Green Mountain Reservoir update
August 20, 2010
From email from Reclamation (Kara Lamb):
If you’ve been watching the gage, you most likely noticed that yesterday we bumped releases from Green Mountain to the Lower Blue up by 150 cfs, bringing it to 550 cfs. This morning, Thursday, we bumped releases up again by another 150 cfs. Currently, we are releasing 700 cfs to the Lower Blue. This release is anticipated to remain through the weekend and into next week.
More Colorado-Big Thompson Project coverage here.
Energy policy — nuclear: Is Cotter, Corp. going to shutter the mill at the Lincoln Park/Cotter Mill superfund site?
August 20, 2010
From the Cañon City Daily Record (Karen Lungu):
John Hamrick, vice president of Cotter mill operations, sent a letter to the director of Air and Toxics Technical Enforcement Program Office of Enforcement Compliance and Environmental Justice, dated July 23, stating, “On June, 30, 2010, Cotter Corporations (N.S.L.) submitted a letter to Mr. Steve Tarlton of the Hazardous Materials and Waste Management Division of Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment notifying him of a change in status of the Primary Impoundment at the Cañon City Milling Facility near Cañon City.” The letter stated that Cotter will “close both the primary and secondary impoundments as soon as reasonably achievable.” Hamrick goes on to say the Cañon City milling facility began dismantling structures and facilities no longer considered useful to the CCMF. The company no longer will carry out radon flux testing, Hamrick said, at the primary impoundment, because the primary impoundment no longer is an active facility that is subject to 40 CFR Part 61, Subpart W requirements.
Previously stating the mill would reopen, Cotter took local lawmakers by surprise when they told regulators it would discontinue testing for radon emissions at the site because it is no longer an active facility subject to regulation. The mill south of Cañon was designated a Superfund site in 1984, making Cotter responsible for continued monitoring of radon emissions at the milling facility, as well as neighboring Lincoln Park.
Southern Delivery System: Colorado Springs City Councillor Tom Gallagher wants Reclamation to redo the project EIS
August 20, 2010
From The Colorado Springs Gazette (Eileen Welsome):
In a 27-page letter sent last month to Interior Secretary Ken Salazar, Councilman Tom Gallagher, a longtime critic of the SDS project, asked that negotiations be suspended and the environmental review process be re-opened to address numerous questions. “It’s time to put the brakes on this and look at alternatives that don’t use Pueblo Reservoir,” he said Thursday…
In his July 7 letter, Gallagher argued that major events have occurred since the environmental review process was completed in 2009, including the abolishment of the stormwater enterprise by Colorado Springs voters and the imminent construction of another pipeline, the Arkansas Valley Conduit, which will be built to serve communities east of the Pueblo Reservoir in the Arkansas Valley.
CSU spokesperson Janet Rummel pointed to letters from the Environmental Protection Agency, the Army Corps of Engineers and U.S. Bureau of Reclamation stating that CSU will still be able to meet its commitment to protect water quality in Fountain Creek, despite the loss of the stormwater enterprise. The construction of the Arkansas Valley Conduit will not affect the storage space that SDS will need in Pueblo Reservoir, she added.
Michael Connor, head of the Bureau of Reclamation, rejected Gallagher’s request on Aug. 3, saying that the environmental review process was complete and that issues raised by Gallagher had been adequately addressed. He added, however, that Reclamation, an agency within the Interior Department, was continuing to monitor this “local and regionally significant” project.
Gallagher’s letter has drawn fire from Mayor Lionel Rivera, who penned his own letter to Salazar, telling him the dissident council member “does not represent the official position of the Colorado Springs City Council on the SDS project.”
Arkansas Valley Conduit: New report says that the project may end up serving 80,000 customers and cost $400 million
August 20, 2010
From The Pueblo Chieftain (Chris Woodka):
Updated figures were presented Thursday to the Southeastern Colorado Water Conservancy District, sponsors of the conduit. The district received the final report produced in preparation for the National Environmental Policy Act review now being conducted by the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation…
The 500-page report also revises cost estimates of four alternatives for the 135-mile conduit. Construction costs range from $330 million to $396 million — up from $300 million in 2006 — depending on the alignment of the conduit, said Kevin Meador of Black and Veatch Engineering…
In addition to the population increase, the amount of water needed for the conduit on average each year would increase to 14,000 acre-feet — or 12.3 million gallons per day from current levels of about 10,000 acre-feet, the report revealed. While there could be 42 communities in the project, the nine largest participants would use 80 percent of the water, Meador said.
