Coyote Gulch outage
July 17, 2010
I’m on deadline at Colorado Central Magazine. I’ll see you all on Monday.
New National Academy of Sciences study puts numbers to the expected the impacts of climate change
July 17, 2010
From The Denver Post (Bruce Finley):
For example, for every 1.8 degrees of warming, Colorado can expect 5 percent to 10 percent less water in the Arkansas River and Rio Grande, the government-funded study found. The Colorado River Basin, which sustains people in seven western states, likely would see 6 percent less water for every 1.8-degree increase. Wildfires would devour three times as much land, the study found. And rainfall in Colorado and other southwestern sates would decrease by 5 percent to 10 percent.
Meanwhile, here’s a report about June being the warmest on record from the Summit County Citizens Voice. From the article:
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration reported today that June 2010 was the warmest June on record for the planet, based on records going back to 1880. Combined land and sea temperatures around the planet made it the warmest January to June period on-record, the agency said in it’s monthly climate summary. The combined global land and ocean average surface temperature for June 2010 was the warmest on record at 61.1 degrees, 1.22 degrees above the 20th century average. Warmer-than-average conditions dominated the globe, with the most prominent warmth in Peru, the central and eastern contiguous U.S., and eastern and western Asia. Cooler-than-average regions included Scandinavia, southern China and the northwestern contiguous United States.
More climate change coverage here.
From The Greeley Tribune (Meagan Birely):
On Friday, the Chamber of Commerce Agricultural Committee brought farmers and city folks together to learn about the process, product, procedures and problems of sharing water. The tour, “From Desert to Oasis: The story of how irrigation transformed the plains of eastern Colorado” took a busload of people around Weld to look at different places impacted by and using different irrigation systems…
Cory Gardner, R-Yuma, who serves on the Legislature’s agricultural committee and is running for Congress in the 4th Congressional District, said the tour was very eye-opening to the role Weld plays in the world’s food supply. Garner said it is not only important for him personally to be educated on the matter but to continue to educate others as well. “We in agriculture have got to do a better job in educating our city citizens,” Gardner said. “We get 70 percent of our oil from overseas. I would hate to see that much of our food come from overseas.”
More education coverage here.
From The Pueblo Chieftain (Chris Woodka):
Colorado Springs backed into a proposed figure of $25.31 per acre-foot annually beginning in 2011. Eventually, the SDS partners would like to store 42,000 acre-feet of water in Lake Pueblo in excess-capacity space — capacity in Lake Pueblo that is not needed for storing Fryingpan-Arkansas Project water. The move came after Michael Collins, Reclamation’s area manager, asked Colorado Springs for a counter-proposal based on a market approach in a Thursday negotiating session at the Fountain Valley School.
His request had come at the end of a day of heated discussions where Reclamation would not respond to a proposal by Colorado Springs based strictly on cost of service. Collins and the rest of Reclamation’s team — federal attorney Chuck Cahoy and contract officer Lynette Smith — faced pointed questioning from SDS Project Director John Fredell and attorney David Robbins. Reclamation had dropped the rate from $50 per acre-foot to $41.56 per acre-foot annually at the end of Thursday’s session…
The proposal would resolve a dispute over control of excess-capacity in the first few hundred feet of pipeline, allowing Colorado Springs to recoup some of the cost, but making it part of the Fryingpan-Arkansas Project managed by Reclamation. Reclamation would apply the same rate to an exchange — really, a paper trade of water stored in Lake Pueblo for project water in upper reservoirs — of up to 10,000 acre-feet annually that Colorado Springs alone is requesting. Colorado Springs would pay for 1,000 acre-feet annually, but there is still disagreement about whether the city would be reimbursed if it did not use the exchange in any given year. “We appreciate receiving the proposal,” Collins said. “We’ll not give it consideration today, but withhold our decision until the next session.”
Here’s where things stood after Friday’s session according to a report from Daniel Chaćon writing for the The Colorado Springs Gazette. From the article:
…representatives from both sides said they were optimistic they could reach a deal. “It’s hard to predict how close we are, really, but I’m very encouraged by the negotiation process,” said Michael Collins, manager of the federal agency’s Eastern Colorado Area Office in Loveland. “We’ve had good sessions all the way along.”[...]
Before the end of today’s negotiation session – the fourth since May – Utilities proposed paying $25.31 per acre-foot, plus a 1.79 percent annual inflation fee. Collins said the federal agency would give the proposal “serious consideration” and provide a response at the next negotiation session, which has not yet been scheduled.
More coverage from Chris Woodka writing for The Pueblo Chieftain. From the article:
On Friday, Colorado Springs proposed building a 90-inch pipeline from the North Outlet Works to the point where the SDS pipeline would turn out to provide Pueblo West water, several hundred feet from the dam. SDS would use a maximum of 150 cubic feet per second in the pipeline, which would have a capacity of roughly four times that. “The SDS partners would use 25 percent,” John Fredell, SDS project director told Reclamation’s negotiating team. “The excess-capacity, you would control.”[...]
Reclamation Area Manager Michael Collins offered Colorado Springs a payment of $287,500 — Colorado Springs estimated $500,000; Reclamation, $75,000 — over three years to oversize the line to 90 inches to the point where SDS becomes a single-purpose project. “Future generations would say we were short-sighted if we did not do this,” Collins said. David Robbins, Colorado Springs attorney, argued that while the cost of using larger pipe is minimal, SDS participants should not bear the costs of building the $30 million North Outlet Works alone if others hook on in the future. “If third parties want to use it, they should be asked to pay the cost,” Robbins said. Friday’s proposal backed off that position. Under Colorado Springs’ calculations, the oversized portion of the pipeline would cost $23 million, but in negotiations reimbursement for only $5 million was requested…
Colorado Springs and Reclamation made progress toward a conveyance contract Friday that would be separate from the excess-capacity storage and exchange contracts that are being negotiated. Robbins suggested numerous changes in the contract language that did not substantially alter the substance of the deal. Reclamation backed off its original stance of charging for conveyance from Pueblo Dam, instead letting the SDS participants use the North Outlet Works they build at no additional charge.
2010 Colorado elections: The Hasan Family Foundation wants Scott McInnis to reimburse the dough he was paid for his fellowship
July 17, 2010
From The Pueblo Chieftain (Patrick Malone):
McInnis said he intends to repay the foundation [$300,000]. The demand followed an internal foundation review of articles submitted by McInnis that contained plagiarized material. A written statement released by the board Friday said McInnis’ output for the foundation “was only a fraction of the work he was obligated to perform . . . Of the little work that he did, he has admitted it was neither fully completed by him, nor fully original. In view of the public disclosure . . . it is clear that Mr. McInnis has not fulfilled the terms of our agreement . . . The foundation demands he repay all monies paid to him under the fellowship.”[...]
