Pueblo: Fountain Creek foundation public meeting recap



From The Pueblo Chieftain (Chris Woodka):

The meeting attracted about 40 people, even a few children and teens, to discuss how recreational opportunities could be expanded. Under a $75,000 Great Outdoors Colorado grant, Pueblo and numerous other partners are developing the plan with the guidance of the Fountain Creek Foundation and THK Associates, consultants for the project.

More Fountain Creek coverage here and here.

Colorado Springs area waterfalls



Here’s an article celebrating four Colorado Springs area waterfalls, from R. Scott Rappold writing for The Colorado Springs Gazette. From the article:

“Small, straight, new, treeless,” [writer Helen Hunt Jackson] said of the young city in 1878, after coming here in search of a healthier climate than 19th-century big-city life offered.

“One might die of such a place alone,” she remarked bitterly. “Death by disease would be more natural.”

But she came to love Colorado Springs, in large part because of her frequent visits to rugged Cheyenne Cañon, beyond the jagged pinnacles of rock, to where glistening waterfalls rush down like gifts from the mountains. The falls today bear her name, and have been a popular spot since the canyon became a city park 125 years ago.

More Arkansas Basin coverage here.

Rocky Mountain National Park officials embarking on restoration project near the Grand Ditch



From the Fort Collins Coloradoan (Bobby Magill):

…after the settlement of a years-long federal lawsuit against the ditch company, Fort Collins-based Water Storage and Supply Co., and plenty of study, the Park Service is beginning a two-year process of creating a plan to restore the area damaged by the breach. The plan, which will be outlined in an environmental impact study of possible ways to restore the area, will take two years to complete. The project itself will continue for up to three years after that. Park officials are looking for the public’s ideas for how to restore the area, keeping in mind that the project might use heavy equipment and helicopters inside a federally designated wilderness area where motorized equipment is otherwise prohibited. The point of the project is to balance ecosystem restoration against the project’s short-term impact from the possible use of earthmoving equipment in a wilderness area, said Paul McLaughlin, Grand Ditch Breach restoration coordinator for Rocky Mountain National Park.

More Grand Ditch coverage here and here.

Front Range Water Council economic study fails to impress west slope water wonks



From The Grand Junction Daily Sentinel (Gary Harmon):

The reaction was harsh enough that a representative of Denver Water, one of the agencies that sought the study, said it seemed instead to undermine the main point the Front Range Water Council sought to illustrate: the interdependence of various regions in Colorado. The interdependence was “diluted” in the report, Greg Fisher, Denver Water’s manager of demand planning, said at the meeting of the Mesa County Water Association, which drew about 60 people.

Mesa County rancher Carlyle Currier said it was inflammatory, and Club 20 Executive Director Reeves Brown called the conclusion that the Front Range generates $132,000 from an acre of water compared to $7,200 on the West Slope “unnecessarily provocative.” “It exacerbates existing feelings” of distrust of the Front Range, Jim Spehar, a former Grand Junction mayor and Mesa County commissioner, said of the report. “What was your point? I think you shot yourself in the foot.”

The idea, [Greg Fisher, Denver Water’s manager of demand planning] said, was to show a different perspective than the way water issues are usually framed by suggesting that Colorado’s other regions — the eastern plains, San Luis Valley and central mountains, as well as the Front Range — benefit from a thriving Front Range economy…

Economist Paul Rochette of Summit Economics and the Adams Group, said the study was limited by the characterizations of available data, such as the economic value of feedlots in Greeley and wine sales in Denver that depend on Western Slope agriculture. “It can be very easy for one area to get credit for the foundational value of something made in another region,” Rochette said.

Here’s the Coyote Gulch coverage of the report.

Snowpack news: Slow start to the runoff season



From The Pueblo Chieftain (Chris Woodka):

… the southwest corner of the state, Gunnison and Rio Grande basins have fallen far below average after an early runoff, dust and winds battered a hefty snowpack left by storms in the winter months. “That doesn’t mean there is lots more water in the state,” said Nolan Doesken, state climatologist. “There’s been some increase, but it’s mostly been a shutoff of snowmelt.”

The plains are still soaked from weekend storms, and the snow that fell in the mountains has added to the snowpack. More rain and snow are forecast for later in the week. As El Nino has weakened, the storms have been hitting further north. The snow in the southwestern areas of the state melted early, according to Snotel sites maintained by the Natural Resources Conservation Service. Streamflows throughout that region are now at or below normal. In the Colorado River basin, streamflows have fallen far below normal, showing that a runoff that occurred in April has stopped, with colder temperatures holding snow longer in the high country. In the South Platte River basin, streamflows were well above average Monday because of the heavy rainfall over the weekend. The Arkansas River basin has seen above-average precipitation so far this year — Pueblo has seen 4.35 inches, about 20 percent above normal — but river flows and snowpack are both in the average range.

