Colorado Water Congress’ Annual Summer Meeting recap: What is a reasonable planning horizon for municipalities?

From The Pueblo Chieftain (Chris Woodka):

A panel of municipal water providers looked at the effect of a Colorado Supreme Court ruling in 2009 that rejected Pagosa Springs’ claims of future water needs in connection with building a reservoir. The case presented new tests for cities to prove claims of future population,water supply needs and conservation of water supplies, said Peter Nichols, a water attorney who moderated the panel…

The controversy started in 2006 when Trout Unlimited challenged a district judge’s approval of a new Pagosa Springs reservoir based on a 100-year planning window. Trout Unlimited argued the need was speculative.
The state Supreme Court overturned approval of the reservoir and sent the case back to the district court. A new claim, based on a 50-year window and alsochallengedby Trout Unlimited, was rejected in 2009. In the court’s opinion, Pagosa Springs failed to prove its case…

For Grand Junction, planning for a water future is difficult because of the boom-and-bust cycles in the local economy that’s tied to energy development.
“The variety of futures is immense,” said Greg Trainor, Grand Junction Utilities manager. “It’s difficult for us to nail down a future.”[...]

[Rod Kuharich, executive director of the South Metro Water Supply Authority] said the South Metro challenge is even more difficult, because in addition to high growth, the area is mining its groundwater reserves.
“I have to plan for future growth and replace groundwater,” Kuharich said. “The greater the restrictions, the harder planning becomes.” Like Trainor, Kuharich said he believes flexibility is needed to find water solutions. Right now, South Metro is negotiating with Denver and Aurora for using return flows. That’s not a sustainable solution, but one that prevents the communities in South Metro from hunting for ag water supplies.

CSU Water Center Monday lecture recap

From The Rocky Mountain Collegian (Allison Sylte):

“Water is the basis of civilization,” said Greg Hobbs, a Colorado Supreme Court Justice. “How we use it, conserve it, and make benefit of it is how we keep our society together.” Hobbs spoke to an assembled group of students and community members in the Natural Resources Building Monday about Colorado’s water policy…

Monday’s lecture was organized by CSU’s Water Center, a collection of different departments in the university, which aims to provide information and research about Colorado’s water policy. “Colorado is in a unique position in terms of water use, because we’re a headwater state,” said Reagan Waskom, the director of the CSU Water Center. “And, according to Colorado law, all water is a public resource.”[...]

Hobbs walked the crowd through various intrastate agreements that have been made regarding water use and the inevitable disputes that come about as a result. He gave attendees a timeline of what led to the creation of Lake Mead and Lake Powell, as well as a case in which Colorado gave Kansas $32 million to compensate for misappropriated water. The only way to reach settlements in water disputes, Hobbs said, lies in impartial resolution by our decision makers. Judges, he said, need to be removed from politics to make tough decisions.

Energy policy — Coalbed methane: State Engineer’s produced water rules lawsuit(s) update

From The Durango Herald (Joe Hanel):

The case, Vance v. Wolfe, earned plaintiffs Bill and Elizabeth Vance a spot in the history of Colorado water law. The fellow plaintiffs, Jim and Theresa Fitzgerald, of Bayfield, celebrated the ruling as a protection of their water rights and the springs they worked for decades to restore to health. But the Legislature’s bill led to a chain of events that has everyone back in court this summer to fight out three new lawsuits…

The Legislature did two things: It gave the engineer’s office until Aug. 1 this year to process the permits, and it allowed State Engineer Dick Wolfe to make rules that exclude gas wells drilled into deep formations from the need to obtain water permits. Wolfe held hearings last year and early this year and eventually decided that many wells in the San Juan Basin don’t need permits. In general, the wells farther north, closest to where the coal formations climb to the surface, still need water permits.

Sarah Klahn, a water lawyer for the Vance and Fitzgerald families, said the rules threaten to undo the significant victory of the Vance case. Klahn and fellow lawyer Alan Curtis filed two new lawsuits against Wolfe for adopting the rules. The first one will be heard in Greeley this year. It claims the state engineer illegally adopted the rules without notifying landowners that their water might be at risk. “The real people who stand to be injured on the ground because of this stuff did not get notice,” Curtis said.

Their first legal notification that something was up was the huge water-rights application to state Water Court by gas companies that landowners got in the mail this year, he said. They are not alone in the fight this time. Other plaintiffs include heavyweights like the Denver Board of Water Commissioners, the cities of Boulder, Centennial and Sterling, and several other water users.

The second lawsuit, filed in Durango, challenges the map that Wolfe used to decide which wells to regulate. Gas companies paid for the expert who drew the map, and it leaves out wells that should face scrutiny from water regulators, Klahn and Curtis say.