“The foundation board met and reviewed the facts of the case,” Hasan family spokesman Drew Dougherty said Friday. “With the admissions from Mr. McInnis and Mr. Fischer, no further investigation was necessary.”
Here’s what I’m sure the McInnis campaign hopes is the final word from them (from email):
Scott McInnis, Republican candidate for Governor, today issued the following statement in response to a news release issued by The Hasan Family Foundation:
“I have said since this matter was brought to my attention that the articles provided as part of the Hasan Family Foundation fellowship were faulty. I explained how this problem arose, and I accepted responsibility.
“I apologized to the Hasans for this mistake, and I expressed my determination to make it right with my dear friends. I will be in contact with the Hasan family to make full payment arrangements. I agree with the Foundation that this brings this matter to a close, and I look forward to continuing to speak on the campaign trail about the critical issues facing all of Colorado, including jobs and economic recovery.”
Three staffers have resigned over the scandal from the McInnis campaign according to a report from Karen Crummy writing for The Denver Post. From the article:
“That says to me one of two things: Either they (the staffers) have lost confidence in the viability of the campaign or they’ve lost confidence in the candidate due to the incident,” said longtime political analyst Eric Sondermann.
McInnis on Friday also backed out of the second scheduled public appearance in as many days, this time an Arapahoe County Republicans event featuring former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty, a possible 2012 presidential candidate and vice president of the Republican Governors Association…
While those signs point to a foundering campaign, McInnis has reserved nearly $260,000 in television time in the Denver and Colorado Springs markets to run his first TV ads up to the Aug. 10 primary election…
The departing staffers — policy director Mac Zimmerman, political director Dustin Zvonek and regional director T.Q. Houlton — were all staffers of former U.S. Rep. Tom Tancredo, who garnered the most support for governor among registered Republican voters in a Denver Post poll released Friday. Zimmerman was also the chief of staff for former state Senate Minority Leader Josh Penry, and Zvonek worked for Penry as a policy analyst.
Here’s a guest commentary from Seeme Hasan writing in The Denver Post. She writes:
In building the Hasan School of Business of Pueblo — in addition to many donations to other causes, including the University of Colorado Foundation, Pueblo Community College and the Pueblo City Library — water education was to become one of the biggest contributions that the Hasan Family Foundation would give to our state. Unfortunately, these goals were not to be realized. While history will tell certain stories of this past week, the most terrible loss is that of Colorado’s — the missed opportunity of uniting to protect our water. To us, this will forever be Colorado’s greatest tragedy.
According to this report from Wyatt Haupt Jr. writing for the Grand Junction Free Press John Hickenlooper — who has wisely avoided too much public comment on the McInnis plagiarism scandal — has moved ahead in a Rasmussen poll. From the article:
The Rasmussen Reports survey showed Hickenlooper with 45 percent of voter support, while McInnis picked up 43 percent. A total 7 percent expressed support for a different candidate, while 5 percent indicated they were of undecided status. The poll has margin of error of plus or minus 4 percentage points. A total of 750 likely voters were surveyed July 15. The poll represents a 7-percentage point switch in the last month for McInnis, whose campaign was rocked earlier this week by a plagiarism charge. The allegation surfaced in a Denver Post story, which delved into water articiles penned by McInnis in 2005 and 2006.
Here’s some of the back story about Rolly Fischer and Scott McInnis from Tim Hoover writing for The Denver Post. From the article:
Rolly Fischer developed a high profile as a water expert during a 28-year career with the Colorado River Water Conservation District but left after his own brushes with ethics questions were publicized. In 1996, the Grand Junction Daily Sentinel published a series of articles examining how the river district, then headed by Fischer, had done business with companies operated by his wife. Fischer himself was an officer in the companies, which provided temporary employees and payroll services to the water district. The contracts for those services were not put out for competitive bids. Fischer also came under scrutiny for his $105,000 annual salary, perks that included a personal vehicle and executive airline club memberships and spending practices such as racking up $14,000 in travel expenses in one year. Fischer abruptly resigned from the water district after the Sentinel’s stories ran.
More coverage from Charles Ashby writing for The Grand Junction Daily Sentinel. From the article:
McInnis went on to say he had apologized to the group for the mistake and would contact it “to make full payment arrangements.” The incident has dogged McInnis all week and is expected to remain an issue through the Aug. 10 primaries, where he hopes to win the GOP nomination against Evergreen businessman Dan Maes. McInnis has repeatedly said he will not drop out of the race despite numerous calls for him to do so. “I look forward to continuing to speak on the campaign trail about the critical issues facing all of Colorado, including jobs and economic recovery,” he said.
Finally, Jason Salzman pokes some fun at Scott McInnis on the Huffington Post. He writes:
But even if you have to give some of the money back, you should know that you’ll definitely have the respect of the freelance writing community for breaking free from the normal rules that bind writers to their desks. You’ve allowed me and other freelancers to dream of a day when we can be freelance writers and not write at all. As a leader, you’re trying to head us in that direction by experimenting with new freelance ideas and techniques. Some will surely fail, but that’s to be expected as you work toward a world where freelance writers are paid more and work less. As I wrote before, “Honorable” Congressman, whether you’re elected or not, you have secured your spot as a rock star of the freelance writing community in Colorado. Please let us know at your earliest convenience when you will be able to meet with me and other writers to advise us on how we can be as successful as you at freelance writing.
More 2010 Colorado Elections coverage here.
From The Pueblo Chieftain (Peter Roper):
Rep. John Salazar, D-Colo., is a member of the House Appropriations Energy and Water Subcommittee, and he announced that panel had agreed to dedicate $6 million to the project in 2011. That follows the historic award of $5 million this year. “This is a promise that is long overdue, since 1962 to be exact, and it is time that these communities in Southern Colorado have the clean, reliable water delivery system they were promised,” Salazar said in a statement after the vote…
Rep. Betsy Markey, D-Colo., whose 4th Congressional District include the lower Arkansas Valley, issued a statement that said, “I will fight every day to make sure that funding for the conduit continues.” The funding for the conduit project is now part of the 2011 water and energy appropriations bill and will next be considered by the full House Appropriations Committee.