From the Aspen Daily News (David Frey):

The spring storms helped boost the snowpack in the mountains and slowed spring runoff, Kanzer said, keeping more moisture in storage as snow. “Snowpack is our greatest reservoir,” Kanzer said, speaking to a group of about 20 people at a State of the River presentation at the El Jebel community center. Forecasters expect local stream flows to be 70-90 percent of average. The Roaring Fork is predicted to be 82 percent of average at the mouth in Glenwood Springs. Ruedi Reservoir above Basalt is expected to fill, at least for a few weeks, this summer.

U.S. House Subcommittee on Water and Power hearing recap



From The Greeley Tribune (Bill Jackson):

The formal hearing last more than two hours and was chaired by Rep. Grace Napolitano, D-Calif., who said the meeting was brought to Greeley at the request of Rep. Betsy Markey, D-Colo. Rep. John Salazar, D-Colo., also joined on the congressional side. Two panels were invited to address the formal hearing, one primarily composed of federal, state and local government officials, and another featuring farmers and agricultural and municipal water experts. The purpose of the meeting, Napolitano said, was to look at managing water for the future and how federal, state and local entities are supporting agriculture. For the most part, the answer the politicians got was not very good.

All panel members agreed conservation is part of the puzzle to meeting future water needs of the state, but they said it’s not the only — or even the most important — part. “If Two Forks (pdf) had been built, this hearing today would not have been necessary,” said Bob Sakata, who began farming in Adams and Weld counties 65 years ago…

Sakata was joined by several others on the panels in urging the construction of the Northern Integrated Supply Project, paid for by the 15 municipalities and water and irrigation districts, which is currently undergoing environmental studies. That project, like others planned in the state, is tied up in the federal bureaucracy, several panelists said…

Colorado Commissioner of Agriculture John Stulp and Doug Rademacher, who farms in southwest Weld County and chairs the board of county commissioners, stressed that water is the lifeblood of the state. “Buy out and dry up is not acceptable to our future here in Colorado,” Stulp said, while Rademacher noted that Weld is ranked No. 8 in the nation in terms of receipts for agricultural products. “If you take all the nuts and fruits out of California, we’d be No. 1,” Rademacher said, which got the attention of the two California lawmakers in attendance. Stulp, in response to a question, said agriculture remains either No. 2 or No. 3 in terms of importance to the state’s economy…

Sakata, who farms 3,000 acres of vegetables in the two northern counties, said if more storage is not constructed, future farmers will be impacted. “If something doesn’t get done, my heirs will be forced to sell out or quit,” he said.

More infrastructure coverage here.

Snowpack/runoff news: Cool April to lead to a gangbuster season for whitewater sports?



From The Denver Post (Joey Bunch):

Recent cold and snow have meant a slow start to the snowmelt, as most rivers are running below normal, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. The Roaring Fork River at Glenwood Springs was flowing at 962 cubic feet per second Sunday. The 30- year median for this time of year is 1,930 cfs. Rafters on the Colorado River, however, got an earlier start because of dam releases, said Sandra Winslow, manager at Whitewater Rafting LLC, a 36-year-old business in Glenwood Springs. As a result, the Colorado River was running at 2,200 cfs Sunday, she said. The normal peak of the season is late May, but delayed snowmelt could mean a gangbuster season with the fast stream flow later this month.

From the Summit Daily News (Julie Sutor):

Denver Water, which supplies water to about 1.3 million people in the Denver Metro area, has 10 major reservoirs, including Dillon Reservoir, in its water-storage system. “They’re all going to fill, so that’s good news,” Denver Water’s Bob Steger said.

As of May 15, snowpack in the Upper Colorado River basin, which includes Summit County’s Blue River, was 89 percent of average; year-to-date precipitation in the basin totaled 92 percent of average on Saturday. The Colorado River Basin’s peak snowpack this year was 83 percent of the 1971-2000 average peak. Snowpack in the South Platte basin was 106 percent of average on May 15, and year-to-date precipitation was 91 percent of average, which is good news for Summit County. Denver Water gets about half its water from the South Platte basin, and about a quarter from the Blue River basin. So when the South Platte is dry, the agency draws more water from the Blue, including Dillon Reservoir.

As for the quality of kayaking, rafting and fishing on the Blue River below Dillon Dam, that will depend on the next few months’ weather on both sides of the Continental Divide. If wet weather persists, Steger predicts the Lower Blue will have five to six weeks of good rafting and 14 to 15 weeks of good fishing. If the weather turns dry for the next few months, the Blue River will only be conducive to rafting for one or two weeks. But fishing, which is better at lower flows, will be good for 18 to 19 weeks during late spring and summer…

Denver Water is now conducting research to quantify how dust storms affect the timing of snowmelt and peak river flows and the implications the storms have on its operations. Several dust storms have come through Summit County this spring. Drought and human development are the major causes of dust storms, as disturbances to soil allow it to be picked up more easily by winds.

Boulder: Summit on Nitrogen pollution May 18-20



From the Public News Service (Eric Mack):

Scientists call it the biggest environmental disaster no one’s heard of, and they are gathering this week in Colorado to try to change that. Nitrogen pollution from fertilizers and other sources can be detrimental to both water and air quality, experts say, leading to major health and environmental problems ranging from the onset of Alzheimers to the notorious “dead zones” at the mouth of the Mississippi River. University of Colorado professor Alan Townsend with CU’s Institute of Arctic and Alpine Research says this meeting aims to create the first national nitrogen assessment. “On one hand, we depend on fertilizer to grow our crops, and one of the key ingredients in that fertilizer is nitrogen. On the other hand, in general the world tends to use too much of it and use it too inefficiently.”[...]