A third lawsuit takes the fight to all of Southwest Colorado. In February, the state engineer amended the rules to include other geological formations, including the shales found in Montezuma, Dolores and western La Plata counties. The rules determined that groundwater in the Paradox formation – which covers a wide swath of Southwest Colorado – is nontributary, meaning gas companies will not have to prepare expensive plans to replace the water they use in their wells. The area has not been drilled for gas yet, but the rocks hold a potentially large amount of shale gas, so it could become an important drilling area in the future. Durango water lawyer Amy Huff filed a separate lawsuit on behalf of several local landowners to challenge the rules over the Paradox formation and other geologic layers. Huff said the state engineer has not done enough to prove that gas companies can take water out of the rock formations without harming surface streams…

An Aspen group, Public Counsel of the Rockies, paid the plaintiffs’ legal fees in the Vance-Fitzgerald lawsuit. In March, the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation made a $300,000 grant to Public Counsel of the Rockies to continue the coal-bed methane work, according to the Hewlett Foundation. Public Counsel of the Rockies’ tax forms describe the Vance lawsuit as a test case to bring water regulation to gas wells

More coalbed methane coverage here and here.

Energy policy — oil shale: American Oil Shale is building a processing plant to test their technology

Oil shale has been the “Next Big Thing” in Colorado for over a 100 years. 2011 could be the year that a company proves to itself and the world that the resource can be produced economically in an environmentally sound way. Here’s a short report from Bloomberg Business Week. From the article:

One of three companies with federal leases to research and develop oil shale in Colorado said it plans to start testing its technology early next year. American Shale Oil said it’s building a processing facility west of Rifle in western Colorado. The company expects to employ about two dozen people during the research phase.

More oil shale coverage here and here.

Water for People scores $5.6 million from the Gates Foundation

Here’s the release from Water for People:

Water For People (www.waterforpeople.org), a nonprofit international development organization, announced today receipt of a $5.6 million grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to support their innovative Sanitation as a Business program.

The grant represents a significant investment over four years in Water For People’s Sanitation as a Business work, testing possible sustainable sanitation services in Africa, Asia, and Latin America. This groundbreaking program seeks to revolutionize the sanitation sector. The program will combine profit incentives for small local companies and income generation programs for poor households and schools, demonstrating a shift from unsustainable, subsidy-based sanitation programs toward sustainable, profitable sanitation services. By merging business principles of market research and segmentation with comprehensive community involvement and thorough evaluation of results, Water For People aims to create a truly scalable model, expanding affordable sanitation coverage in multiple locations worldwide.

“Water For People is honored to receive this grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. It will allow us to test, improve and expand our entrepreneurial Sanitation as a Business program,” said Ned Breslin, Water For People CEO. “Ultimately, we seek to do more than bring sanitation to millions of people in developing countries. We seek to do so in a way that fundamentally transforms the sector. This model will challenge subsidy-driven, loan finance and passive private sector approaches to the global sanitation crisis.”

“Identifying profitable business models that engage local communities is critical to creating safe and sustainable sanitation systems,” said Rachel Cardone, program officer with Water, Sanitation & Hygiene at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. “Water For People is developing and testing these kinds of models, which have the potential to scale up across regions and improve the health, economic, and social conditions of millions of poor people.”

Water For People first began experimenting with Sanitation as a Business principles in Malawi, Africa in 2008. Since then, sanitation entrepreneurs have developed ongoing maintenance relationships with households to service over 1,000 latrines.

Nick Burn, Water For People International Program Director explains, “This program is promising because in many respects it is not just about sanitation. Rather, it is about profit and services, using businesses as a vehicle for reaching far larger numbers of people with sanitation than traditional approaches have been able to do.”

“This is a significant grant for Water For People, and will allow us to build on the initiative already in place in Malawi and increase its capacity to spread beyond Malawi’s borders to benefit communities throughout Africa, Asia, and Latin America,” Burn continued. “The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation grant allows us to broaden and deepen our programmatic work. We hope to work in new ways to help increase impact, go to scale and ideally demonstrate to others that Sanitation as a Business is a powerful approach that can be replicated beyond our programs.”

For more information about Water For People and the organization’s initiative Sanitation as a Business, contact Peter Mason, Director of Marketing and Communications at pr@waterforpeople.org or visit the website at www.waterforpeople.org

Thanks to the Denver Business Journal for the heads up.

La Salle: Groundwater seepage problems

From The Greeley Tribune (Bill Jackson):

[Bill Tulk's] home is among several in La Salle that have had basement flooding problems in the past couple of weeks, but Tulk and water officials said it’s something they have no control over. It’s caused by too much surface water the past three years, which comes on the heels of nearly five years of dry conditions that drove water tables to near record lows in some cases. “It’s high water levels. There’s nothing anybody can do about it,” Tulk said, except install sump pumps to keep the water out, which he has done in the past week. He said he installed one on the south side of his house about a week ago and put in another on the northwest corner of his house over the weekend. He was pumping the water into his back yard, but when it became saturated, he started pumping into the gutter and letting the water run down the street…

The homes are along the Union Ditch, an irrigation company that supplies water from a point near Milliken to east of La Salle, and some people blamed the ditch company for the problems. But Tulk and others said it’s not the company’s fault. Gary Alles of the Union Ditch Co. said the problem is fields in the area of the neighborhood that have been irrigated all summer long. On top of that, groundwater levels have risen because of an excess of surface water this year and the previous two years. “Our ditch has been running a foot and a half to 2 feet below the ditch bank all year long,” Alles said, noting that he, too, has had problems at his home northeast of La Salle. “We’ve been running two, 3-inch (sump) pumps most of the summer to keep water out of the basement,” he said, adding that his farm is at the east end of the Union Ditch.