From The State Column:
“We haven’t got a chance under the present circumstances,” Mr. Tancredo said, in reference to allegations of plagiarism plaguing the McInnis campaign. “This is a huge disaster for the Republican party unless we can get a candidate in there to make this all work.” Mr. Tancredo, a conservative who ran as an underdog presidential candidate in 2008, said his own sources say Mr. McInnis will likely drop out of the race for governor.
More 2010 Colorado elections coverage here.
Here’s a report from Tom Hacker writing for the Loveland Reporter-Herald. From the article:
The Anderson Farm, once a working farm but now an entertainment and education venue, hosted the event organized by the Colorado Farm Bureau and the Northern Colorado Water Conservancy District, the architect of the project. “People say there is a crisis coming,” former Colorado Agriculture Commissioner Don Ament said in warming up the crowd of about 200. “I’m here to tell you the crisis is already here.”
Farmers in Northern Colorado have said since the time the project was unveiled six years ago that it is the only thing standing between their livelihoods and the water needs of growing Front Range communities…
Opponents, led by the conservation group Friends of the Poudre, say the project would drop Poudre flow levels so low that water quality and wildlife habitat would be severely affected. They use the slogan “Save the Poudre” to make their point. But the mantra Thursday was “Save the Poudre, Store it in Glade,” with banners carrying the message hoisted at the Anderson Farm and bumper stickers available for attendees to take with them.
Well it has been an interesting week for politicians and alleged plagiarism. It looks like two northern Colorado lawmakers helped themselves to a colleague’s opinion piece in support of the Northern Integrated Supply Project. Here’s a report from Kelly King writing for the Loveland Connection. From the article:
Columns purportedly authored by Rep. BJ Nikkel, R-Loveland, and Weld County Commissioner Doug Rademacher focused on the need for new water storage capabilities in Northern Colorado, highlighted their support for the Northern Integrated Water Supply Project, or NISP, and encouraged readers to attend a Thursday agricultural rally in Erie. Nikkel’s and Rademacher’s columns published in the Berthoud Recorder, Windsor Beacon and Greeley Tribune closely mirrored a column published in the Denver Post, written by Weld County Commissioner Sean Conway.
Conway admits he provided his writings to Nikkel and Rademacher after they expressed interest in spreading news about the agricultural rally and their support of NISP. “Anyone who knows me, knows that I’m a longtime supporter of NISP,” Conway said. “Leading up the ag rally, I wanted people to know about the event. I submitted a column to the Denver Post as an exclusive update about the event, authored by me. “Over the course of the next few days, my office mate, Doug Rademacher, said he wanted to submit something to the Greeley paper about the event. I offered him the column and said ‘Use what you want.’ Essentially, he took it and ran with it and I’m fine with that.”
Conway said he also talked with Nikkel, who wanted to submit a column to newspapers in her district, in Loveland, Berthoud and Windsor. “I sent her the column and told her she had my permission to use it,” Conway said.
More Northern Integrated Supply Project coverage here and here.
From The Pueblo Chieftain (Chris Woodka):
“The world needs energy,” [Don Banner], a local attorney, said in outlining his plan Wednesday. “The United States is behind the eight ball when it comes to nuclear energy.” Banner has formed a corporation called Puebloans for Energizing Our Community LLC to develop a plan that would solicit bids to build a nuclear power plant. The plan includes a way to divide a portion of the anticipated profits among community groups…
Banner has contracts to buy 25,000 acres of land southeast of Pueblo for Colorado Energy Park, which eventually could support nuclear, solar and wind energy projects. It’s the nuclear portion that holds the potential not only to fill a gap in national energy production, but to help the community as well, Banner said. “Wind and solar energy will never be the primary sources of electricity,” Banner said. “From what I’ve been told, the most that would be tolerated on the grid is 27 percent.” Banner is convinced nuclear energy is the safest form of primary power generation, both in terms of industrial accidents and secondary health impacts. It also would reduce the amount of carbon emissions compared with coal, gas or oil energy production.
From the Colorado Springs Independent (Pam Zubeck):
The base pays $100,000 a month for water, according to this story. Hence, base officials recently began developing a system that will shut off sprinklers after it rains one-eighth of an inch. The base also hopes to switch its irrigation system to non-potable water after the pipeline project is completed.
More conservation coverage here.
Update: Rolly Fischer is on the video record now. Channel 7′s John Ferrugia interviewed him yesterday. Here’s the link to their video page. I could not determine how to deep link. From the article:
Ferrugia asked, “Rolly, is Scott McInnis lying to us?”
“Yes,” said Fischer.
Meanwhile The Denver Post’s Karen Crummy is reporting that Colorado Republican leaders are preparing for the eventuality that McInnis might drop out of the goveror’s race. From the article:
The name rising to the top of the list was University of Colorado president Bruce Benson, the 1994 Republican nominee for governor. Benson said he was dedicated to his current job. “We’ve made great strides at the university and have a great team of people,” he said. But asked whether he was open to being a candidate again, he said, “You never say no.”
Others being considered include former Congressman Tom Tancredo and state Senate Minority Leader Josh Penry, who had been running against McInnis in the primary but dropped out of the race in November.
From The Pueblo Chieftain (Patrick Malone):
Foes have characterized McInnis’ faux pas as plagiarism and called for him to leave the governor’s race, something McInnis said he won’t do. “There obviously was a mistake made, and the research associates did not have sufficient attributions,” McInnis told The Pueblo Chieftain…
McInnis identified the researcher who plucked the writings from Hobbs as Rolly Fischer, who worked at the Colorado River Conservation Board. “(Fischer) thought it was in the public domain and you could use that,” McInnis said. McInnis said Fischer “is sick about” the plagiarism allegations…
The candidate admitted some personal responsibility for the gaffe. “One: (Fischer) should ha ve attributed it,” McInnis said. “Two: In the process, I need to go through the research material.”[...]
Dave Dill, Pueblo County Republican chairman, echoed McInnis’ position on Carroll’s remarks. “Obviously, McInnis is running pretty strong, in fundraising and in the campaign in general,” Dill said. “Democrats are fearing he’ll take the primary. If he is indeed the front-runner, (Democrats) would be happy to have him out of the race. They are afraid.”
The Fort Collins Coloradoan editorial board is calling on McInnis to bow out of the race. They write:
McInnis should bow out of the governor’s race. Prolonging his campaign in light of news about the plagiarism would not serve his party and does not serve Coloradans. Quite often, during election season, candidates do try to discredit their opponents by revealing unflattering facts or situations about them. These “stunts” do little to educate voters and appeal to the lowest common denominator. But McInnis is flat wrong in believing that this revelation is only significant or news because he is a candidate for governor. Honesty and integrity matter as much for the dog catcher as for the governor, not to mention a former U.S. congressman. McInnis apologized for the mistake, but he didn’t assume responsibility. And there is a difference.