Nitrogen pollution has had documented impacts on Colorado’s alpine lakes, and Townsend adds that nitrogen is a key component in those “ozone alert” days that Coloradans are familiar with. “Nitrogen that we end up emitting to the atmosphere through driving cars or running factories or putting fertilizers on fields is one of the key ingredients in making that ozone happen.”[...]

The nitrogen assessment meeting will be held 8 a.m.-5 p.m. May 18-20 at Millennium Harvest House, 1345 28th St., Boulder. More information is available at www.nitrogennews.com.

More water pollution coverage here.

Snowpack/runoff news: McPhee spill looking iffy



From the Cortez Journal (Shannon Livick):

“If there is going to be a spill, it is going to be small and short,” said Mike Preston, general manager of the Dolores Water Conservancy District. The Dolores River peaked at 2,530 cubic feet per second Monday and then dropped to about 1,810 cfs Tuesday along with the cold weather. McPhee Reservoir was at an elevation of 6,917 feet Wednesday. When full, the lake is 6,924 feet. In the 24 hours previous, the lake rose about 8 inches. So if there is a spill, so that rafters and kayakers can enjoy the Lower Dolores, it will be within a week or so, but only if the weather cooperates. “It really depends on the temperature,” Preston said. “And the wind, too.” Wind blows snow up in the air, and the snow evaporates, Preston said. Wind also creates a dust layer over the snow that can make it melt faster…

Preston said he hopes, if there is a spill this year, to be able to give community members 48 hours notice so they can plan any rafting trips accordingly. To keep tabs on this, go to www.doloreswater.com and click on “releases” to the left of the page. If the cool weather continues and irrigation use goes up, there likely won’t be a spill…

Last year, there was a 10-day spill with an average flow of 1,400 cfs. On Wednesday, the Lower Dolores was running at about 60 cfs.

From The Summit County Voice (Bob Berwyn):

[Blue River Basin water commissioner Scott Hummer] said the snowpack at lower elevations is going fast, with automated SNOTEL sites in the Blue River Basin reading 69.5 percent of average basin-wide. Above Dillon Reservoir, the snowpack is about 77 percent of average, but a station at Summit Ranch, in the Lower Blue, is only reading at 4 percent of the historic average. Streamflows in the basin are also below average because of the cool weather, Hummer said, adding that there is very little chance of runoff flooding this year. But as always, flash flooding can become a concern if there is a big rain event while streams are running high. Despite the low snowpack, reservoir storage in Summit County and across the state is higher than average, so Hummer is not expecting any severe shortages this summer. Right now, most of the water from the Blue River Basin is being captured for storage in Dillon Reservoir and Green Mountain Reservoir, which should help bring both the reservoirs up to optimum levels for recreation as the summer boating season approaches…

Ron Thommason, of the federal Bureau of Reclamation, explained how Green Mountain Reservoir fits into the overall water management scenario in Colorado. “When we divert water out of Granby and Willow Creek … we offset the amount with water from Green Mountain Reservoir,” Thommason said, adding that one-third of the water in Green Mountain is set aside for that purpose. Green Mountain was built specifically as a storage bucket to help water managers meet all the diverse needs at the right time, including irrigation and domestic use, and even upstream snowmaking at Summit County’s ski areas. Some of the reservoir’s water is also used to enhance habitat for the Colorado River’s endangered fish in what’s known as the 15-mile reach near Grand Junction, he said…

We’re getting close to where we need to be for me to feel comfortable releasing a little extra water from Green Mountain,” he said. “We’ve got another couple of weeks to see what happens … For the near term, we’re going to be releasing about 100 cubic feet per second from Green Mountain,” he said, adding that outflows will likely be ramped up as runoff increases. “We’re going to plan on filling the reservoir by the end of June. I usually aim for July 4,” he said. After that, a gradual draw-down begins. By the end of the fishing season in late October, the reservoir will have dropped by 45 feet, he concluded…

Denver Water’s Bob Steger said he’s confident that Dillon Reservoir will fill this spring. Six of Denver Water’s 10 major reservoirs are already full, Steger said. “They’re all going to fill, that’s the good news.” Water levels in Dillon Reservoir already are high enough to allow full marina operations as soon as the ice melts, Steger said, adding that it should be great year for flat-water recreation on the reservoir.

Conditions for rafting and kayaking below Dillon Reservoir are still weather-dependent, Steger said. “If things dry out, we’ll start spilling sooner,” he said. If the weather is dry the next few months, there will only be a window of a few weeks with raftable flows in the Lower Blue, he said. If the weather is wet from now on, the rafting season could be extended by several weeks, he said, explaining how Denver Water tries to balance various factors, including optimum flows for fishing, protecting Silverhorne from potential flooding and making sure storage in Dillon Reservoir stays at an optimum level.