From The Pueblo Chieftain (Chris Woodka):
“In 2002, everyone changed their thought patterns, and more people are holding onto their water,” Jim Broderick, executive director of the Southeastern Colorado Water Conservancy District told the Lower Arkansas Valley Water Conservancy District board Wednesday. “This means you will see a full Pueblo Reservoir more of the time.” Broderick explained the timing of a request for a master storage contract by the Southeastern district coincides with an application to build the Arkansas Valley Conduit in an effort to save money on both projects. Because they both use parts of the Fryingpan-Arkansas Project, authorized by Congress in 1962, both require environmental impact statements…
By combining the two studies, the costs of the master contract EIS could be reduced to $500,000 from an estimated $2 million in 2001, Broderick said. The master contract would allow long-term storage at a locked-in rate, which particularly helps cities within the Southeastern district plan for the future, Broderick said…
Colorado Springs dropped out of the master contract process, but the remaining SDS partners have continued. Pueblo West, not in the original group, is in the current master contract. The Lower Ark district, which was formed by a 2002 vote, is among newcomers to the master contract as well, and indicated a need for 15,000 acre-feet of storage…
The Southeastern district also is requesting space not in the original plan, 5,000 acre-feet, primarily for future use in the conduit. Conduit participants La Junta and Crowley County both want space through the master contract, but Lamar dropped its request. Salida, Florence, Canon City and the Upper Arkansas Water Conservancy District remain in the contact and were among the original users. Other new users include Poncha Springs, Penrose, Widefield and Stratmoor Hills, which joined at various times in the past decade. In all, the contract totals 28,200 acre-feet of storage.
More Arkansas Basin coverage here.
Colorado River Basin: Alexandra Cousteau and Expedition Blue Planet explore the headwaters of the Colorado River
August 19, 2010
Click here to view a short film from Expedition Blue Planet via the Mother Nature Network that talks about the challenges that the Colorado River is facing from over-appropriation.
Coyote Gulch reader Kara Lamb makes an appearance explaining the Colorado-Big Thompson project.
Energy policy — nuclear: Is Cotter, Corp. going to shutter the mill at the Lincoln Park/Cotter Mill superfund site?
August 18, 2010
Cotter, Corp. has decided to permanently close the mill at the Lincoln Park/Cotter Mill superfund site. Here’s a report from Bruce Finley writing for The Denver Post. From the article:
Cotter Corp. has informed regulators it will close two toxic-waste impoundment ponds at the mill “as soon as reasonably achievable,” according to a letter Cotter sent to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Cotter, which had previously said the mill would be reopened, now has told state regulators it will stop testing for radon emissions at the site because it is “no longer an active facility” subject to regulation.
The apparent reversal, and Cotter’s decision to stop testing for radon emissions, caught local leaders by surprise. The site has been designated a polluted Superfund site and Cotter has been responsible for monitoring to make sure cancer- causing radon was not escaping the facility.
Fremont County Commissioner Mike Stiehl questioned whether Cotter can stop tests. “That
doesn’t sound right to me.”
More coverage from Tracy Harmon writing for The Pueblo Chieftain. From the article:
“They are working toward closing the impoundments and have been dewatering (drying out) the impoundments for years,” said Jeannine Natterman, public information officer for the Colorado Department of Health. “They have not officially notified us they are closing the (entire) facility.”[...]
Manager John Hamrick said the company will close both the primary and secondary waste impoundments, “as soon as reasonably achievable.” The letter goes on to indicate that radon testing will not be carried out on the primary impoundment this year and in subsequent years because it is no longer an active impoundment. “They have planned to close the impoundments all along and they have been taking old structures down. What the letter means is that they are close to permanently capping the impoundments,” Natterman explained. “Even once capped, the primary impoundment can be used for new, more contemporary operations because it would not have the same material going in. If it is appropriately capped and appropriate materials are used for the cap, the primary impoundment could be used again,” Natterman said.