On Wednesday The Denver Post editorial board also indicated that McInnis should quit the governor’s race. Here’s an excerpt:
The plagiarism and other issues have cumulatively so damaged McInnis’ credibility that we do not believe he can be an effective governor. Even though McInnis acknowledged he made a mistake, he still spent part of Tuesday blaming a research assistant for the failure to credit the work. If you put your name on something and take money for it — a lot of money in this case — it is your responsibility to make rock-solid sure it is bona fide, original work that will stand up to scrutiny. The state’s chief executive must be someone Coloradans can believe in as the state suffers a stretch of tight budgets and a struggling economy. If Scott McInnis cannot be trusted to turn in what amounts to an overpaid term paper — without plagiarizing someone else’s work — there is no way he can be relied upon to guide Colorado through these complicated times.
Meanwhile, Ed Quillen sizes up the situation in a way that simplifies everything, in his column in today’s Denver Post. He writes:
At least McInnis had the good sense to steal from a good source, Gregory J. Hobbs, a water lawyer who has served on our state Supreme Court since 1996…
… Hobbs writes with clarity, grace and knowledge about Colorado water. And as the late Steve Frazee (a Salida novelist who died in 1992) once advised me: “Your writing is influenced by what you read. Consciously or unconsciously, you’ll imitate. So you should always read the best — Shakespeare, Cervantes, Dickens, Homer.” Except McInnis apparently wasn’t reading Hobbs on water, because the candidate has blamed his “research adviser,” Rolly Fischer of Glenwood Springs, for lifting the material.
More 2010 Colorado elections coverage here.
Aurora Reservoir yields Colorado record catfish
July 15, 2010
Congratulations to Dari McKinnon of Parker. He caught a new Colorado record catfish recently weighing 35 pounds 8 ounces. Here’s a report from The Denver Post. From the article:
“It was literally pulling the boat,” he said. The previous record was a 35-pound, 4-ounce channel catfish caught last year by Mike Stone, also at Aurora Reservoir.
Arkansas Basin: The State Engineer’s office is identifying water rights that have been abandoned
July 14, 2010
From The Pueblo Chieftain (Chris Woodka):
There are roughly 12,400 water rights in the Arkansas River basin, but only those that are absolute rights can be considered for abandonment. Conditional water rights, those that have not been fully put to use, must pass a due diligence test in Water Court every six years.
After an abandoned right has been listed — it is published on the state website and in local newspapers — the owners can protest with a written objection in Water Court. A judge makes the final decision. “Typically, there will be a few people who recognize that they own a right on the list and they will register a protest,” Witte said. “The majority have truly been abandoned.”
More Arkansas Basin coverage here.
From The Pueblo Chieftain (Matt Hildner):
The subdistrict water management plan approved by Judge O. John Kuenhold calls for subdistrict members to tax themselves to pay for injuries to senior surface rights owners and fallow up to 40,000 acres of farmland.
The subdistrict includes roughly 174,000 acres of irrigated farmland and 3,000 wells.
Objectors want the Supreme Court to determine whether the trial court erred in relegating authority to the subdistrict and the State Engineer’s office to devise annual replacement plans to compensate surface rights owners for injury.
The appeal questioned if the trial court erred by deferring any finding of injury and instead retaining jurisdiction over the plan to make such a determination.
A series of points in the appeal also question the sources of potential replacement water.
Arkansas Valley: The High Line board says nay to the Woodmoor District moving share water out of the ditch company boundaries
July 14, 2010
From The Pueblo Chieftain (Chris Woodka):
“The use of the water by Woodmoor is not in accordance with our bylaws and is not acceptable,” said Dan Henrichs, High Line superintendent. “The board voted not to approve it.” Wood- moor, located north of Colorado Springs, has contracts to purchase 47.8 shares on the High Line Canal, mostly at the end of the ditch. In order to use the water outside ditch boundaries, it would have to get the board’s approval. While the board has sold water through a lease arrangement to Aurora in the past, there is no guarantee that water could be used outside the ditch boundaries, Henrichs said.
More Arkansas Basin coverage here.
Expedition Blue Planet makes a stop in Fort Collins
July 14, 2010
Here’s a report from Sarah Jane Kyle writing for the Fort Collins Coloradoan. From the article:
The expedition is the first by Expedition Blue Planet, a partnership between [Alexandra Cousteau's] nonprofit Blue Legacy and National Geographic, through North America. Jonathan Smith, Cousteau’s business partner and the producer of Expedition Blue Planet, said the tour hopes to focus more on the work local organizations do throughout the region. “One of the things we really wanted to do was not just engage people and say that there are water issues we need to think about, but we wanted people to plug into local organizations that we thought were real champions of some of these issues,” Smith said.
After researching many local organizations throughout North America, Smith said the nonprofit Save the Poudre campaign kept resurfacing. Cousteau and Smith decided to bring the expedition to Fort Collins to get a closer look. “We kept coming back around to not only Save the Poudre, but what was going on in the Poudre,” Smith said. “It was a really compelling thing for us… we want people in these communities not just to see our work but to plug into these local groups.”
More conservation coverage here.
Energy policy — nuclear: Should the public be allowed to comment on the Colorado’s new uranium mining rules?
July 14, 2010
From The Denver Post (Monte Whaley):
“Time is money,” said Richard Clement, president and chief executive of Powertech USA, which has plans for a huge in-situ uranium mine in Weld County. “And unless you are Exxon Mobil and can stand five or six years of review on a project, most mining companies can’t tolerate that kind of delay.” Clement spoke before the Colorado Mined Land Reclamation Board, which is considering rules for in-situ mining in Colorado. This week’s hearings are part of a year-long effort to frame mining regulations as stipulated by a law signed by Gov. Bill Ritter in 2008…
Several groups lobbied the board Tuesday in hopes of influencing the final draft of the rules. Industry representatives said in-situ extraction is already safe and heavily regulated by federal and state agencies. A proposed 10-working-day public-comment period about mining prospecting — as well as a review of those comments by the state Division of Reclamation, Mining and Safety — would add another layer of bureaucracy that critics say could discourage any exploration for uranium.