Bureau of Reclamation: Rural water program funding opportunity now available



Here’s the release from Reclamation (Peter Soeth):

The Bureau of Reclamation announces the availability of the funding opportunity announcement for the Rural Water Supply Program to assess their potable water supply needs and identify options to address those needs. The grant announcement is available on www.grants.gov using funding opportunity number R10SF80458.

Reclamation will make at least $2 million available for conducting appraisal investigations and feasibility studies through grants and cooperative agreements. For this fiscal year, Reclamation anticipates awarding grants to initiate one or two feasibility studies and five to eight appraisal investigations.

Eligible applicants include states and political subdivisions of states, such as departments, agencies, municipalities, counties, and other regional or local authorities, Indian tribes or tribal organizations, and entities created under state law that have water management or water delivery authority such as irrigation or water districts, canal companies and any combination of the entities listed above.

Reclamation’s work with the selected entities is on a cost-shared basis. For an appraisal study, Reclamation will pay 100-percent up to $200,000 and 50-percent for all costs above that amount. Funding for feasibility studies is cost-shared with Reclamation paying 50-percent of the cost to complete the study. The non-Federal cost-share may be provided in the form of money or in-kind services that Reclamation determines are necessary and reasonable for the conduct and completion of the investigation or study.

A statement of interest is due by May 28, 2010, at 4 P.M. M.D.T., and if it is determined that you meet the eligibility and prioritization criteria, full proposals are due by July 13, 2010, at 4 P.M. M.D.T.

To learn more about Reclamation’s Rural Water Program and this Funding Opportunity Announcement please visit www.usbr.gov/ruralwater.

More Reclamation coverage here.

Beaver numbers are up across the Rockies



From the Glenwood Springs Post Independent (Julie Sutor):

By the mid 1800s, American beavers were on the brink of being wiped out, and their salvation and eventual recovery hinged on the whims of fashion: In the 1840s, silk top hats replaced beaver-felt hat as the must-have headwear. By the 1870s, beaver populations began to slowly rebound in Colorado. However, their return was slowed by mining and agriculture, which infringed on their habitat and diverted and polluted their waters. “Beavers have always had a tough time in Colorado, whether from trapping for their pelts or from development,” said Randy Hampton of the Colorado Division of Wildlife. In the last 50 years, as environmental regulations improved water quality and habitat, beavers at last staged their comeback in the Rockies. “Beavers have responded fairly well, and now they’re found pretty much everywhere around the state where there’s water,” Hampton said.

Beavers are a keystone species, meaning that their presence will dictate the overall health of their ecosystem. Their incessant activity in creating dams along streams and rivers fundamentally alters riparian areas, leading to the formation of pools, ponds, wetlands and meadows, which all serve as habitat for other species, including fish, plantlife, amphibians, deer and other wildlife on up the food chain. Without beavers, fish lose important breeding and spawning areas, as waters run too cold and fast for reproductive activity. That impact to fish then cascades throughout the entire ecosystem. “Beavers do more to shape their landscape than any other mammal except for human beings,” [Alice Outwater] wrote.

More conservation coverage here.

Mesa County: Residential irrigation workshops May 18, May 20 and June 8



From The Grand Junction Daily Sentinel (Curtis Swift):

We will be conducting a workshop on May 18 from 9 to noon at the First Congregational Church at 5th and Kennedy designed to teach you how to identify and correct sprinkler system problems. Low head drainage, spacing of sprinklers, using the correct nozzles, correcting the arc and throw, replacing heads and correcting broken pipes will all be covered. You can register by calling 244-1834. Registering will ensure we have adequate handouts and staff available for the workshop. You can either pay the $5 per person registration fee at the CSU Extension office at the Mesa County Fairgrounds or when you show up at the workshop.

On May 20, we will be doing a workshop at Bill Heddles Recreation Center in Delta for those who want to learn how to properly water their lawns. You will learn how to determine the water pressure at critical locations in your system, and how to determine the proper irrigation schedule for each month of the season for each sprinkler zone in your system. We will conduct an audit of a sprinkler zone so you will know how to audit your own lawn. This session will be held from 1:30 to 3:30 at the Rec Center. Preregister is through the Delta CSU Extension office on Dodge Street – 874-2195. A $5 registration fee is being charged for this session.

An even longer and more in-depth session on how to audit your lawn will be held in Grand Junction on Tuesday, June 8 at the Sagebrush Room at the Mesa County Fairgrounds. We’ll start at 9 a.m., break for lunch between noon and one and continue until 3. If you install sprinklers, work for a municipality, school district, college or other agency and are responsible for sprinkler system maintenance and scheduling or simply want to learn more about how to conduct irrigation audits and develop a watering schedule this is the session you should attend. We will show you how to audit your system to determine water application rate and efficiency and how to use that data so ensure your lawn receives the proper amount of water for each month of the season. We will provide everyone who attends this session a CD containing a program you can use to develop a watering schedule based on an audit. The June 8 session will cost $10 to attend. Please register by calling the CSU Extension office in Grand Junction at 244-1834. Irrigation audit kits will be available for rent at the CSU Extension offices in Grand Junction, Delta and Montrose for those who want to conduct lawn irrigation audits.

