, Glasier said.
The Piñon Ridge mill would be the nation’s second operating mill. The White Mesa mill near Blanding, Utah, is the nation’s only operating mill.
Energy policy — nuclear: HB 10-1348 (Increase Oversight Radioactive Materials) passes out of House Transportation and Energy Committee
March 21, 2010
From the Cañon City Daily Record (Rachel Alexander):
“We had amazing bipartisan support,” said Matt Garrington, of Environment Colorado, one of the groups that developed the bill. The bill also was developed by Colorado Citizens Against ToxicWaste. It is sponsored by Rep. Buffie McFadyen and Sen. Ken Kester.
Among those who testified for the bill were Fremont County Commissioner Mike Stiehl, CCAT co-founder Sharyn Cunningham and Gloria Stultz.
The bill now will go to the full House for debate and a vote. If it passes there it will go to the Senate committee.
More 2010 Colorado legislation coverage here. More nuclear coverage here and here.
From The Pueblo Chieftain (Matt Hildner):
Ray Wright, 56, and Doug Shriver, 54, both farmers in eastern Rio Grande County, were clearing the roof of Wright’s cabin when more than two feet of snow on top of the building gave way. “It buried them like an avalanche,” said Mineral County Coroner Charles Downing, who pronounced the men dead at the scene, roughly 17 miles west of town.
Their deaths leave an absence at the top of the valley’s water community.
Wright served as president of the Rio Grande Water Conservation District and as a member of the Interbasin Compact Committee, a statewide board tasked with balancing the state’s water needs. He had also served two terms on the Colorado Water Conservation Board.
Shriver was on the Colorado Ground Water Commission and served as president of the Rio Grande Water Users Association, an umbrella organization for ditch companies along the Rio Grande.
R.I.P. Stewart L. Udall
March 21, 2010
From The Aspen Times (Barry Massey):
Stewart Udall, an elder in a famed political family who led the Interior Department as it promoted an expansion of public lands and helped win passage of major environmental laws, has died at the age of 90. During his 1961-1968 tenure as interior secretary, Udall sowed the seeds of the modern environmental movement. He later became a crusader for victims of radiation exposure from the government’s Cold War nuclear programs…
Udall, brother of the late 15-term congressman Morris Udall, served six years in Congress as a Democrat from Arizona, and then headed the Interior Department from 1961 through 1968 under Presidents Kennedy and Johnson…
Udall helped write several of the most far-reaching pieces of legislation, including the Wilderness Act of 1964, which protects millions of acres from logging, mining and other development. “I never lost an argument with the budget people under either Kennedy or Johnson. If you had a new national park or a new policy on wilderness or something on wild rivers … they’d say, ‘Go ahead. It’s a good idea,’” Udall once said in an interview.
More than 60 additions were made to the National Park system during the Udall years, including Canyonlands National Park in Utah, North Cascades National Park in Washington, Redwood National Park in California and the Appalachian National Scenic Trail stretching from Georgia to Maine…
In a 1963 book, Udall warned of a “quiet conservation crisis” from pollution, overuse of natural resources and dwindling open spaces. He appealed for a new “land conscience” to preserve the environment. “If in our haste to ‘progress,’ the economics of ecology are disregarded by citizens and policy makers alike, the result will be an ugly America,” Udall wrote. “We cannot afford an America where expedience tramples upon esthetics and development decisions are made with an eye only on the present.”
After leaving government service, Udall taught, practiced law and wrote books. In 1979, he left Washington to return home to Arizona. In doing so, Udall began another career — leading a legal battle against the government he had once served as an influential insider. Udall helped bring a lawsuit against the government on behalf of the families of Navajo men who suffered lung cancer in mining uranium for the government. Another lawsuit sought compensation for people who lived downwind from aboveground nuclear tests in Nevada during the 1950s and early 1960s. The lawsuits failed in court, and Udall said the experience left him angry and discouraged. “The atomic weapons race and the secrecy surrounding it crushed American democracy,” Udall said in a 1993 interview with The New York Times. “It induced us to conduct government according to lies. It distorted justice. It undermined American morality.” But the lawsuits eventually produced results. They provided a mountain of evidence for congressional investigations into the safety of the nation’s nuclear weapons complex. And in 1990, the Radiation Exposure Safety Act was enacted to compensate thousands of Americans. Udall helped write the measure and lobby for its passage.