2010 Colorado elections: Scott McInnis background
July 14, 2010
Here’s a background piece about Scott McInnis from Joe Hanel writing for The Durango Herald. From the article:
McInnis is a partner at Hogan Lovells, a law and lobbying firm – formerly known as Hogan & Hartson – where [Bill Ritter] worked before he became governor. As part of his work for the firm, McInnis lobbied for the Million Conservation Resource Group, a company that wants to build a water pipeline from Flaming Gorge Reservoir in southwest Wyoming to the Denver metro area. McInnis still thinks the pipeline is a good idea, and he is confident there is enough water legally available under the multi-state Colorado River Compact. “Some of the lower states may be complaining because they get the benefit,” he said. “But the reality of it is, that’s Colorado water, and we have to capture it for Colorado use or we’re going to lose it, in my opinion.”[...]
McInnis represented the 3rd Congressional District, which spans most of the state’s western half, and in his stump speech, he makes a point of both Maes’ and Hickenlooper’s Denver-area background. “There’s only one candidate in here who’s not from the metropolitan area. There’s only one candidate who’s ever represented Durango,” he said.
Mr. Hanel has also posted an interview with Scott McInnis — pre-plagiarism scandal — on The Durango Herald. From the article:
DH: Governor Ritter’s policy favors using water for recreational purposes, and he has spent money on buying water for endangered species. That’s been a departure for the Colorado Water Conservation Board. Would you continue those policies with you appointments to the CWCB?
McInnis: [McInnis's wife] Lori’s father was actually probably the longest-serving member (of the CWCB). Lori’s a cattle rancher. So I know a lot about the Water Conservation Board. First of all, you can’t raid their funds. Those funds are being raided, just like the Brand Board. Those are very important funds to protect. Before the Ritter administration, by the way, they bought rights for in-stream flows. This isn’t new with the Ritter administration. In fact, minimum streamflow is Republican, it’s not Democrat. It’s Colorado under the Legislature. It isn’t like Ritter found something new. It was in the process. He might have prioritized it. But they key to it is not the day-to-day operation. The key to it is who your appointments are. My appointments will be very experienced in water. They’ll have a very clear understanding, or I won’t appoint them, that water storage is absolutely essential. And they’ll have to have a strong feeling about protection of the water, whether it’s protection of the water for saving it, storing it, or whether it’s protection of the water for the quality of the water…
DH: You’ve supported the proposed Flaming Gorge pipeline (from the Southwest Wyoming reservoir to the Front Range). Are you confident there’s enough water left under the Colorado River Compact for a project like that?
McInnis: There is. There is. Flaming Gorge – those rights are unclaimed. The Bureau of Reclamation makes those decisions. The water’s at Flaming Gorge. Now, some of the lower states may be complaining, because they get the benefit. That’s Colorado water. We’re going to have to give some to Wyoming to run the pipeline across Wyoming. We have to pay the toll. But the reality of it is, that’s Colorado water, and we have to capture it for Colorado use, or we’re going to lose it, in my opinion.
More 2010 Colorado elections coverage here.
Bump and Update: Here’s McInnis’ side from email from the campaign:
In 2005, I accepted a water fellowship with the non-profit Hasan Family Foundation. Part of this fellowship entailed compiling a series of articles designed to promote public understanding of historical water issues in Colorado.
In order to complete this project, I retained a renowned Colorado water expert. That expert, Rolly Fischer, spent nearly three decades with the Colorado River Water Conservation District , and is well-respected across the state. During our collaboration, he provided research for the articles.
Regrettably, it has now become clear that much of the research was in fact taken from other source material without proper attribution. While I do not believe that this was a deliberate act, it was a serious mistake.
It’s unacceptable, it’s inexcusable, but it was also unintentional.
I made a mistake, and should have been more vigilant in my review of research material Rolly submitted.
I’ve reached out to Justice Hobbs and the Hasan Family Foundation, and hope to meet with both in the not too distant future.
We all share a deep commitment to Colorado’s future. In the coming days, I hope we can put this matter behind us, and focus on solving the many problems that face our state.
More coverage from the Montrose Daily Press (Kristen Wyatt). From the article:
It wasn’t clear if McInnis spoke with Hobbs on Tuesday. An aide had said earlier that McInnis had apologized to Hobbs. Whole sections of McInnis’ “Musings On Water” about the history of Colorado water rights were identical to a 1984 piece that Hobbs wrote. McInnis’ essays were accompanied by a 2005 letter stating the essays were original.
I’m sure that Scott McInnis is hoping that his statement above kills the controversy. It might not. Here’s Denver Post columnist Mike Litwin:
In any case, McInnis made the “non issue” statement to Adam Schrager of 9News, saying that what interests Coloradans is jobs, which is clearly true. They’re interested in their jobs, and we’re all interested — I promise — in seeing how you get a McInnis-style job. In a McInnis job, you retire from Congress and then sign on for a $300,000 stipend from the Hasan Family Foundation to write a series of articles. Now, here’s the good part: In writing “Musings on Water,” you either copy someone else’s work — making the job much easier — or you outsource the job to someone else, who then copies the work, making your job easier still. According to McInnis, it was all a researcher’s fault, even though McInnis failed to mention any researcher when he turned in the articles. Meanwhile, the researcher, Rolly Fischer, a water expert, told the Glenwood Springs Post Independent, “Scott’s responsible for it.” What we know for sure is that McInnis assured the foundation in a memo that the work was “original and not from any other source.” Yes, he did. And so, it’s pretty simple, really. Either McInnis cheated (plagiarizing someone’s work) or he lied (getting someone else to do his work) or both, and for a neat $300,000 payoff.
More coverage from the Associated Press via the Las Vegas Sun. From the article:
A former congressman, McInnis was paid $300,000 by a foundation for a three-year fellowship that included writing about water. When reporters questioned McInnis’s work for the Hasan Family Foundation, the group posted the essays on its website. The writings were not previously made public. The foundation says it may seek a refund from McInnis. McInnis is not planning to publicly apologize. His GOP primary challenger, Dan Maes, says McInnis should “man up” about the plagiarism.
More coverage from Tim Hoover writing for The Denver Post. From the article:
In an interview Tuesday with 9News, McInnis said he intended to “make it right” with the [Hasan Family Foundation]. “I’ll sit down with them. It’s a good foundation, good people. Have known ‘em for a long time. I’ll go in, sit down with them, and we’ll discuss what we need to do,” he said.