From The Durango Telegraph (Allen Best):
The electrical production will be relatively small, 22 kilowatts, but enough to power the pumps used to circulate water at the nearby Ouray Hot Springs Pool. It is, in the eyes of Bob Risch, the mayor of Ouray, a start of what he hopes to see more broadly – not just in Ouray, but across the San Juans and beyond. “A bunch of small facilities like this can add up to a significant contribution,” says Risch, an astronomy teacher now retired in Ouray, where he was born and raised…
With access to seed money through the federal stimulus program, many small governments and some individuals have been taking a new look at small hydro across the Colorado Rockies and more broadly across the West. A forum held in Ouray during June drew 100 people, and a similar session held in Durango recently attracted 50 participants.
The potential is great. In a broad-brushed survey conducted several years ago, the Idaho National Laboratory concluded that 1,800 megawatts of electricity could be produced within Colorado without invading wilderness, roadless or other sensitive areas. This compares with the 1,500 megawatts output from the proposed Desert Rock coal-fired plant in New Mexico. More selectively, Colorado energy officials did a quick study of 100 sites, with potential for 100 megawatts – without building new dams, they hasten to add.
Congress has also started paying attention. A subcommittee of the House Natural Resources Committee held a hearing in July to find out what the federal government could do to expedite development of what Grace F. Napolitano, chairwoman of the subcommittee, characterized as low-hanging fruit. “Small hydropower is not the sole answer to generating enough renewable energy to meet our future needs, but it should be an important part of the solution,” she said in an opening statement…
A small hydro installation in Cortez had been identified as feasible even 20 years ago. But federal money administered through the Governor’s Energy Office recently tipped the scale. The project harnesses the power of water flowing year round in a canal from McPhee Reservoir to the town’s water-treatment plant. The unit produces 240 kilowatts of electricity, more than enough to operate the water-treatment plant and enough to feed back into the electrical grid. The extra power is sold to Empire Electric…
Silverton, too, may get a small hydro plant. There, the San Juan County Historical Society has received $140,000 in grant funding and hopes for another $50,000 to build a generating plant at its Mayflower Mill, located two miles east of Silverton. Even with the low flows of fall and winter, production would more than pay group’s $500 to $600 monthly electrical bills for the historical society’s museum in Silverton. “This is huge for our little old historical society,” says Beverly Rich, the president. “We don’t get any other subsidies or tax moneys.”
Uncompahgre Plateau: West Creek monitoring project update
August 18, 2010
From The Grand Junction Daily Sentinel (Dave Buchanan):
What you might see, once or twice a year, are members of the Grand Valley Anglers Chapter of Trout Unlimited continuing a creek-monitoring project begun 13 years ago. While there’s no doubt this long-lived project is volunteer citizen science at its best, please don’t think that “citizen” means unscientific. If anything, the project might be one of the most scientific undertakings a volunteer group can take on.
The West Creek project started and continues thanks to the innate scientific curiosity of geologists John Trammell and the late Dan Powell, whose love of knowledge and all things in nature might have made him the complete naturalist. From the start, the project coordinators kept exacting records of things such as water flows and temperatures, presence of contaminants and even the level of brush along the creek, since that has a large impact on the creek habitat in general. The monitoring has been adopted by the Grand Valley Anglers as a twice-yearly event, with the latest round two weeks ago led by Bill and Mary Graham of Grand Junction…
Those early years of monitoring revealed what Trammell and Powell suspected: that the drought and cattle grazing were the creek’s greatest threats. While ranchers were content to see the cattle chew down the creekside brush, that clearing, plus the muddy, beaten-down banks, left the creek hot and murky, something not conducive to viable trout populations. Trammell said that once the drought forced ranchers to cut back cattle grazing (the BLM still allows one grazing permit for the area), the stream’s trout habitat improved quickly. “The brush (willows, alders and a variety of forbs) rebounded dramatically,” Trammell wrote. “In recent years, we’ve seen cattle return, but I’ve not yet tried to quantify their effect.”
Other questions the monitoring examines include the possibility of pollution from increased development upstream as well as impacts on streamflow from increased domestic use of groundwater that feeds the creek.
More restoration coverage here.