If you are interested in learning more about drip irrigation we will be conducting a workshop on this topic at Pioneer Village in Cedaredge on Saturday May 29, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. While this session may not take all this time, I want to ensure we cover everyone’s questions. We will cover the different types of drip tubing and which one should be used based on soil texture. How to determine the water holding capacity of the soil, how much water plants use and how often and how long the system should be run will be covered. We will be testing several different types of drip systems to determine pressure needs, filtration requirements, emitter spacing and flow rates and spacing between drip lines. For our hands-on exercise we will design and install a drip system in one of the flower beds at the village. A $10 per person registration fee is being charged for this session. We will take time out for lunch. You may want to bring your own lunch or eat at one of the local eateries. I would appreciate it if you would register for this session by calling the Delta Extension office at 874-2915. Paying ahead of time is preferred but you can always pay the fee when you arrive at the site.

More Mesa County coverage here.

Gunnison high flow regime through the Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park update



From The Grand Junction Daily Sentinel:

Remember trout have dealt with high water for millennia. They probably don’t like high flows, preferring to minimize energy spent and maximize calories gained, but they still need to eat. The flows wash more feed into the stream, which can make terrestrial insect patterns more effective for fly anglers. The faster water and the debris carried along also tend to dislodge aquatic insects, and on the Gunnison that means tossing a large nymph, especially something resembling a large stonefly nymph, during high water.

More Gunnison River Basin coverage here.

Energy policy — hydroelectric: The San Luis Valley Irrigation District is looking at a hydroelectric retrofit for Rio Grande Reservoir



From The Mineral County Miner:

“We wanted to ask the basic questions first,” Irrigation District Superintendent Travis Smith told the Rio Grande Interbasin Roundtable on Tuesday. He said the results of two previous hydro feasibility studies completed on the reservoir in the last 40 years showed that hydro would not pay for itself without reservoir repair and other changes…

Technical Consultant Kelly DiNatale discussed the hydropower feasibility analysis performed so far. He looked at the potential for generating 500 kilowatts and 2 megawatts . The 500 KW hydro generation would supply enough power for the local area through the existing transmission line while 2 MW would provide for local needs plus power that could be exported via Rural Electric Cooperative, DiNatale said. He said the Rio Grande Reservoir has about 90 feet of net head to work with when it is full (54,000 acre feet), and if 70 cubic feet per second (cfs) were released from the reservoir at that capacity, it would generate 500 kilowatts. Releasing 300 cfs would generate 2.1 megawatts…

To get that kind of flow, the reservoir would need to be full, and the reservoir reach its full capacity without rehabilitation, DiNatale explained. Increasing the amount of water in the reservoir would take cooperation from various entities, he added. For example, the reservoir could store water for the Rio Grande Compact, Division of Wildlife, sub-districts and other groups. Reservoir rehab would cost about $22 million, Smith said. Reservoir rehabilitation would involve construction of a new outlet, enhancement of the spillway and correction of a seepage problem. With another approximately $8 million the rehabilitated reservoir capacity could be expanded by another 10,000 acre feet, according to Smith.

More hydroelectric coverage here and here.

Victor: New water meter installations should be finished by the end of June



From the Pikes Peak Courier (Norma Engeberg):

We have a large number of broken meters in this town and we’re losing a lot of revenue,” said City Clerk Sandy Honeycutt. The new meters will be read using radio signals and utilities workers will be able to drive around and read meters in 45 minutes without getting out of their vehicles. Honeycutt said it used to take workers several days each month to read meters. The meter work is being paid for in large part by a state grant. Work is also continuing on the installation of back-flow preventers for commercial water meters as required by state law. The installers are finishing surveys and will be ordering the types of back-flow preventers needed by each business.

More infrastructure coverage here.

Taylor River: Rafting rift leads to agreement for this season



From the Associated Press (Steven K. Paulson) via the Summit Daily News:

Property owners have declared a temporary truce in a dispute with commercial rafters and will allow rafting on their property this summer. Jackson-Shaw, the company that owns the Wilder on the Taylor fishing reserve, said Friday it will grant the two Taylor River rafting companies, Three Rivers Outfitting and Scenic River Tours, permission to float through its property this summer…

Lewis Shaw, chairman of the company, said it will take time to work out a permanent agreement and he wanted to give rafters a chance to begin their season. “While mediation between Jackson-Shaw and the two Taylor River rafting companies continues, Jackson-Shaw recognizes that Three Rivers and Scenic are at the threshold of their commercial rafting season and that it will take time to finalize any formal agreement. Accordingly, as a show of good faith, Jackson-Shaw has decided to give Three Rivers and Scenic permission to float through Wilder on the Taylor this summer,” Shaw said.

Bob Hamel, chairman of the Colorado River Outfitters Association, said it was a nice gesture but rafters believe they don’t need Shaw’s permission to raft the river. Rafting companies were already going ahead with their new season, he said. “Jackson-Shaw is not entitled to grant permission. The permission is in the Forest Service permit. I think this is premature because we’re still in negotiations,” Hamel said.