Dick Wolfe, head of the Colorado Division of Water Resources, said levels of groundwater aquifers up and down the South Platte River have increased by 2-3 feet and his office has been getting calls throughout the summer from residents with water problems in basements. Those calls, he said, have come from Boulder all along the river to the northeast. There have been similar problems in the Ault and Nunn areas of northern Weld County, as well, Wolfe said, and again, it’s due to rising groundwater tables.

More South Platte River Basin coverage here and here.

Energy policy — nuclear: Powertech plans ‘aquifer enhancement’ at proposed Centennial Project operation

From the Fort Collins Coloradoan (Bobby Magill):

Powertech’s plan for in situ leaching now includes a process called “aquifer enhancement.” The report says aquifer enhancement involves raising the water table beneath the mine site by injecting fresh water into the ground around the perimeter of each field of wells used for uranium extraction. The fresh water, which will likely come from the Colorado-Big Thompson Project once water rights are purchased, will keep the oxygen levels around the uranium ore at the correct level so the ore can be extracted. The aquifer enhancement process will create a “hydraulic fence” around each well field, but the report says, “No modeling has been completed by Powertech to assess the effect of the hydraulic fence on the surrounding water resources during operation.”

David Berry, director of the Colorado Mined Land Reclamation Office, said he is uncomfortable speculating on what Powertech’s aquifer enhancement process might mean. “Regardless, state standards apply,” he said.

More nuclear coverage here and here.

The Colorado Water Quality Division hits Colorado Springs with $50,000 in fines for spills

From The Pueblo Chieftain (Chris Woodka):

The Colorado Water Quality Division of the Department of Public Health and Environment has determined violations of previous compliance orders for sanitary sewer overflows during the last five years resulted in civil penalties of more than $50,000, according to consent decrees on amendments to previous compliance orders. Previous penalties have totaled about $400,000…

The amount of contaminants spilled in the last five years is far less than the discharges from 1998-2005 that led to the compliance orders, but each incident is a violation of state law, according to amendments released this month by the Colorado Water Quality Division.

The division listed eight releases of partially treated wastewater, called reclaimed water, between 50 and 3,500 gallons into Monument Creek or Fountain Creek from 2006-10. Causes ranged from equipment or line failure to contractor damage. Civil penalties for those releases totaled $13,266. The division listed 18 releases of raw sewage into Fountain Creek or its tributaries ranging from 2 to 8,700 gallons from 2006-10. The releases were caused by blockages, vandalism and in one case equipment malfunction. Civil penalties for those releases totalled $43,624…

Colorado Springs has spent $143 million in improvements to comply with state orders on its sanitary sewer system since 2000. The political furor over the continued spills into Fountain Creek resulted in the Fountain Creek Vision Task Force and led to the formation of the Fountain Creek Watershed Flood Control and Greenway District. Colorado Springs also committed to spend $75 million over 15 years for additional wastewater system improvements as part of its 1041 permit with Pueblo County for the Southern Delivery System, and reported spending $9 million toward that figure last year.

More Fountain Creek coverage here and here.

Conservation: Northern Colorado Water’s Efficiency in Landscaping and Watering seminar Wednesday

From the Loveland Reporter-Herald:

Northern Colorado Water’s Efficiency in Landscaping and Watering series will continue with a session on using less water and still looking good. The free water seminar will take place 12:30-1:15 p.m. Wednesday at Northern Colorado Water, 220 Water Ave., Berthoud. Reserve a spot at registration@ncwcd.org or call 622-2220. Walk-ins are welcome too.

For details, visit www.northernwater.org.

More conservation coverage here.

Colorado State University Professor Developing Anaerobic Digester to Reduce Cost of Waste Disposal, Particularly in Western States

Here’s the release from Colorado State University:

A Colorado State University professor is developing an anaerobic digester that turns animal waste into methane using much less water than conventional technology, making it more economically feasible and easier for use by feedlots and dairies in Western states.

Anaerobic digesters are often applied at large animal feeding operations elsewhere in the country, largely in the Midwest or on the East Coast, because of the abundance of water resources, said Sybil Sharvelle, assistant professor of civil engineering. High liquid content waste is required by existing technology to enable pumping and mixing of the waste in addition to stimulation of the growth of microorganisms that convert waste into methane.

“In the arid West, you pay for water rights, so water use is very controlled and there’s a financial motivation for producers to conserve water, which is why management practices are different,” Sharvelle said.