Arkansas Valley Conduit: Reclamation scoping meeting recap
August 18, 2010
From The Pueblo Chieftain (Chris Woodka):
“Water quality is the main concern in the Lower Arkansas Valley, this represents a supplemental supply that will help us stay in compliance,” said Otero County Commissioner Kevin Karney. Karney also is a member of the Southeastern Colorado Water Conservancy District board, sponsors of both the conduit and a master contract for water storage that are being evaluated by the Bureau of Reclamation during a series of meetings this week.
Of the 40 communities that could participate in the conduit, 12 have elevated levels of radionuclides and must begin to take action in thenext few years to reach compliance. Without the conduit, they will be looking at even more expensive solutions to purify water…
La Junta and Las Animas already are using reverse osmosis systems and discharging brine into the Arkansas River. In the future, those communities could face more costly disposal of the brine, Karney noted. “The conduit also is needed for economic development in the lower valley,” he said…
The environmental impact study, which will determine the best route for the conduit as well as locations of filter plants or pumping stations, is expected to be complete in two years, said Reclamation Environmental Specialist Signe Snortland…
Snortland said population projections will be a part of the impact study.
One environmental impact statement and record of decision will be issued for the conduit and the master contract.
Southern Delivery System: Pueblo County commissioners make offer to settle Pueblo West lawsuit over facilities
August 17, 2010
From The Pueblo Chieftain (Chris Woodka):
The settlement agreement was worked out last month by attorneys for Pueblo County, Pueblo West and other water agencies as a way to settle a lawsuit brought by Pueblo West in District Court in April 2009.
In the lawsuit, Pueblo West claimed it would lose water over time if forced to comply with conditions in the county’s 1041 permit that would allow the Southern Delivery System to be built.In the settlement agreement, the county, Colorado Springs Utilities and the Pueblo Board of Water Works would allow Pueblo West to maximize return flows down Wild Horse Creek through a pipeline return. In return, Pueblo West would shelve its plan for a pumpback into Lake Pueblo through a wash behind the golf course…
Commissioners acted on the resolution Monday to preserve both the Pueblo flow management program created under 2004 intergovernmental agreements and Pueblo West’s participation in the SDS, according to the resolution.
Pueblo West is expected to take up the agreement on Aug. 24, said Director Jerry Martin. “Conceptually, we’re on board with it, but we haven’t heard it at a public meeting,” Martin said. “The lawyers have been preparing it, since there are more parties involved than just Pueblo County and Pueblo West.”
Meanwhile not all property owners along the SDS right-of-way have signed agreements with Colorado Springs Utilities. Here’s a report from Chris Woodka writing for The Pueblo Chieftain. From the article:
The Maxwells were offered $2,100 by Colorado Springs Utilities for the easement on the back of the property, a sum they consider too small when thinking about the noise and dust construction will bring. The cleanup, upkeep and taxes on the property will still be their responsibility. “They don’t want to work with us,” Helen Maxwell said. “They think $2,100 is enough for us to suffer the inconvenience.”[...]
“My concern is that there is such a vacancy of property in Pueblo West that we’re going to lose value,” said Pam Williams, who doesn’t intend to sell the easement at the price she was offered and is now being told Colorado Springs City Council could begin condemnation procedures in September. The homeowners were sent letters saying they have until Wednesday to settle or risk legal action. They feel like they’ve been picked off, since Utilities rejected the Maxwell’s suggestion for a joint meeting.
[Darlene Garcia, land acquisition manager for Colorado Springs Utilities] said condemnation through eminent domain is a last resort, but will be used if settlements can’t be reached. “We have to make our construction schedule and that requires a clear right of way for the pipeline proposal,” Garcia said.
Here’s the webpage for registration.
From email from the Colorado Water Conservation Board (Ben Wade):
The Colorado WaterWise (CWW) is hosting its 2nd Annual Water Conservation Workshop on September 24, 2010 in Denver. The CWW partnered with the CWCB, through a CWCB Water Efficiency Grant, to put on this workshop, titled “From the Mountain Top to the Tap: Using Tools and Policy to Make Every Drop Count”. Please save the date and sign up.
More conservation coverage here.
From The Pueblo Chieftain (Chris Woodka):
The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation kicked off a week of meetings dealing with the Arkansas Valley Conduit and a master storage contract sought by the Southeastern Colorado Water Conservancy District. “Most of the impacts are below Pueblo Reservoir, but storage in Pueblo benefits us because we can release water for downstream calls,” said Terry Scanga, general manager of the Upper Arkansas Water Conservancy District. “Where the excess-capacity contract will help is if we have to spill Twin Lakes water and store it in Pueblo.”[...]