Udall, born in St. Johns, Ariz., on Jan. 31, 1920, was raised on a farm in the desert country near the Arizona-New Mexico line, an area settled in 1879 by Mormons led by his missionary grandfather. The Udalls became one of the most prominent families in the state.
More coverage from the Colorado Independent (Scot Kersgaard). From the article:
During his eight years as Secretary, the National Park System expanded to include four new national parks, six new national monuments, eight seashores and lakeshores, nine recreation areas, 20 historic sites, and 56 wildlife refuges. In other words, Udall expanded the number of stunning natural places where you can spend weeks pulling fish out of rivers or just strolling around and thinking and breathing without ever catching a an industrial-life rash.
More coverage from the Arizona Daily Star (Jamar Younger):
Some of the accomplishments from Udall’s Cabinet career included the creation of the Wilderness Act of 1964, The Wild and Scenic Rivers Act and the expansion of the National Park system. He also helped create The Land and Conservation Fund…
Udall started as a Tucson attorney who fought to desegregate the city’s schools, open UA eating facilities to blacks and help pass a law banning discrimination against minorities in hiring. In 1968, he and his brother pushed through a bill creating the Central Arizona Project, which was signed by President Johnson. As a private attorney in the 1970s and ’80s, he won a 30-year battle to get Navajo uranium miners compensated for lung cancer incurred on the job. He also wrote “The Quiet Crisis” in 1963, a landmark book offering an early warning on threats to the environment.
From email from the Colorado Water Conservation Board (Ben Wade):
A Joint Meeting of the Water Availability & Flood Task Forces is scheduled for Thursday, March 25, 2010 from 9:30a-12p at the Colorado Division of Wildlife Headquarters, 6060 Broadway, Denver, CO, in the Bighorn Room. A meeting agenda has been attached and will be posted on the WATF and Flood Task Force web pages.
In the event you are unable to attend in person, but still wish to participate, please contact Ben Wade at ben.wade@state.co.us NO LATER than 4pm on Wednesday, March 24 to get call in and webinar information. This will allow you to hear as well as see the presentations live. An email will be sent prior to the meeting that will have the link to the online meeting and the number to call. Please note that we will have limited phone capabilities and the conference call service will be offered on a first come first serve basis.
More CWCB coverage here.
Energy policy — coal: Mercury emissions from coal-fired power plants rise recently across the U.S.
March 21, 2010
From The Denver Post (Renee Schoof):
Many coal- fired power plants lack widely available pollution controls for the highly toxic metal mercury, and mercury emissions recently increased at more than half of the country’s 50 largest mercury-emitting power plants, according to a report released Wednesday. Five of the 10 plants with the highest amount of mercury emitted are in Texas, according to the nonpartisan Environmental Integrity Project. Plants in Georgia, Missouri, Alabama, Pennsylvania and Michigan also are in the top 10. The report, which used the most recent data available from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, found that mercury emissions increased at 27 of the top 50 plants from 2007 to 2008. Overall, power- plant emissions of mercury decreased 4.7 percent in that period, but that amount was far less than what would be possible with available emissions controls, the report said. No Colorado plants were among the top 50 cited.
From the Glenwood Springs Post Independent (John Gardner):
City Council unanimously approved the award of the wastewater treatment plant bid Thursday night at its regular scheduled meeting. Council awarded the contract to Salida-based Moltz Construction at a low bid of $22.3 million…Now the city just has to close on the financing agreement with the Colorado Water Resource and Power Development Authority, which is expected to occur in May.