Mediation between the two rafting companies and Jackson-Shaw began on April 22 and remains ongoing. Both sides have agreed to keep the details of their negotiations secret. Shaw imposed several conditions, including limits on rafting between May 15 and Aug. 15 if there is sufficient water. The companies will be allowed four trips each day between 9:30 a.m. and 11 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. to 3 p.m. so fishermen can also enjoy their sport. Rafters will be allowed on the property to carry their rafts across a bridge…

Rep. Kathleen Curry, an unaffiliated state representative from Gunnison, said she believes voters will side with rafters, who have exercised their rights to use Colorado rivers for decades and have become a symbol of Colorado’s outdoor life. Eric Anderson, who represents a coalition of property owners, including fishermen who barred rafting this year on their property, said he believes fishermen will win in the court of public opinion because their property rights are being threatened.

More coverage from the Colorado Independent (David O. Williams). From the article:

The company that prompted one of the more hotly contested bills of the legislative session – House Bill 1188 dealing with commercial river rafting – announced Friday it would allow two outfitters to float the Taylor River through its property this summer. Officials for Jackson-Shaw, owner of the Wilder on the Taylor fishing reserve, said they will continue mediation efforts with Three Rivers Outfitting and Scenic River Tours while allowing the two companies to continue navigating the river through the private property…

Jackson-Shaw won’t allow rafters to fish the Taylor through the preserve, but they can portage a bridge (go around on land) as long they are “respectful” of the property, and the boaters must also limit the number of trips and stick to certain times and dates. “We believe that these rules are reasonable and will allow the rafting companies to meet demand, operate profitable businesses, and conduct far more commercial trips through the property this summer than last summer,” Jackson-Shaw Chairman and CEO Lewis Shaw said in a release.

Gov. Bill Ritter Thursday said he will work with landowner groups and the commercial rafting industry to resolve differences and avoid a looming ballot measure on the contentious issue.

More HB 10-1188 coverage here. More 2010 Colorado elections coverage here.

Fountain Creek update



From The Pueblo Chieftain (Chris Woodka):

Under a Great Outdoors Colorado grant, the City of Pueblo, along with several partners, is developing a master plan for redevelopment of the Historic East Side that ties in parks, recreation, community activities, connections to Downtown Pueblo and improvement of Fountain Creek.

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

Pueblo County will consider buying an abandoned railroad bridge on Fountain Creek as an alternative to dredging as a way for Colorado Springs to comply with its permit conditions for the Southern Delivery System. In a work session Wednesday, commissioners heard a proposal recommended by the city of Pueblo and Colorado Springs Utilities to buy and remove the bridge as a more effective way to restore flood capacity to Fountain Creek than dredging. “Every- body ought to realize dredging is a one-time operation that can be short-lived,” said Dennis Maroney, Pueblo stormwater consultant. “After a storm event, you may have to go back and do it over again.”

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

At least eight projects are contemplated along the Fountain in Pueblo County alone, creating both challenges and opportunities, [Gary Barber, interim director of the Fountain Creek Watershed Flood Control and Greenway District] said. Four identified projects are bringing in more than $2 million to Fountain Creek, which others are just taking shape. “I see our role as a district to coordinate activity on Fountain Creek and move things along,” Barber told Pueblo County commissioners this week, as the county tried to sort out who’s doing what along the waterway.

The county is looking at a proposal by Colorado Springs Utilities and the city of Pueblo to buy and remove an abandoned railroad bridge, rather than have Colorado Springs dredge Fountain Creek. Removal of the bridge is seen as a more permanent solution than dredging, which would have to be done periodically after each flood deposits more sediment in the approaches leading to the bridge. That particular project is the main interest for the commissioners, who required the dredging as a condition for allowing Colorado Springs to build part of the $2.3 billion Southern Delivery System in Pueblo County…

A $500,000 sediment-removal demonstration project using technology developed by Streamside Systems is scheduled to be conducted near the railroad bridge. A 20-foot collector will be placed in Fountain Creek to remove bedload sediment — the particles that are carried along by day-to-day flows in Fountain Creek. The Colorado Water Conservation Board contributed $225,000 toward operation of the 90-day trial, which will be matched by $75,000 from the Pueblo stormwater fee, as well as in-kind work by the city. The outcome could help the city of Pueblo deal with sediments in the reach between Fourth and Eighth streets, where five storm-drain culverts frequently plug up, requiring constant maintenance. The project also will involve analysis of the sediments by the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, which is contributing $250,000 to projects on Fountain Creek.

Part of the state health money also will look at results from a side detention pond being built on the north end of Pueblo, which will create wetlands while reducing the severity of small floods. It would be built behind the North Side Walmart. The $700,000 project includes a $485,000 contribution from the Natural Resources Conservation Service, as well as analysis of water-quality indicators by Colorado State University-Pueblo.