More coverage from Karen Crummy writing for The Denver Post. From the article:
A Denver Post review of McInnis’ floor speeches and columns published during his congressional career found striking similarities between a 1995 speech and 1994 column by McInnis and a previously published Op-Ed in The Washington Post. “There is a growing popular belief in South Korea that the North has outmaneuvered Washington and marginalized the South’s role,” wrote Richard V. Allen and Daryl M. Plunk in a Washington Post Op-Ed published Nov. 9, 1994. Six weeks later, McInnis wrote in the Rocky Mountain News: “There is growing South Korean sentiment that North Korea has outmaneuvered Washington and marginalized the South’s input into this issue.” A month after that, he made the same statement on the House floor with only minor alteration…
McInnis on Tuesday declared the plagiarism of the water essays a “non-issue” that Colorado voters don’t care about. Although his campaign manager put out a statement late Monday saying McInnis believes the “buck stops” with him, McInnis spent Tuesday asserting that he failed only in that he did not monitor his research assistant closely enough. “We got faulty research,” McInnis told 9News. “This is a nonissue if it’s not a political year. Voters don’t really care about this issue. They care about jobs, getting back to work.” McInnis also told 9News he expected there were numerous other problems with the water essays he submitted as his own work. Rolly Fischer, a former engineer who McInnis said was responsible for lifting paragraphs and at least four full pages from work written by Colorado Supreme Court Justice Gregory Hobbs, denied the charge. “Scott’s responsible for it,” he said to the Glenwood Springs Post-Independent, and then declined to comment further. Contacted by a Denver Post reporter at his home Tuesday, Fischer declined to comment, saying, “I don’t trust the press.”
More coverage from The Denver Post. From the article:
Meanwhile, House Speaker Terrance Carroll, D-Denver, called on McInnis to immediately drop out of the race. “The Denver Post’s story made it quite clear that Scott McInnis lacks the integrity to hold the office of Governor. It would be difficult for him to create any public trust, which is critical for this position,” said Carroll.
More coverage from John Colson writing for the Glenwood Springs Post Independent. From the article:
Long-time local resident Rolly Fischer on Tuesday declined to say much about his involvement in a research paper that gubernatorial candidate, and former Congressman Scott McInnis wrote to meet a fellowship deadline. “Scott’s responsible for it,” stated Fisher, an engineer who worked for the Colorado River Water Conservation for, when asked whether he was responsible for articles attributed to McInnis. Beyond that, Fisher said flatly, “I have nothing to say.”
More coverage from Talking Points Memo (Eric Lach):
Yesterday, Schaffer tweeted a link to the Denver Post story that broke the news, saying: “Family Foundation miffed it paid $300k to congressman for plagarized work & no-shows. Den. Post http://tw0.us/JYo #tcot #redco”
Maybe its personal? The backstory: In 2007, McInnis dropped out of a Senate primary battle with Schaffer, citing family reasons. Then, just days before Nov. 4, McInnis threw his fellow Republican under the bus, telling the press “I would have beat Udall” in the general election, and lamenting the “radical element” in his party.
More coverage from the Examiner (Ian Cerveny). From the article:
The Hasan Family Foundation released these plagiarism accusations through the Denver Post earlier this week, forcing McInnis to come clean on his sloppy partial authorship.
Not coincidentally, a member of the Hasan family entered into the 2010 race for state treasurer late last year. Ali Hasan, son of Hasan Family Foundation founders Malik and Seeme Hasan, was favored to finish strong in the assembly, but was instead routed by fellow Republican candidate JJ Ament. McInnis refused to endorse any candidates in that race, despite his close relationship with the Hasan family and the fellowship extended to McInnis by the Foundation in 2005 after he left Congress.
It is likely that the Hasan Family Foundation knew that McInnis was not entirely responsible for the articles published under his name five years ago, and they may have also been aware of the plagiarized content therein. The timing of these accusations smacks of a vendetta … one earned when McInnis failed to repay a favor by endorsing Ali Hasan for state treasurer.
The Foundation took the fight to their website on their Fellowship Page in a carefully worded denunciation of McInnis’ work as a senior fellow. [ed. Scroll down to McInnis' area. The linked file is a .pdf}.
From the Hassan Family Foundation statement (Seeme Hasan):
In light of the accusations against Scott McInnis regarding plagiarism of articles to the Hasan Family Foundation, I am shocked, angry and disappointed. Any work related to the fellowship that Mr. McInnis submitted was always represented as final. At no time, whatsoever, did Mr. McInnis communicate that any of the work were “rough drafts.” Any representation that they were submitted to the Foundation as “rough drafts” is absolutely incorrect.
In addition, there were never discussions nor any knowledge by the Foundation that Mr. McInnis was working with a “research advisor.” If indeed Mr. McInnis was working with a “research advisor,” it was never brought to our attention, nor authorized. The work that the Foundation hired Mr. McInnis to do was to be done solely by Mr. McInnis, and not in concert with anyone else.
The Hasan Family Foundation takes the issue of plagiarism extremely seriously. At no time was it brought to our attention that Mr. McInnis used information not cited or unethically used work that was not his own. All work was represented to be original and final. We will conduct an independent, internal investigation and if the allegations are proven to be true, we will demand Mr. McInnis return all monies paid to him by the Foundation.
Jason Salzman (BigMedia.org) is on the very long list of journalists that are hoping to land an interview with Rolly Fisher. Here's his blog post from earlier today. He writes:
So it’s going to take some work to get Fischer to tell his story, which deserves to be told. Maybe a blogger is the right person for the job? Someone who’s not a journalist.
More coverage of the Rolly Fischer backstory from Charles Ashby writing for The Grand Junction Daily Sentinel. From the article:
Embattled GOP gubernatorial candidate Scott McInnis said he didn’t know anything about why Rolly Fischer retired from the Colorado River Water Conservation District in 1996. At the same time, though, McInnis said the man he hired in 2005 and 2006 to do research for him for a series of water articles for the Hasan Family Foundation was an old friend whom he’s known for years. “Rollie is a friend,” McInnis told The Daily Sentinel on Tuesday. “The material I got sounded just like Rollie’s. I don’t know anything about that (why he left the district). The fact is, no matter what Rollie did on this research stuff, I should have caught it.”
More coverage from the NPR Blog (Frank James):
Polls in Colorado suggest a close race for governor between Denver mayor John Hickenlooper and former Republican Congressman Scott McInnis, that's if McInnis gets past the impending primary. Recent polls show McInnis leading Hickenlooper by three to five percentage points. Which is why it's worth paying attention to plagiarism charges against McInnis since they could have an impact on such a close race.