Sharvelle and her graduate student, Luke Loetscher, are collaborating with Fort Collins, Colo.-based Stewart Environmental Consultants Inc. and the university’s Agricultural Experiment Stations to evaluate the feasibility of anaerobic digestion at Colorado feeding operations. She has an Extension appointment to help tackle issues related to agricultural waste throughout the state of Colorado.
Stewart Energy, a wholly owned subsidiary of Stewart Environmental Consults in Fort Collins, is working to commercialize the process and has an exclusive option to license the process from the Colorado State University Research Foundation, or CSURF.

Forbes Guthrie, CEO of Stewart Energy, said, “This process addresses a significant and underserved market of energy production from low-moisture biomass. In addition, the process will ultimately help the agricultural community to meet more stringent environmental regulations with regards to both air and water emissions and, at the same time, provide the operations with stable and predictable energy costs for multiple years in advance.”

Sharvelle’s system is unique because it separates the digestion process into two major steps. How it works: Water is trickled over dry waste in a vessel to capture organic materials and convert nearly 60 percent of the solid material into liquid organic acids. The liquid is put into another reactor which is heated to incubate the bacteria living in the digester. These bacteria then convert waste into methane.
That separation of processes also assists Western farming and ranching operations that must contend with rocks and sand in the waste when they scrape it from their lots. These materials are detrimental to operation of conventional anaerobic digestion technology. With Sharvelle’s system, remaining solids from the first step – known as hydrolysis – are separated and can be composted.

“Feedlots are huge and they produce a lot of manure, and the compost they produce is usually more than the area around them has demand for,” Sharvelle said. “Feedlots are often located in areas where there is not a lot of fertile farmland, so they’re ending up with this extra waste material that there’s nothing to do with.”

The methane produced in the digester can then be used as a source of energy to run a generator and used in a natural gas pipeline once byproducts such as carbon dioxide are removed.

Biological processing through anaerobic digestion became common practice with wastewater treatment in the 1960s and 1970s, Sharvelle said.

Sharvelle is based in the College of Engineering. Her research interests include biological waste processing, water reuse and sustainable water and waste management. She also contributes to the CSU Institute for Livestock and Environment with the goal of finding practical, economical solutions to minimize environmental impacts from the livestock industry.

Energy policy — hydroelectric: Governor Ritter Announces Acceleration Of Small Hydro Projects in Colorado

From The Aspen Times (Aaron Hedge):

It’s too early to tell, however, if that would be a good route for Aspen and its proposed Castle Creek hydroelectric plant, for which the city utilities department plans to seek an exemption from the agency. City spokeswoman Sally Spaulding said the pilot program announced by Gov. Bill Ritter, which would establish a partnership with the federal government, would probably not accommodate the timeline the city is pursuing with the project…

Exemptions are available for projects that would generate five or more megawatts of power or projects that utilize existing pipelines that feed other water usage, such as Aspen’s Thomas Reservoir, which provides residents with drinking water…

Any projects in Ritter’s new program will have to be implemented via existing infrastructure, according to the MOU [between Colorado and FERC]…

City Council indicated earlier this month that it would support the exemption, but asked for more information on how the health of the stream would be maintained after the project is built. David Hornbacher, project director, said the city would conduct yearly studies modeled from a baseline Colorado Division of Wildlife review of the stream after the plant starts operating. The investigation would determine whether the project will damage the stream. The hydropower project would divert 25 cubic feet per second through an existing pipeline from water-intake facilities on Castle and Maroon creeks to Thomas Reservoir. The water would all return to Castle Creek about 300 feet above its confluence with the Roaring Fork River. To qualify for FERC exemption, a hydropower project must allow the water to return to the body it came from or be used again for non-hydropower purposes. Spaulding said that, either way, the water all eventually runs into the Roaring Fork River.

More hydroelectric coverage here and here.

Republican River Basin Water and Drought Portal

Say hello to the Republican River Basin Water and Drought Portal. From the front page:

Water resources in the Republican River Basin are vital to the sustainability of the life that surrounds them. Not only is it important to the well being of people but it’s also necessary for crop production, animal life, and the hydrological cycle. This portal was created to provide comprehensive information on emerging and ongoing water and drought issues for anyone that has an interest in the Republican River Basin. It will give stakeholders the planning information and tools needed to develop sustainable water strategies as well as information to better prepare for and respond to water shortage and drought.

Thanks to Fox 31 News for the link.

More from the McCook Daily Gazette. From the article:

The river has been a vital lifeline since prehistoric times, providing precious water to a parched prairie since before the region’s earliest European explorers named it in reference to the Kit-ke-hak-i, or Republican Pawnees…

A new website won’t solve the all problems, but should prove to be a valuable resource as the process continues. Created by the National Drought Mitigation Center at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln School of Natural Resources, hosted by the Upper Republican Natural Resources District and created with the help of the Lower, Middle and Tri-Basin Natural Resources Districts, the site is at http://www.rrdp.org

More Republican River Basin coverage here and here.

Forest to Faucet Partnership: Denver Water and the U.S. Forest Service to pony up $33 million for watershed protection

Here’s the release from Denver Water (Stacy Chesney):

Denver Water and the U.S. Forest Service Rocky Mountain Region announced their plans to equally share an investment of $33 million, over a five-year period, in restoration projects on more than 38,000 acres of National Forest lands, at an event in Dillon, Colo., today.