[Salida City Councilman Jay Moore] said Salida’s interest in an excess-capacity contract is to strengthen an already diverse water portfolio. “The main thing is that we can have an absolute surplus by storing water in Lake Pueblo and releasing it when needed,” Moore said.
Greg Smith, public works director for Poncha Springs, agreed.
“It’s a way for us to acquire and maintain additional storage,” Smith said…At Monday’s open house, Signe Snortland, environmental specialist for Reclamation, clarified that only one Environmental Impact Statement and record of decision will be issued for the conduit and the master contract.
Uncompahgre Watershed Partnership meeting August 25
August 17, 2010
From the Montrose Daily Press (Katie O’Hare):
The Uncompahgre Watershed Partnership (UWP) will begin to take shape at a meeting next week open to agricultural, mining, recreational, community and any other entities with an interest in the river. That meeting will be from 5 to 7 p.m. Aug. 25 at DMEA headquarters in Montrose.
Those who attend can review a new water-quality report on the entire river, funded by the Colorado Nonpoint Source Pollution Program of the state Department of Public Health and Environment. “From my knowledge, this is the first report that has looked at the whole of the river, from metals to e-coli,” said Sarah Sauter, project coordinator for the UWP. She wants to review the report with the stakeholders to ensure its accuracy before releasing it to the public. The new group will monitor not only water quality, but also “the thoughts and priorities of the agricultural and mining communities and the bigger water players,” Sauter said.
More Uncompahgre watershed coverage here.
Here’s the release from Reclamation (Kara Lamb):
The Bureau of Reclamation invites the public to attend the fourth contract negotiation session for excess capacity contracts related to the proposed Southern Delivery System Project on Tuesday, August 24 and possibly continuing on Wednesday, August 25.
Reclamation is negotiating with the participants of the Southern Delivery System, including Colorado Springs and Fountain, the Security Water District, and the Pueblo West Metropolitan District.
The negotiation sessions will be held at the Pueblo Shrine Club, 1501 West McCulloch Blvd., Pueblo West, Colo., 81007.
Each session will begin at 9 a.m. There will be a designated time during each session for public comments. Reclamation is also accepting written comments on the draft contract.
For more information, to obtain a copy of the draft contract, or to submit written comments, please contact Kara Lamb (970) 962-4326 or klamb@usbr.gov.
U.S. Bureau of Reclamation ‘WateSMART’ program updates
August 16, 2010
Here’s the release from Reclamation (Peter Soeth):
Reclamation Selects Research Grants to Develop Climate Analysis Tools through WaterSMART Program
Bureau of Reclamation Commissioner Michael Connor announced the selection of $773,483 in research grant proposals to develop climate analysis tools. This money will be leveraged to fund $1,624,396 in climate change research.
“The science is quite clear that climate change will add to the challenges we face today in managing our water supply, water quality, flood risks, wastewater, aquatic ecosystems, and energy production,” said Commissioner Connor. “Improving our knowledge about how climate change will impact water resources in the west will improve our ability to manage water into the future.”
The research grants to develop climate analysis tools are new this year. This grant program was developed to fund research projects that will lead to enhanced management of western water resources in a changing climate. It was open to universities and non-profit research institutions as well as organizations with water or power delivery authority.
Five grants selected this year for funding. Those scheduled to receive grants are:
Climate Central, Inc., a non-profit, collaborative group of scientists will receive $200,000 in Reclamation funding with a total project cost of $400,000. They will create a comprehensive and new historical climate data set for the western United States. The project will also create an associated set of downscaled projections of future climate for the region in a complementary manner to temperature and precipitation projections currently in existence by including descriptions of solar radiation and wind speed, for example.
The University of Colorado Regents, through the Center for Advanced Decision Support for Water and Environmental Services, will receive $150,000 in Reclamation funding with a total project cost of $372,418. They will develop a set of tools to facilitate robust water management decision-making. The project will add new capabilities to RiverWare, an existing water management tool, so that adaptation strategies can be evaluated to reduce the risk and impacts associated with climate change to future water systems operations.