More coverage from The Colorado Independent (Scott Kersgaard). From the article:
Fischer was hired by the Colorado River Water Conservation District in 1958 as secretary-engineer. He was the district’s first and only employee at that time. As the district grew, so did Fischer’s job, which evolved into the position of general manager, even though he kept the secretary-engineer title until he left the district in 1996, according to district spokesman Chris Treese. By the time Fischer left the district, it employed 18 people and Fischer was the boss...
According to [Chris Treese, Colorado River District], the board of directors dismissed Fischer for reasons that were not made public. Treese acknowledged, though, that the dismissal followed a series of articles in the Grand Junction Daily Sentinel. Those articles are not available on the Sentinel’s web site, but in Tuesday’s paper, reporter Charles Ashby characterized the articles thusly: “Fischer retired in 1996 after The Daily Sentinel published a series of articles showing that the river district hired two companies operated by his wife, Tillie, without going to a competitive bid. Fischer was part owner of those businesses, which handled payroll accounts and general administrative functions.”
More coverage from The Colorado Statesman (Ernest Luning):
There’s little love lost between McInnis — who weighed entering the 2008 Senate race but stepped aside, leaving the field to the eventual nominee — and Schaffer, who served alongside McInnis in Congress for three terms and currently sits on the Colorado Board of Education. A week before the election, with Schaffer down in the polls, McInnis boasted to the online news site The Colorado Independent that he “would have beat Udall,” and said his “biggest threat was getting through the primary.” He blamed “radical elements” in his own party for thwarting his ambitions.
The director of the left-leaning Colorado Ethics Watch organization said McInnis’ possible breach could land him afoul of rules governing attorneys licensed to practice law in the state. “The reports that Congressman McInnis’ water essays for the Hasan Family Foundation contained plagiarized material, if true, raise serious questions about McInnis’ compliance with the ethics rules that apply to all Colorado lawyers,” said Ethics Watch boss Luis Toro in a statement. “The Colorado Rules of Professional Conduct specifically warn lawyers against conduct involving dishonesty or misrepresentation and against failure to adequately supervise their non-attorney staff.”[...]
A spokesman for Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper, who is running unopposed for the Democratic nomination for governor, didn’t return telephone and e-mail messages seeking comment on the McInnis charges. But the mayor told The Denver Post editorial board on Tuesday the allegations “create a cloud” over his potential opponent, Post opinion writer Chuck Plunkett wrote on the newspaper’s political blog. Hickenlooper also said he wouldn’t hire a “known plagiarist,” according to Plunkett.
More coverage from the Colorado Independent (David O. Williams). From the article:
Colorado Republican Party chair Dick Wadhams – presumably one of those radical elements – was none too happy with McInnis at the time but rushed to his defense Tuesday, blasting outgoing Colorado Speaker of the House Terrance Carroll for saying McInnis should withdraw and throwing some mud Democratic gubernatorial hopeful John Hickenlooper’s way in the process: “I know it must be difficult for Terrance Carroll to understand how irrelevant he is as a lame duck state representative. But while he’s on his moral high horse today, maybe he can tell Coloradans if Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper was lying in Copenhagen when he attacked skeptics of global warming or was Hickenlooper lying to the Colorado Oil and Gas Association when he said he himself was a skeptic of global warming,” Wadhams said.
A few weeks back there was a bit of controversy over the availability of a series of articles about water that Scott McInnis was paid $300,000 to write by the Hasan Family Foundation. When they became available I read through them, sending my comments to Jason Salzman at BigMedia.org. I gave McInnis the benefit of the doubt for the content since he had been directed to write at a level that most readers could understand. I questioned some of his facts but in general found that the articles were accurate and interesting. The problem is that McInnis appears to have plagiarized some of the writing. Here’s a report from Karen Crummy writing for The Denver Post. From the article:
Although GOP gubernatorial candidate Scott McInnis presented his “Musings on Water” for publication as original works, portions are identical and nearly identical to an essay on water written 20 years earlier by now-Colorado Supreme Court Justice Gregory J. Hobbs. A Clemson University expert who reviewed McInnis’ work next to Hobbs’ essay called it a clear case of plagiarism of both words and ideas…
In at least four of those articles, McInnis’ work mirrors Hobbs’ 1984 essay published by the Colorado Water Congress, “Green Mountain Reservoir: Lock or Key?” In one of his installments of the musings, titled “Pumpbacks and Roundtables,” McInnis uses four full pages that are nearly reprinted verbatim from Hobbs’ earlier work. The justice reviewed examples of his work and McInnis’ essays provided by The Denver Post and released a statement through court spokesman Rob McCallum. “There are definite similarities,” Hobbs said. “I would expect there would be some attribution.”
More 2010 Colorado elections coverage here.
Summit County: Blue River residents are moving off septic systems and on to the Upper Blue River Sanitation District system
July 13, 2010
From the Summit Daily News (Robert Allen):
Sewer service expands into Blue River this month as the town of about 680 residents begins phasing out septic systems. About 100 lots are to have access to sewer service after the first round of construction ends in November…
The sanitation district’s improvements there includes installing a lift station and other equipment for the sewer. Construction is to then proceed south through the Mountain View and Sherwood Forest subdivisions. The district awarded the $800,000 contract to Stan Miller, Inc. Carlberg said the Blue River sewer expansion is to include about 670 lots over the next 10 to 12 years, depending when subdivisions want to connect. Service and connection costs are deferred until people have connected with the system.
In other sanitation news, the district’s $34 million treatment plant expansion at Farmer’s Korner is on track for completion as early as next summer — earlier than a previous projection of December 2011, Carlberg said.
More wastewater coverage here.
Energy policy — geothermal: The Bureau of Land Management is assessing the geothermal energy potential for the San Luis Valley
July 13, 2010
From The Pueblo Chieftain (Matt Hildner):
The agency, which administers the federal mineral estate, has started an analysis of what lands should be open to geothermal leasing and what conditions should govern the development, said Joe Vieira, project manager for the valley’s BLM office. There are no outstanding geothermal leases in the region, nor have there been any parcels nominated for leasing, but federal and state officials hope that will change…
Nine areas of the state have been identified as spots with the best potential, including the edges of the San Luis Basin, the Raton Basin west of Trinidad and Mount Princeton near Buena Vista…
The agency is seeking public comment on the kinds of leasing stipulations that should apply and what areas should be off limits to development. Restrictions could include no surface occupancy, controlled surface occupancy or timing limitations, in which developers are barred from any construction activity for a specific time frame. Areas that will be excluded from leasing include the National Park System, congressionally-dedicated wilderness areas and wilderness study areas.