More wastewater coverage here.
Energy policy — oil and gas: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to pony up $1.9 million to study frac’ing
March 21, 2010
Update: Here’s the release from the EPA:
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced that it will conduct a comprehensive research study to investigate the potential adverse impact that hydraulic fracturing may have on water quality and public health. Natural gas plays a key role in our nation’s clean energy future and the process known as hydraulic fracturing is one way of accessing that vital resource. There are concerns that hydraulic fracturing may impact ground water and surface water quality in ways that threaten human health and the environment. To address these concerns and strengthen our clean energy future and in response to language inserted into the fiscal year 2010 Appropriations Act, EPA is re-allocating $1.9 million for this comprehensive, peer-reviewed study for FY10 and requesting funding for FY11 in the president’s budget proposal.
“Our research will be designed to answer questions about the potential impact of hydraulic fracturing on human health and the environment,” said Dr. Paul T. Anastas, assistant administrator for EPA’s Office of Research and Development. “The study will be conducted through a transparent, peer-reviewed process, with significant stakeholder input.”
EPA is in the very early stages of designing a hydraulic fracturing research program. The agency is proposing the process begin with (1) defining research questions and identifying data gaps; (2) conducting a robust process for stakeholder input and research prioritization; (3) with this input, developing a detailed study design that will undergo external peer-review, leading to (4) implementing the planned research studies.
To support this initial planning phase and guide the development of the study plan, the agency is seeking suggestions and comments from the EPA Science Advisory Board (SAB)—an independent, external federal advisory committee. The agency has requested that the Environmental Engineering Committee (EEC) of the SAB evaluate and provide advice on EPA’s proposed approach. The agency will use this advice and extensive stakeholder input to guide the design of the study.
Hydraulic fracturing is a process that drills vertical and horizontal cracks underground that help withdraw gas, or oil, from coalbeds, shale and other geological formations. While each site is unique, in general, the process involves vertical and horizontal drilling, taking water from the ground, injecting fracturing fluids and sands into the formation, and withdrawing gas and separating and managing the leftover waters.
A federal register notice was issued March 18, announcing a SAB meeting April 7-8.
More information on hydraulic fracturing: http://www.epa.gov/ogwdw000/uic/wells_hydrofrac.html
More information on the SAB and the supporting documents: http://www.epa.gov/sab
From the Glenwood Springs Post Independent (John Colson):
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced on Thursday that it is launching a probe into whether the procedure, known as hydraulic fracturing or “frac’ing,” is contaminating aquifers that supply drinking water. The study, expected to be finished by 2012, is to examine the industry’s effect on groundwater, surface water, human health and the environment generally…
“Our research will be designed to answer questions about the potential impact of hydraulic fracturing on human health and the environment,” said Dr. Paul T. Anastas, assistant administrator for EPA’s Office of Research and Development. “The study will be conducted through a transparent, peer-reviewed process, with significant stakeholder input.”[...]
The industry has long maintained that in the 60 or so years since the practice became common, there has not been a single documented case of water contamination attributed to the procedure. Critics of the industry, however, say no cases have been found because no one looked very hard, and because the practice has been exempted from the national Safe Drinking Water Act since 2005. The exemption came at about the same time that new techniques in drilling and frac’ing, as well as rising prices for natural gas, lead to a significant increase in drilling activity around the U.S., including Western Colorado.
The industry also has long maintained that the chemicals used in the formulation of “frac’ing fluids” are not actually secret, and that they are available on various websites, including the site maintained by the Garfield County Oil & Gas Liaison office (www.garfield-county.com, under “County Departments”). Industry critics, however, have been skeptical of that claim, arguing that the lists that are publicly available are not actually complete.
In Garfield County, Ron Galterio of the Battlement Concerned Citizens group called the announcement “welcome news” in light of the BCC’s “great concern about the hydraulic fracturing process, the many unknown and toxic chemicals used, and the long-term effects on ground water.”[...]