The Oklahoma Water Resources Board and the Oklahoma Climatological Survey will receive $84,647 in Reclamation funding for a total project cost of $174,293. They will provide practical methodologies and tools to assist with the incorporation of climate change impacts into water resources planning efforts within the State of Oklahoma and beyond. It will explore multiple methods for translating climate projections into estimates of water supply availability through explicit and implicit hydrological modeling.
Dr. Bridget R. Scanlon of the University of Texas at Austin – Bureau of Economic Geology -will receive $199,999 in Reclamation funding with a total project cost of $399,999. The University of Texas will study the impacts of past droughts and potential future droughts with the geographic area of the High Plains aquifer. It will explore the relationship between the climate of the 20th Century, the High Plains Aquifer, and the droughts of the 1930′s and 1950′s.The Arizona Board of Regents through the University of Arizona will receive $138,837 in Reclamation funding with a total project cost of $277,686. This project will study the impacts of climate change and climate variability on the water demand of growing cities as demands are compounded by the “urban heat island” effect, which is an increase in temperatures relative to the surrounding environment resulting from the infrastructure in urban environments.
WaterSMART is a program of the U.S. Department of the Interior that focuses on improving water conservation and sustainability, and helping water-resource managers make sound decisions about water use. It identifies strategies to ensure that this and future generations will have sufficient supplies of clean water for drinking, economic activities, recreation, and ecosystem health. The Program also identifies adaptive measures to address climate change and its impact on future water demands.
More Reclamation coverage here.
Denver: Green sludge coming out of storm sewer and flowing to the South Platte River near Globeville Landing is algae from City Park lake
August 16, 2010
From 9News.com:
9NEWS received multiple newstips from hikers and bicyclists near Globeville Landing Park wondering about the green substance, which flowed from a box culvert near 38th St. and Arkins Ct. in Central Denver…
Denver Wastewater employee Al Ortiz said his crew had to pull about 30 manhole covers along the storm drain line to determine the origin of the green substance. Ortiz was unaware whether anyone from Denver Parks and Recreation had notified his division about the draining of the lake.
More water pollution coverage here.
Energy policy — oil and gas: COGCC commission issues record fine in tainted spring case near Parachute
August 16, 2010
From The Grand Junction Daily Sentinel (Dennis Webb):
State regulators Thursday unanimously signed off on a record $423,300 fine against Williams for benzene contamination of a spring that led to a man becoming ill in 2008…
The previous record fine by the commission was $390,000, imposed in April against Oxy USA for another case of spring contamination, also northwest of Parachute.
The same day, the commission levied another fine of $257,400 against Oxy for yet another case of spring contamination in the same area.
The state is investigating Oxy as the possible source of contamination of a second spring on the Prather property, although the Prather family has sued another company, Nonsuch, contending it’s to blame in that case. The Prathers also have sued Williams in connection with the first case.
Wiggins: Water Court application update
August 16, 2010
From The Fort Morgan Times (Dan Barker):
Wiggins officials had expected to hear from the USDA by now about the letter of conditions which would allow the project to begin, but that has not happened, said Wiggins Town Administrator Bill Rogers during Wednesday`s meeting of the Wiggins Town Council. Now it seems like it will be the end of September before that will happen, said Tim Holbrook of Industrial Facilities Engineering, which is organizing the project. He is working on exhibits for easements for the pipeline for the USDA officials, he said…
Wiggins could probably begin construction on the project and start receiving water next spring, and it would be good to begin with the augmentation ponds on the property from which the town bought the water shares as soon as possible, Kuntz said. That would make it easier to get a temporary water supply plan. [water attorney Rick Fendel] said that legal fees will exceed $100,000, but it is difficult to say by how much. That is partly determined by how long Wiggins has to wrangle with other water users, although sometimes these cases are pretty clean and easy, Kuntz said. There is very little chance the overall plan will be rejected by the water court, Fendel said. Costs of Kuntz` engineering will probably cost about $10,000, he said. Since the court case is just beginning, and the town has already spent more than half the money originally estimated for the legal fees, how is the town to pay for them, asked council member Karol Kopetzky. The pipeline costs should be less expensive than estimated, since they wee based on $40 a foot and a recent estimate for another project came in at $26 a foot, Rogers said. Also, contingency funds should be built into the USDA loan, he said.