This partnership will accelerate and expand the U.S. Forest Service’s ability to restore forest health in watersheds critical for Denver Water’s water supplies and infrastructure. Forest thinning and other wildfire fuels reduction projects will take place around and upstream of Strontia Springs, Gross, Antero, Eleven Mile Canyon and Cheesman reservoirs, and in an area near the town of Winter Park. The projects will reduce the risk of wildfires upstream of Denver Water’s reservoirs and other water delivery infrastructure.

“Thirty million Americans depend upon water from Colorado’s public and private forests. Maintaining the health of these forests is everyone’s business,” said Harris Sherman, USDA Under Secretary for Natural Resources and Environment. “I applaud Denver Water for their long-term investment in our National Forest watersheds. By leveraging our shared resources, we are able to do more work, faster, and in the critical areas. This partnership is a model for forest managers and water providers throughout the country.”

“There is a direct connection between healthy forests and sustainable supplies of clean water,” said Greg Austin, vice president of the Denver Board of Water Commissioners. “Denver Water has spent more than $10 million in the aftermath of the Buffalo Creek and Hayman fires. We are taking this proactive step to invest in the future, by keeping our watershed healthy rather than paying for impacts from a catastrophic crown fire in the future. Denver Water is committed to managing water supplies, developing resources and carrying out projects in an environmentally responsible way, and we’re happy this partnership has such mutual benefit.”

Forest health treatments will help protect water resources for Denver Water’s customers as well as millions more downstream beneficiaries, including homes, businesses and agriculture. Restoration also will help the forests become more resistant to future insect and disease, reduce wildfire risks and maintain habitat for fish and wildlife. More resilient forests will also be more adaptive to the impacts of a changing climate.

Gov. Ritter applauded the creation of this partnership between Denver Water and the U.S. Forest Service. “The scale of the ongoing mountain pine beetle infestation is well beyond anything anyone of us has experienced,” Gov. Ritter said. “It is going to take unprecedented levels of collaboration to address these serious threats to our forests, our communities and our watersheds. This is an historic commitment and a vital step toward healthier forests in Colorado.”

More coverage from the Summit Daily News (Robert Allen). From the article:

The work is intended to protect critical watersheds against catastrophic wildfires in areas impacted by mountain pine beetle, as well as other tree-killing infestations…

Areas treated are to be include the Blue River watershed as well as forests upstream of Strontia Springs, Gross, Eleven Mile Canyon and Cheesman reservoirs. Colorado has about 3 million acres of dead trees — amid 17-18 million across the West — because of beetle infestation. [Harris Sherman, U.S. Department of Agriculture under secretary for Natural Resources and the Environment] said the problem relates to past fire suppression efforts and climate change.

More coverage from the Summit County Citizens Voice (Bob Berwyn). From the article:

Part of the Forest Service share of the funding will come from money that’s already been allocated to the Rocky Mountain region of the Forest Service, said Harris Sherman, Department of Agriculture Under Secretary for Natural Resources and Environment. Additionally, several national forests in Colorado competed favorably for a separate slice of forest health funds that will also specifically toward these critical watershed treatments. Denver Water customers will pay for the other half of the work, seen as an effective way to prevent the huge back-end costs associated with cleaning up after a fire. “I don’t think we’ll have any problems selling this to our rate payers,” said Greg Austin, vice president of the Denver Board of Water Commissioners. Austin explained that Denver Water has already spent $10.5 million on dealing with impacts to Strontia Springs Reservoir after the disastrous Hayman fire. It could cost up to another $30 million to complete the restoration, and more if there are significant rainfall events that lead to more erosion and sedimentation.

“The Forest Service can’t do this alone,” said Sherman, adding that about 33 million people in 13 states depend on water that come from Colorado watersheds. “Maintaining these forests is everybody’s business. I applaud Denver Water for their long-term investment in our national forest watersheds.”

The work will focus in thinning, fuel reduction, creating fire breaks, erosion control decommissioning roads, and, eventually, reforestation. The partnership could serve as a model for similar agreements across the West and with other industries, Sherman added, singling out the ski industry and power companies with infrastructure on forested lands. Denver Water manager Jim Lochhead said the agreement is a critical partnership based on mutual interest, and credited former Denver Water manager Chips Barry with laying the groundwork for the announcement. The work will take place on the Upper South Platte River, in the South Platte River headwaters, the St. Vrain River, and in the Colorado River headwaters, including the Blue River.

More restoration coverage here.

Grand Junction: Colorado Riverfront Project update

From The Grand Junction Daily Sentinel (Katie Steele and Bennett Boeschenstein):

Restoration efforts began in 1985 with a clean-up project on the 30-acre weed- and junk-infested Watson Island. For two years, volunteers spent countless hours cleaning the island by hand. They hauled 25 years of salvage yard scrap metal, 4,000 tires and over 400 truckloads of waste to the landfill. It was only the beginning. What began as a local clean-up project expanded into a valleywide effort to reclaim the rivers and their floodplains as social, economic, wildlife and recreational amenities — the highlight of which is the Colorado Riverfront Trail. Today, communities across the Grand Valley are connected by over 30 miles of trails. Over 450,000 visitors enjoy the neighboring Colorado River State Park to bike, fish, swim, camp, hike and boat. There are numerous community events around the rivers, including concerts, triathlons, bike rides, raft races and festivals.