From the Summit Daily News (Julie Sutor):
Aquatic nuisance species like zebra mussels, quagga mussels, New Zealand mudsnails and rusty crayfish have thus far not been detected in Summit County’s waters. But they’re practically banging on our door. Populations of the invasive mussels are already established in Pueblo Reservoir and in multiple reservoirs in Grand County. Stopping them from crossing the county border depends on the vigilance of boaters, anglers and others who enjoy the water…
According to [Elizabeth Brown, state invasive species coordinator for the Colorado Division of Wildlife], people can get confused or intimidated by the topic of invasive species, but halting their spread is actually quite simple. “It’s very easy for an everyday person who knows nothing about natural resources biology to stop invasive species just by making sure their boat or ATV doesn’t have any biological material on it. Whether on land or water, it’s the same message: Keep your stuff clean, take nothing with you, and leave nothing behind,” Brown said.
Taking nothing with you includes not picking up plants or animals from one body of water and move them to another. For that matter, don’t take water from one place and move it to another — some species are so small at juvenile stages of development that they’re invisible to the naked eye. And if you’ve become tired of tending your household aquarium, never release species into local habitats…
Both [zebra and quagga] mussels are small barnacle-like mollusks with dark and light stripes. They smother aquatic organisms, such as crayfish and native clams and outcompete for food and aquatic habitat. They damage equipment by attaching to boat motors or hard surfaces and clog water treatment facilities. Once they’re in the water, there’s no way to control them, so prevention is the best — and only — cure. Each female mussel produces about one million eggs a year. From the time the mussels enter a water body, they can completely cover its bottom and begin creeping up the shoreline within a matter of five years…
The rusty crayfish, native to the American Midwest, is Colorado’s newest invasive aquatic species. It was originally spread by anglers who used it as bait. The crustacean has been discovered in the headwaters of Colorado’s Yampa River. “They don’t create the high-dollar cost for water supplies like zebra mussels do, but from an ecological standpoint, they’re pretty horrendous. They have strong impacts to the food web and native fishes,” Brown said.
The Eurasian watermilfoil, a submerged aquatic plant, also appeared recently in the Centennial State. It forms extensive, thick, dense mats that clog water bodies, disrupting fisheries, fostering mosquitos and impairing drinking water.
The New Zealand mudsnail was first detected in Colorado rivers and streams in 2004. The mudsnail invades new habitat when it becomes attached to fishing gear, boats, trailers, fish or bait, and then it comes off in the next stream or river. Mudsnails consume aquatic vegetation, upsetting the balance of the aquatic environment.
More invasive species coverage here.
A few weeks back there was a bit of controversy over the availability of a series of articles about water that Scott McInnis was paid $300,000 to write by the Hasan Family Foundation. When they became available I read through them, sending my comments to Jason Salzman at BigMedia.org. I gave McInnis the benefit of the doubt for the content since he had been directed to write at a level that most readers could understand. I questioned some of his facts but in general found that the articles were accurate and interesting. The problem is that McInnis appears to have plagiarized some of the writing. Here’s a report from Karen Crummy writing for The Denver Post. From the article:
Although GOP gubernatorial candidate Scott McInnis presented his “Musings on Water” for publication as original works, portions are identical and nearly identical to an essay on water written 20 years earlier by now-Colorado Supreme Court Justice Gregory J. Hobbs. A Clemson University expert who reviewed McInnis’ work next to Hobbs’ essay called it a clear case of plagiarism of both words and ideas…
In at least four of those articles, McInnis’ work mirrors Hobbs’ 1984 essay published by the Colorado Water Congress, “Green Mountain Reservoir: Lock or Key?” In one of his installments of the musings, titled “Pumpbacks and Roundtables,” McInnis uses four full pages that are nearly reprinted verbatim from Hobbs’ earlier work. The justice reviewed examples of his work and McInnis’ essays provided by The Denver Post and released a statement through court spokesman Rob McCallum. “There are definite similarities,” Hobbs said. “I would expect there would be some attribution.”
More 2010 Colorado elections coverage here.
Arkansas Valley Super Ditch update
July 13, 2010
From The Pueblo Chieftain (Chris Woodka):
“If anyone in this country thinks the cities are not going to try and buy the whole thing, they haven’t been paying attention,” said John Schweizer, Super Ditch president. “This way the farmer gets to keep the water to sell as another crop.” Schweizer disagrees with recent objections raised about the Super Ditch exchange application in Division 2 Water Court that the movement of water will diminish flows in the Arkansas River…
He is concerned not only about Woodmoor Water and Sanitation District hunting for water rights on ditches in the valley, but also last year’s sale of more than one-quarter of the Bessemer Ditch to the Pueblo Board of Water Works. “If Woodmoor, or Pueblo, takes the water, it won’t come back for 100 years. I don’t understand the difference,” Schweizer said. “Why is it all right for them to buy up the Bessemer? The people will take the money, spend it and then they’re gone. If the water stays here, the money will be spent here.”[...]
The High Line Canal’s lease agreement with Aurora in 2004-05 was a demonstration of how a temporary contract can help farmers, Schweizer said. “In 2002, we didn’t have enough water to spit at,” he said. The next three years weren’t much better, but the deal with Aurora allowed farmers to sell the water, while keeping some land in irrigation. Since there are no deals yet for the Super Ditch, no one is sure how much land would be dried up. “We’ve talked about a 35 percent limit, but in a drought year, there’s not enough water. All the High Line lease did was help the farmers by giving them another crop, and the money from it was put back in the valley,” Schweizer said…
Schweizer said the water needs to stay in the Arkansas Valley to retain the ability to grow food locally and is convinced that when the time comes there would be no way to keep cities from taking the water, unless they could merely borrow it.
From the La Junta Tribune Democrat (Bette McFarren):
The Larkspur Ditch is a transmountain diversion into the Arkansas Basin which was purchased by the Catlin Canal. The Larkspur, until recently, has been tied to Catlin Canal Shares, but because it produced such a small portion of Catlin’s needs (between 250 and 300 acre feet per year – on 185,650 acres of irrigated ground), had not attempted to divert any of the Larkspur water for a number of years nor maintained facilities on the Larkspur…
The conservancy district assured the county that all acreage that has in the past benefited from Larkspur water will continue to be served by the Catlin Canal. In conjunction with this purchase, the conservancy would like to enter into an Intergovernmental Agreement with Otero County, rather than going through the Otero County 1041 process. Intergovernmental Agreement is allowed by Section 2.204 of Otero County’s 1041 Regulations. Otero County agrees with the idea, with the assurance that agricultural needs will continue to be met by the Catlin Canal.
More Arkansas Basin coverage here.