Those projects are an outgrowth of a $1-million partnership between Colorado Springs Utilities and the Lower Arkansas Valley Water Conservancy District, which jointly are spending four years to develop the Corridor Master Plan, which covers Fountain Creek south of Colorado Springs. The master plan is the result of a 2007 agreement in which each contributed $150,000 a year toward the effort. The Fountain Creek District, formed in 2009, joined as a partner this year after Colorado Springs and the Lower Ark district agreed to contribute $100,000 annually toward funding the district.

Colorado Springs, as part of its agreement with Pueblo County, also is paying $300,000 over three years for study of a dam on Fountain Creek. The Fountain District has made no plans for how to spend that money. If SDS is completed in 2016, Colorado Springs would contribute another $49.4 million over five years to the Fountain Creek district, under its agreement with Pueblo County.

Another effort, by the city of Pueblo and the Fountain Creek Foundation is using a $75,000 Great Outdoors Colorado planning grant to develop a greenway park from Eighth Street to the Fountain Creek confluence at the Arkansas River. The project ties into a business-district redevelopment project on the Historic East Side.

More Fountain Creek coverage here and here.

CDOW is drawing down Beaver Creek Reservoir for dam inspection



From The South Fork Tines:

Water is being released slowly, and releases could increase significantly later this week. In addition, a road is being built on the water side of the dam to accommodate the inspection work. The DOW’s engineering staff is working with engineers from the Colorado Division of Water Resources to bring the water level down safely and to inspect the structures. The Rio Grande County Sheriff’s Office and the Rio Grande National Forest are also working in cooperation with the state agencies. The DOW owns the dam and the reservoir which holds about 5,000 acre feet of water. The reservoir is located on U.S. Forest Service property about 8 miles southwest of the town of South Fork. Water from the reservoir flows into the South Fork of the Rio Grande River.

More Rio Grande Basin coverage here.

Justice Hobbs: ‘The water ditch is the basis of civilization’



Here’s a recap of Justice Hobbs’ keynote this week up in Breckenridge, from Julie Sutor writing for the Summit Daily News. From the article:

Hobbs took his audience on a tour of the waters of the Americas, from the agricultural terraces of the Peruvian Andes to ancient reservoirs of Mesa Verde to the irrigated fields of the San Luis Valley, illustrating that water — and the ways we use it, divert it, store it, regulate it and fight over it — shapes human societies. “They were great civil works people,” Hobbs said of the ancient Incas. “You can’t walk down the great staircase of Machu Picchu without hearing the water sing.”

More Colorado River Basin coverage here.

Orchard City: South Grand Mesa Source Water Protection Plan



From the Delta County Independent (Hank Lohmeyer):

The plan was compiled with input from area water providers and other domestic water stakeholders in the Surface Creek and Ward Creek drainages. The purpose of the plan is to identify the domestic water supply point sources so they can be protected from possible contamination by currently known and possible future threats. The plan focuses on using informed project planning, incident response, inter agency communication, and other measures. It is generally agreed that the biggest threat to pristine, mountain raw water supplies in the two drainages is from wild land fire that would have devastating consequences on the local watershed.

More Gunnison River Basin coverage here.

Arkansas Basin Roundtable meeting recap



From The Pueblo Chieftain (Chris Woodka):

“I’m dismayed by the lack of progress [with the roundtable process],” said Jeris Danielson, a former state water engineer, consultant to Aaron Million’s Flaming Gorge pipeline project and director of the Purgatoire Water Conservancy District. “The discussion degenerated into, ‘There’s not enough water on the Western Slope,’ instead of talking about any projects.”

The IBCC’s meeting in Denver in April was mostly spent with members taking fallback positions that have stifled much discussion since the group was formed in 2005, he said. The group was initially seen as a way to develop guidelines for interbasin transfers, but most of the state’s nine roundtables are still wrestling with needs assessments with the basins…

The Arkansas Basin Roundtable will meet with the Gunnison Basin Roundtable at Salida on June 7 to discuss each basin’s concerns. It will be the second one-on-one meeting between the two roundtables.

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

A $42,000 project would attempt to develop a management plan to accommodate the needs of fishermen or boaters and water providers. “When you bring down water from the upper reservoirs into Lake Pueblo, when can you do that to meet all of the needs,” Jim Broderick, executive director of the Southeastern Colorado Water Conservancy District, told the Arkansas Basin Roundtable Wednesday. The guidelines developed would give all parties an idea of how much water would be released in wet, average or dry years in an attempt to head off complaints or potential lawsuits, Broderick said. The Roundtable agreed to pass its recommendation for approval along to the Colorado Water Conservation Board for a $33,000 grant for the project. Southeastern and the Upper Arkansas Water Conservancy District will equally split the balance of the costs.

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

A proposal to study the spawning habits of the flathead chub — which is found throughout the West — on Fountain Creek was bait for both skeptical comments and passionate defense among the normally placid roundtable members. Colorado Springs Utilities would use the study as part of its plan to build a fish ladder around its diversion at Clear Springs Ranch, located south of Colorado Springs in El Paso County. It would cost $144,000, with $109,000 through research efforts by the Division of Wildlife, Colorado State University, the U.S. Geological Survey and the Army Corps of Engineers. The remaining $35,000 is being sought through a state grant, said Merle Grimes, a consultant for the Fountain Creek Master Plan, which is a joint project of Colorado Springs, the Lower Arkansas Valley Water Conservancy District and the Fountain Creek Watershed Flood Control and Greenway District. “No one has attempted to do this study in the past,” Grimes said. “It has great value to the agencies who are participating.” The flathead chub is listed as a species of special concern, but not endangered or threatened, in Colorado. It’s not listed on the national endangered species list.