Here’s a look at the potential impacts of Denver Water’s Moffat Collection System Project from the Grand County point of view, from the Summit County Citizens Voice. Click through to read the whole thing and while you’re there check out the photo essay describing impacts from the current diversion system. From the article:
“We want to protect the resource, which is our economy,” said Grand County Commissioner James Newberry, addressing a small group of journalists during a lunch break on a day-long tour of the diversion system, which already gulps more than half the river’s native flows from the crystal-clear tributaries in the Fraser River Valley. And Newberry made it clear that it’s not only the impacts from the proposed new diversions that are under scrutiny. Before Grand County gives up another drop willingly, Denver Water needs to address cumulative impacts from existing projects. “We have a hole in the river from past diversions,” he said.
More Moffat Collection System Project coverage here.
Steamboat Springs: Rate payers are facing $70 million in maintenance and build out costs
August 15, 2010
From Steamboat Today (Mike Lawrence):
City Public Works Director Philo Shelton said Thursday that a water-main replacement in the Indian Trails area, across U.S. Highway 40 from the Stock Bridge Transit Center west of downtown, is out to bid and could begin at the end of this month…
Next on the city’s list, Shelt on said, are water-line improvements on 13th Street, toward the Fairview neighborhood.
Two sewer-line replacements — in the alley between City Hall and Lincoln Avenue near 10th Street, and from West Lincoln Park to the Dream Island area — are designed and ready to go when funds allow, he added.
More infrastructure coverage here.
From The Pueblo Chieftain (Chris Woodka):
Discussions started in June after the two groups met in Salida to look at common interests that also would meet a statewide goal to provide 200,000 acre-feet of water from the Aspinall Unit — Blue Mesa, Morrow Point and Crystal reservoirs — for use in Colorado. “We agreed conceptually that the state should have a pool of 200,000 acre-feet to reserve against a call by the Lower Basin states that would benefit both the East Slope and the West Slope,” said Jeris Danielson, a water consultant and former state engineer.
Details of the agreement are still being worked out. If successful, it would be a rare instance of roundtables working together to achieve an “interbasin compact,” which is the chief purpose of the 2005 legislation that created the roundtables.
More Aspinall Unit coverage here.
Arkansas Valley: Southern Delivery System and Arkansas Valley Conduit open meetings this week
August 15, 2010
From The Pueblo Chieftain (Chris Woodka):
The Bureau of Reclamation will conduct the meetings as it prepares for environmental impact statements for both projects: the Arkansas Valley Conduit and a master contract for excess-capacity storage in Fryingpan-Arkansas Project reservoirs. “Each open house will consist of informational displays, a brief presentation and opportunities for providing comments,” said Kara Lamb, Reclamation spokeswoman. The open houses are Monday in Salida, Tuesday in La Junta, Wednesday in Lamar and Thursday in Fountain and Pueblo.
More Southern Delivery System coverage here and here. More Arkansas Valley Conduit coverage here and here.
Cañon City: Replacement well for Park Center Well comes in
August 14, 2010
The well is now contained after surprising everyone with high flows. Here’s a release from the Bureau of Land Management:
Hydro Resources Colorado successfully contained the water flow from the new Park Center Well late Saturday afternoon. Water had been flowing from the well at a rate of 1,600-2,000 gallons per minute when Hydro Resources hit an unexpected high pressure during drilling operations on August 1. The drill site is located near the original 80-year old Park Center Well, five miles north of Cañon City off the Garden Park Road (County Road 9).
Fremont County assisted the BLM by constructing a bypass road around the project site to provide a sufficient working area for several pieces of large equipment. Traffic is one-way and travelers should expect some delays.
Additional review of the current condition of the existing well is planned over the next several days. The BLM is also in the process of reviewing any potential impacts caused by the excess water flow and any sedimentation into the adjacent Fourmile Creek.
In April, the BLM Royal Gorge Field Office awarded a $1,176,000 contract under ARRA to Hydro Resources Colorado, LLC. to drill a new well to replace the deteriorating 80-year old Park Center Well near Cañon City, Colorado. This well has provided municipal water for more than 40 years to Park Center Water District users. The BLM also uses this well for fire emergencies and other administrative uses.
More Arkansas River Basin coverage here.