“Many opponents of hydraulic fracturing in Western Colorado suffer from 90/10 syndrome: 90 percent of their information is usually less than 10 percent accurate,” said David Ludlam of the West Slope Colorado Oil and Gas Association. “As a result,” he continued, “[we] look forward to working with the EPA demonstrating that technological breakthroughs in hydraulic fracturing can continue to be safely applied as Western Colorado develops its tremendous natural gas reserves. An EPA data-driven analysis that results in fact-based decision-making; it might just be the inoculation our industry needs against an ongoing plague of misinformation.”
Colorado Trout Unlimited Annual Auction and Gala
March 20, 2010
Every now and then it’s good for the soul to hobnob with a crowd that supports healthy trout waters and riparian areas. That was the common hook for the crowd at Trout Unlimited’s bash last night at the Arvada Center.
It was a hoot.
A TU member from the Wet Mountain Valley told me, “I moved to the Wet Mountain Valley after living under the Redwoods all my life. Now I have 324 days of sunshine per year and miles and miles of trout streams nearby.”
Miles and miles of trout streams indeed.
From The Yuma Pioneer (Bethleen McCall-Griffiths):
The target area for restoration is southern Washington and Yuma counties, and northern Kit Carson County. In 2002 the YCPCD, USGS and the Tamarisk Coalition mapped the Russian Olive infestation on the North and South Fork of the Republican.
On the North Fork they found that approximately 351 acres were infested. The South Fork had roughly 2,900 acres. A grad student will monitor vegetation return rates and aquatic insects. A total of 283 acres were treated on the North Fork last year.
The YCPCD has developed a comprehensive restoration plan. The restoration steps planned for acreages enrolled to restore the river include planning, control work, bio-mass reduction, re-vegetation, long term monitoring and maintenance. Currently YCPCD has raised roughly $253,000 through grants and other sources. The district also has applications for more than $750,000 still pending. The current program, which is open for enrollment, covers 75 percent of the cost, and the landowner matches that with the remaining twenty-five percent.
Pikes Peak Area Council of Governments green light lift station project for Wakonda Hills
March 20, 2010
From The Tri-Lakes Tribune (Nicole Chillino):
The lift stations will pump wastewater to the Tri-Lakes wastewater treatment facility, according to information from the council. One station will be located south of Hunters Glen Road and the other will be located at the south end of Crestwood Drive. The homes in the area are on septic systems presently, but there is a state requirement that homeowners go on the central sewage system if there is a central wastewater line within 400 feet of their property, said Rich Muzzy, environmental program manager for the council.
Mike Wicklund, manager of the Monument Sanitation District, said the property owners can hook up when they want to. If a homeowner’s septic system is working properly, the owner does not have to hook into the central sewer line. “If their septic system fails the El Paso County Health Department will compel them to hook up,” he said.
More wastewater coverage here.
From The Tri-Lakes Tribune (Nicole Chillino):
Woodmoor district manager Jessie Shaffer wrote a letter addressed to the authority suggesting the district stay out of the negotiations with the ditch due to a possible conflict with a recent filing for an exchange plan for water in the Lower Arkansas Valley. The letter was written under the direction of the water and sanitation district’s governing board, said assistant district manager Randy Gillette. “They have given us direction that we don’t have to be involved with these negotiations,” Gillette said. “We do want to be a part of the Super Ditch concept […] but it’s always been stated, at least what I’ve heard, is that individual contracts are going to be the bottom line.” In exchange for stepping away from the issue, the water purveyor also wanted to be excluded from the costs associated with the authority’s negotiations with the Super Ditch.