More Arkansas Basin coverage here.

Nebraska reaches accord with Colorado over the proposed Republican River compliance pipeline



From The Yuma Pioneer (Stan Murphy):

The States agreed on a schedule for Pipeline deliveries that will avoid deliveries during the irrigation season to the maximum extent possible, which is consistent with the schedule developed by the RRWCD’s engineer. Colorado also agreed to support Nebraska’s proposed resolution of its Crediting Issue (which is to give Nebraska credit for the payment of damages in the running averages used to determine Compact compliance if Nebraska is required to pay damages to Kansas). The stipulation does not resolve Kansas’ issues with the Pipeline, but it removes one road block to completion of the Pipeline. The arbitration before the arbitrator selected by the States, Martha O. Pagel, an attorney from Portland, Oregon, is scheduled for July 12-14, 2010, in Kansas City, Kansas.

Second, on May 4, Kansas filed a motion with the U.S. Supreme Court for leave to file a petition to hold Nebraska in contempt for violating the Decree in Kansas v. Nebraska and Colorado. Kansas said in the petition that no relief is sought against Colorado, but Kansas reserves the right to seek relief at a later time against Colorado for its violations of the Decree. In the petition, Kansas asked that Nebraska be adjudged in contempt and enjoined from further violations of the Compact, that Nebraska be ordered to pay over to Kansas the amount of Nebraska’s profits or Kansas’ losses resulting from Nebraska’s violations, whichever is greater, that Nebraska be ordered to pay preset sanctions in the event of future violations, that Nebraska be ordered to reduce groundwater pumping, and that a river master be appointed to monitor and ensure Nebraska’s compliance with the Decree.

The filing of the petition underscores the need for the Compact Compliance Pipeline to bring Colorado into compliance with its Statewide Compact allocations. Kansas continues to insist that Colorado is in violation of the sub-basin non-impairment requirement in the South Fork sub-basin. Colorado views that as a separate issue and has filed a motion to dismiss that issue from the arbitration.

More Republican River Basin coverage here and here.

The Animas-La Plata Water Conservancy District board gets a look at the economics of recreation at Lake Nighthorse



From The Durango Herald (Dale Rodebaugh):

Board members of the Animas-La Plata Water Conservancy District got the news Tuesday. The water district took on the job of creating a recreation master plan for the lake a year ago when Colorado State Parks, the logical sponsor of outdoor activities, said it was broke. Colorado State Parks manages recreation at a number of properties owned by the Bureau of Reclamation, including Mancos State Park and Navajo State Park. “We got into this by default,” said Bob Wolff, the water district board president. “We have an incredible resource here but when no one stepped up, we needed to figure out how to get into recreation.”

Lake Nighthorse -covering about 1,500 surface acres – is taking shape as water from the Animas River fills a basin over the ridge to the southwest from Bodo Industrial Park. The Bureau of Reclamation, the federal agency that owns the project that will supply drinking water to three Native American tribes and others, estimates filling will top out sometime in 2011.

Water district members would like to have a recreation master plan in place by then.

More San Juan Basin coverage here.

Watercraft inspections to prevent the spread of invasive aquatic species now mandatory in Colorado



Click here for the mandatory boat inspection page at the Colorado Department of Wildlife. Thanks to The Grand Junction Daily Sentinel for the heads up.

More invasive species coverage here and here.

Snowpack/runoff news: Crystal dam to spill later this month during the high flow regimen for the Gunnison through Black Canyon



From The Grand Junction Daily Sentinel (Dave Buchanan):

The peak flows and accompanying shoulder flows are components of the Black Canyon reserved water right. That 2008 settlement includes annual peak flows and shoulder flows — tied to natural inflow — plus a year-round base flow of 300 cubic feet per second. Collectively, these elements were considered to mimic natural flows prior to the construction of the Aspinall Unit dams and deemed critical to the health of the park and the Gunnison River. Once the peak flows are finished, the river will be ramped down by 400 cfs per day to around 800 cfs for the rest of the summer, [Dan Crabtree, lead hydrologist for the Bureau’s Grand Junction office] said. The peak flow and its timing were decided once the May 1 runoff forecast for the Gunnison basin was available, Crabtree said…

The peak flows will be produced by increasing flows from Blue Mesa into Crystal Dam and then opening the outlets on Crystal. That will boost flows to around 4,150 cfs. It take an additional spill of around 800 cfs to make the peak flow target. While it’s not preferable to see water go over the dam instead of through the hydropower generators, there’s little choice when it comes to meeting the Black Canyon water right. “We always want to use the water in the most efficient way possible,” Crabtree said, “whether it’s for hydropower, storage against future drought or for recreational purposes.”

More Aspinall Unit coverage here.