More restoration coverage here.

Colorado Water Congress’ Annual Summer Meeting recap

From The Pueblo Chieftain (Chris Woodka):

Republican Dan Maes and Democrat John Hickenlooper, the Denver mayor, spoke a day apart at the conference, addressing water conservation and storage as solutions to the state water woes.

Hickenlooper said he is committed to urban water conservation, saying Denver has cut per capita use by 20 percent. “In the end, maybe it’s not Denver’s water, but Colorado’s water,” Hickenlooper said. “Maybe it’s in Denver’s best interest that we keep every drop of water we can in the Colorado River, the Arkansas River, the [Fraser] River and the South Platte River.”

It is important to preserve water for farms, the ski industry and energy production throughout the state to boost Denver’s economy, Hickenlooper said. He called for an end of the adversarial relationship among the state’s water interests and to collaboratively reach solutions to water problems…

Maes focused more on storage. “If it starts in Colorado, it’s our water. The question is how do we keep it here,” Maes said in a Thursday appearance. “We need to store as much of our water in the state as possible.”

He spoke in favor of the Northern Integrated Supply Project, which would construct two new reservoirs in Northern Colorado. And he favored keeping small farmers in business through state water policy that does not automatically shift water from agricultural to urban purposes.

Meanwhile, Colorado’s third party candidate for governor, Tom Tancredo, is still in the race, according to a report from Gary Harmon writing for the Grand Junction Daily Sentinel. From the article:

He has two words for Colorado water, Tancredo said: “Store it.”

More 2010 Colorado elections coverage here.

Arkansas Valley: New irrigation efficiency rules

From the Ag Journal (Bette McFarren):

To avoid another lawsuit [by Kansas over flows in the Arkansas River], rules have been put in place and Kansas is involved in developing the rules for water usage for Colorado farmers and must be compensated for overuse of the water in the Arkansas River. A new rule, Rule 10 Compliance Plan, is said to be better than the previous rule. But farmers are wondering about the fairness of it all. Under Rule 10 farmers who make certain improvements, such as lining ditches and laterals and/or the use of sprinkler systems, would have to provide a fee per farm and per acre, plus maps of acreage and details of irrigation practices.

This will be a problem for Don McBee, who irrigates off the Fort Lyon Canal. McBee has known for a long time that trouble was coming, and he has tried to warn other farmers. McBee said that the water received in the ending part of the Fort Lyon and Amity canals is so full of silt that the farmers have to let the water settle out before it can be used in sprinklers or drip systems. He has advised the farmers to line all of the ditches they can before regulations are put in force next year which may prevent lining of ditches and laterals. Now any improvements he makes could be fined. The pond loss through seepage is extreme. He has proposed a pond study that will establish the water loss to seepage that occurs when water is stored in ponds. When water is short, ponds dry up and crack. He hopes to establish a standard percentage of loss to be credited to farmers.

Dr. Mark Bartolo of the Colorado State University Arkansas Valley Research Center in Rocky Ford is working with an experiment called a lysimeter. The lysimeter is a measurement device rather like an eight-foot cube flower pot buried out in a field, he said. The gauges are on top, but the inward part is reached by going down a ladder underground. The lysimeter measures how much water a plant uses, how much passes through, and how much evaporates. The results from the lysimeter are used as a mathematical basis to correlate with weather data obtained from 12 small meteorological stations located from Pueblo to Holly. New developments in technology are happening all the time, but the lysimeter offers the most scientifically valid data for water consumption available at the present time. McBee hopes that his pond seepage study may receive approval similar to that granted to the lysimeter data…

Farmers who have been increasing the efficiency of their systems by going to sprinklers instead of flood irrigation, and also by other improvements, such as lining of ditches and laterals, are affected by the rules. If and when these rules go into effect, these farmers will be required to submit an application and a contract in order to use irrigation water because their more efficient practices reduce the water going back to the river through surface runoff and first level alluvial drainage. The application form will include 1) owner information, 2) farm information (water shares, acres of flood and sprinkler, headgates), 3) map of the areas, 4) statement and signature. Assessment by the Water Conservancy District must be paid in order that the Water Conservancy may buy the acre feet of water to replace the reduced runoff. New membership applications are proposed to be due on January 1 for the next season coverage, with applications accepted until April with late fees attached. Assessments will be determined by the board of directors annually.

More Arkansas Valley consumptive use rules coverage here.