HB 10-1188 (Clarify River Outfitter Navigation Right): State Senate changes bill to a study
March 20, 2010
From The Durango Herald (Joe Hanel):
Technically, the bill is still alive, but all it does now is ask the Colorado Water Congress to study the issue by Oct. 1. The Water Congress is a private group made up of people interested in water. It is the most prominent water lobbying group in Colorado. Seven Democratic senators, including Bruce Whitehead of Hesperus, voted for a plan by Sen. Al White, R-Hayden, to turn the bill into a study Friday morning in the Senate…
[State Senator Mary Hodge] opposed White’s move to do a study. A previous study led by the Department of Natural Resources began in 2000. It took three years and left the issue unresolved. “A study gets us nowhere,” Hodge said.
Only one Republican, Sen. Greg Brophy of Wray, sided with Hodge. Brophy argued against “another blue-ribbon study instead of solving real problems for people in Colorado.” Brophy said the Water Congress should not handle this issue because anyone who pays for a membership can join. “It’s pay to play,” he said.
Whitehead defended the Water Congress as an established group with a good reputation. “I think they would be open to anybody sitting at the table trying to sort out the mess that this bill has created,” he said…
Doug Kemper, executive director of the Colorado Water Congress, was in Washington, D.C., on Friday and did not know the Senate handed responsibility for the study to his group. “It’s one of those things – if you don’t attend a meeting, you get put in charge,” Kemper said in a phone interview…
Rep. Kathleen Curry, U-Gunnison, introduced HB 1188 after a developer in her district closed a stretch of the Taylor River to rafting companies. She said Friday if the study passes the Senate, she will risk killing the bill by sticking to her original position.
More coverage from Charles Ashby writing for The Grand Junction Daily Sentinel. From the article:
House Bill 1188, introduced by unaffiliated Rep. Kathleen Curry of Gunnison, instead was converted into a study that is to be done by a non-governmental group that primarily focuses on agriculture and municipal water use, not recreation or tourism. The Senate still must formally vote on the bill, which could happen as early as Monday, giving Curry and its Senate sponsor, Sen. Mary Hodge, D-Brighton, the weekend to get the votes they need to change it back into its original form…
“There are problems with the bill … in regards to water rights development in the future,” Whitehead said. “The way the bill is currently drafted, it could prohibit future appropriations on these rivers that will be our future supplies in this state.”
More coverage from The Pulse- of Colorado Farm Bureau (Garin Vorthmann):
The CWC is directed to study the issue, taking into account the “legal, economic, environmental and law enforcement issues related to boating through private property.” The amended version of the bill has one more vote to go through in the Senate then it will be sent back to the House. At that time, the House must decide whether to accept the Senate version of the bill. If they do, the bill will be sent to the Governor. If the House does not accept the updated version, the bill may be sent to a conference committee for additional debate.
More coverage from The Mountain Mail (Audrey Gilpin):
Terry Scanga, general manager of the Upper Arkansas Water Conservancy District, said, “These 11th hour amendments [added last Monday in committee] could directly impact water rights.” He referenced an amended landowner liability section of the bill in which a waterway obstruction doesn’t include “in the least restrictive manner necessary” the following structures: diversions, storage, any fence reasonably necessary for livestock, any existing bridge or any fish habitat. Scanga said “necessary” waterway obstruction is unclear. “This could have an impact on water rights if a landowner can’t divert water to get the full decree. “Sometimes a landowner needs to dam an entire stream to get his full decree.”
Before the amendments Monday, the bill stated, “Nothing in this article shall be construed to create a water right or affect any existing water right in any way.” Scanga said because the bill didn’t involve water rights, the district didn’t take a position. He said he’s asking the district water attorney to draft a memo for the board, and members will determine if the district should become involved. “They snuck amendments into the bill that have nothing to do with its purpose,” he said.
Tim Canterbury, president of the Colorado Cattlemen’s Association, echoed Scanga. “A paramount concern to the association is that the bill, as amended Monday, doesn’t protect senior water rights,” he said. Worried about the minimum obstruction to waterway language of the bill, Canterbury said, “Often, during low water, we have to extend our fence into the river to keep livestock contained. If fences are cut, that’s bad for our business.” He said, “The bill’s never been about a right to navigate or float. Frankly, it’s about the right to trespass.”[...]