Lone Tree: City to be recognized for conservation communication efforts

From the Douglas County News Press:

The City of Lone Tree will be recognized by the City-County Communications and Marketing Association at the organization’s annual conference in September in Atlanta. Lone Tree will receive an award in the category of Go Green Communication Program Efforts for its community outreach during the implementation of its Homeowners’ Association Irrigation Efficiency Grant Program. The Savvies are awarded to skilled and effective city, county, agency or district professionals who have creatively planned and completed successful innovations in communications and marketing.

Lone Tree demonstrated its efforts in reaching out to residents during its Irrigation Efficiency Grant Program that began at the beginning of 2009. Lone Tree partnered with Denver Water to create a program to complete a citywide irrigation system audit of the common areas for each homeowners association. As a result, 2.5 million irrigated square feet were audited and the opportunity for water conservation of an estimated 18 million gallons annually was identified.

More conservation coverage here.

The EPA releases their Draft Clean Water Strategy report

From the Environmental Protection Agency:

The Coming Together for Clean Water event and online discussion gave us a lot to think about regarding how EPA can most effectively pursue our nation’s clean water goals. After a lot of consideration, we’ve developed this draft strategy to outline how we hope to accomplish those goals.

We’re pleased to share this draft with you and welcome your comments. If you’re commenting about something specific, please include the section title, page and paragraph number to which you’re referring. Also, please indicate whether you’re commenting as a private citizen or on behalf of an organization (and if it’s the latter, please include the name of the organization as well).

The draft strategy will be available for comment until September 17. After that, we’ll start developing the final strategy, which we hope to have ready by late 2010.

Coming Together for Clean Water Disc Draft Aug 2010 FINAL

More Environmental Protection Agency coverage here.

CWCB: Draft State of Colorado Flood Mitigation Plan ready for public comment

From email from the Colorado Water Conservation Board:

The State of Colorado’s DRAFT Flood Mitigation Plan is now available on the CWCB website for public comment. The public comment period will officially close on September 9th, 2010.

The Flood Plan was recently updated with input from a Flood Mitigation Advisory Committee to comply with the FEMA’s 3-year planning cycle and is a part of the State’s Natural Hazard Mitigation Plan. The update process has resulted in a revised Plan that includes an updated and comprehensive statewide flood vulnerability assessment, and outlines progress on mitigation strategies that the State has completed or will continue to pursue toward the goal of reducing flood losses.

Please direct all comments to Jeff Brislawn at jeff.brislawn@amec.com by close of business on September 9th, 2010. Should you have any questions regarding the plan or public comment period please contact Tom Browning at the CWCB’s Watershed and Flood Protection Section at 303.866.3441×3208.

More CWCB coverage here.

Great Outdoors Colorado August Newsletter

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Colorado Water Congress’ Annual Summer Meeting recap

From The Pueblo Chieftain (Chris Woodka):

The Arkansas Valley Conduit received top billing in Rep. John Salazar’s address to the Colorado Water Congress summer convention Friday. “The conduit will allow 40 communities to have clean drinking water,” said Salazar, D-Colo. “I’m very proud of that legislation.”[...]

Salazar also talked about other water issues in the state, including pending legislation to deal with pine-bark beetle destruction and successful legislation to renovate the Platoro Reservoir dam on the Conejos River in the San Luis Valley…

The congressman’s opponent for the District 3 seat in the November election, Republican Scott Tipton, spoke on the importance of water for both domestic and agricultural purposes. “Those of us in rural Colorado need to protect our water,” Tipton said. “I will stand up to keep water in the 3rd Congressional District.” Tipton also wants to work with other states in the Colorado River Compact to build new storage in Colorado at the headwaters of the river…

[State Rep. Cory Gardner of Yuma] called for a new generation of leadership for water development in Colorado, outlining a platform of water storage, alignment of federal purpose to state needs and conservation. “To provide more storage, we must start now,” Gardner said…

Friday’s speakers followed a series of state lawmakers Thursday who talked about the importance of water. Among their comments:

- “Water storage and structure is as important to the state as the highway system,” said Ellen Roberts, R-Durango.
- “You need to concern yourself with the state budget process,” said Sen. Al White, R-Hayden, saying he will continue to fight the raids on state water project loan funding.
- “We need to increase water literacy in Colorado,” said Rep. Randy Fisher, D-Fort Collins.

More Colorado water coverage here.

Windsor: Town Board approves budget for new finished water tank design

From the Windsor Beacon (Ashley Keesis-Wood):

The Windsor Town Board passed a resolution seeking a Colorado Department of Local Affairs (DOLA) grant to build a new, 3-million gallon concrete water storage tank. “This will identify the future building of the water tank and meet future demand from the town for the next 20 years,” said Windsor Public Works Director Terry Walker.

The town has tentatively budgeted $600,000 in the 2011 budget to design the tank. “If we do the design and end up getting the grant, we would be shovel-ready for construction,” Walker told the board.

More infrastructure coverage here.

Elk River: Rancher Jay Fetcher named to River Access Dispute Resolution Task Force by Governor Ritter

From Steamboat Today (Mike Lawrence):

Gov. Bill Ritter named Jay Fet cher on Monday as one of 17 members of the River Access Dis pute Resolution Task Force. The group has until Dec. 31 to prepare a report for Ritter and the state Legislature that recommends methods for resolving disputes among landowners, commercial rafters, boaters and anglers on a case-by-case basis as disputes arise…

Fetcher was a logical choice for the task force, [Ritter spokesman Evan Dreyer said] said. “Jay (Fetcher) and his family have owned land and ranched in Northwest Colorado for decades and decades,” he said. “They have a unique perspective from a landowner’s viewpoint that will be extremely valuable to this task force and this process.”

Meanwhile, there is a dispute with the members of the dispute task force, according to a report from Shawn Martin writing for The Pulse- of Colorado Farm Bureau. From the article:

“In addition to the Governor making some questionable appointments to this taskforce, I am most disappointed that he clearly and purposely chose to alienate the organization whose members stand to potentially lose the most from this process. The Colorado Farm Bureau represents a large majority of riverfront landowners in Colorado, but our nominees to the task force are absent from the list of voting appointees,” said Alan Foutz, President of Colorado Farm Bureau. “It is disappointing that one of the organizations that was most engaged in the debate surrounding HB- 1188 is excluded from this process.”

In addition to a lack of diversity in political philosophy and vocation, the Governors list is also lacking members who live and work on the land of Colorado’s Western Slope. “Over half of the members of the taskforce reside in Front Range communities. It is apparent that the Governor is not serious about creating an equitable process that will yield fair and workable results for all parties involved. It shows his lack of seriousness about the issue,” continued Foutz.

More whitewater coverage here.

Orchard City: Town officials tour highlights improvements to water system

From the Delta County Independent (Hank Lohmeyer):

Town officials conducted a tour last week to view a new water diversion project, take a look at the water treatment plant, and follow the route of the soon-to-begin and already-paid-for Phase I West Side main transmission line replacement project.

This year’s completion of the relatively inexpensive and modest looking Ward Creek diversion belies the project’s incalculable importance to the town. For a comparatively paltry $49,000 price of construction, permits, and engineering, the town now has an alternative to drawing reserve water supplies from the difficult-to-process irrigation flows of Big Ditch.

In addition to that, the project, as explained by officials, creates the ability to draw town water reserves from the much cleaner water stored in Ward Creek Reservoir and to divert that water directly into a pipeline to the treatment plant.

There is a third benefit to the town from the project. It is by far the biggest and most valuable advantage, while at the same time being completely invisible to unknowing eyes. That is access to Ward Creek reservoir itself. To explain — the most glaring weak link in the town’s water utility system has long been the lack of a raw water reservoir that could supply needs of the town’s water customers when springs dry up during severe drought. Orchard City has never had a raw water storage reservoir for its domestic supply. When the town’s extensive system of springs is producing water normally, there is ample water for town needs. But, in the frightful drought year of 2002, the flow of clean mountain water from Orchard City’s springs dwindled to a trickle. Trustees and staff scrambled trying to beg or borrow any water at all off the Grand Mesa that they could somehow manage to get into their collection system, or the Big Ditch…

Also during the town trustees’ victory tour last week, water utility superintendent Keith Peterson explained the workings of the town’s water treatment plant. The plant’s two filtration cells are sufficient to supply water users’ needs in normal, day-to-day operations. But, the plant was constructed in 1999 and 2000 with an eye to the future and was built to house two additional filtration cells, doubling the plant’s capacity, if ever needed.

Trustees also got a look at the two one-million-gallon storage tanks at the treatment plant site that will be the beginning of the soon-to-begin, seven-mile-long, $2-plus million West Side Main transmission line project. With an expectation that work will be able to begin in September, the 12-inch-diameter pressurized water line will follow a course across country and along road rights-of-way directly south to connect with the town’s storage tank at Eckert on Happy Hollow Road.

More Gunnison River Basin coverage here.

Animas-La Plata Project update

From The Durango Telegraph (Leslie Swanson):

Whether you were for or against it, Lake Nighthorse is on the way. After decades of debate, the controversial Animas-La Plata Water Project is almost complete. By this time next year, the reservoir could be full. But will there be recreation at Lake Nighthorse? More than 5,000 acres of land, with 1,490 surface acres of water, less than 2 miles from a town full of outdoor sports enthusiasts? Think about it.

A recently released pair of studies from Durango’s RPI Consulting indicate that Lake Nighthorse could draw approximately 163,000 visitors a year to the area with nearly $8 million to spend on food, lodging, gas, supplies and, of course, souvenirs. In addition, 165 local tourism-based jobs could be created. By 2025, the report ventures, Lake Nighthorse’s attractions could bring 230 jobs and $10.8 million a year to area businesses.

But a recreation plan requires funding and there is little available. In 2008, the state announced that it would not be developing or managing a park at the lake, leaving the Animas-La Plata Water Conservancy District (ALPWCD) and the reservoir’s other sponsors with a choice: either fence it off from the public or come up with a plan – and funding – on their own. The choice was obvious. The potential gains are so solid that the Lake Nighthorse recreation plan is moving forward and gaining momentum.

More Animas River watershed coverage here and here.