Greg Felt, co-owner of ArkAnglers and also a water district board member, said the bill could be less controversial if historically run rivers were listed. “Most commercially run rivers are permitted by state and federal agencies. The master list should consist of about 17 or so rivers. Rivers we’ve all heard of.” Small, rarely run creeks, non-commercially run rivers or future floatable rivers, Felt said, aren’t included in the bill. “Boaters aren’t going to be cutting fences or destroying diversion structures. Boaters are about forward progress. We’re about floating.” Felt mentioned local diversions boaters sometimes portage including a dam near Clear Creek, an area below the Royal Gorge during low flow and a diversion dam at the Division of Wildlife Mount Shavano fish hatchery. “We’re talking about the same rivers and diversions we’ve dealt with before,” he said.
Additional major amendments include omitting reference to English Common Law in connection with navigation rights. Other changes omitted “portage,” replacing it with “incidental contact;” clarifying waterway as a “segment of river on which one or more regulated trips have been run in any year from 2000 through 2009″ and extending the bill to private boaters.
More 2010 Colorado legislation coverage here.
Energy policy — nuclear: Supporters of HB 10-1348 (Increase Oversight Radioactive Materials) rally in Denver
March 20, 2010
From the Colorado Independent (David O. Williams):
Proponents of the comparatively carbon-free nuclear power industry, including Colorado Sen. Mark Udall, maintain the state’s toxic past was born of ignorance about the dangers and new technology makes mining and processing much safer. State lawmakers clearly want more concrete assurances. “Our number one goal as a legislature should be public safety,” Rep. McFadyen said in a release. “This no nonsense legislation ensures toxic waste cleanup and the health of our citizens.”
HB 1348 would require uranium operators to clean up existing problems before applying for expansion permits; allow local governments, the public and other stakeholders to provide input during the Colorado Department of Putlic Health and Environment’s annual reviews of cleanup financing; require uranium companies to notify residents with water wells near groundwater contamination; and require state licensing when companies accept “alternate feed,” or toxic waste from industrial or medical operations.
“Actions have consequences, and uranium companies need to clean up their mess,” said Sen. Ken Kester, R-Las Animas, another sponsor of the bill.
More coverage from The Grand Junction Daily Sentinel (Charles Ashby):
Though the measure could affect one operating near Canon City, the planned Piñon Ridge mill 12 miles west of Naturita already would be required under existing laws to do much of what House Bill 1348 calls for, said George Glasier, president and CEO of Energy Fuels Inc., which is hoping to open the first uranium mill in the nation in 25 years.
Glasier said the measure, introduced by several southern Colorado lawmakers, is aimed at the Cotter Uranium Mill in Fremont County, which has been plagued with contamination problems since the late 1950s. The lawmakers said they introduced the measure to deal with long-standing concerns over cleanup of that mill, parts of which already are a federal Superfund cleanup site. The bill is aimed at existing mills that release radioactive material into the groundwater, requiring them not only to report how it is being cleaned up, but also ensuring they have set aside enough cash to pay for it, said Rep. Buffie McFadyen, D-Pueblo West, and the bill’s sponsor. It would bar mills from expanding operations until the contamination is removed, she said…
The bill would make it harder for Cotter to get the site cleaned and make it impossible for other sites, including ones not yet opened, to stay in business, [John Hamrick, Cotter’s vice president of milling] said. “The bill as written essentially will prevent uranium milling within the state because of language concerning release of materials,” Hamrick said. “If you have a shovel full of uranium ore and you dump it on the ground, at that point you have a release that would exceed standards. That’s a poison pill for uranium mills.”
More 2010 Colorado legislation coverage here. More nuclear coverage here and here.
