El Paso County: A plan is taking shape to improve aesthetics and management of Rainbow Falls

From The Colorado Springs Gazette (Jakob Rodgers) via OutThereColorado.com:

The initial plan is short on specifics, offering instead an outline that includes several aesthetic improvements to the oft-vandalized falls that — if approved by the El Paso County Commissioners — would be completed in the next three years…

In about five years, planners hope to enhance the area’s fishing, build a trail along the creek, expand the parking area east of the trailhead along Serpentine Drive, and establish a regular volunteer clean-up schedule…

Tim Wolken, El Paso County’s director of community services, said the county is working to secure about $80,000 for the project’s first year. A grant approved by Great Outdoors Colorado would supply more than $40,000, while the county would offer roughly $25,000. El Paso officials are waiting to hear if a block grant worth more than $15,000 will be approved to round out initial funding.

She looks forward to the day when graffiti is stricken from the rock walls and “graffiti art” is restricted to one area. “Man and nature can work together through art,” Montgomery said. “But what’s up there right now is not art.”

More restoration coverage here.

Population, Immigration, and the Drying of the American Southwest

Here’s the release from the Center for Immigration Studies (Bryan Griffith) via PRNewswire:

The looming water crisis in the American Southwest – and the role of immigration-driven population growth – is the topic of a paper published this month by the Center for Immigration Studies and authored by New Mexico journalist Kathleene Parker.

The paper, “Population, Immigration, and the Drying of the American Southwest,” online at http://cis.org/southwest-water-population-growth, explores the link between the possibility of the potentially catastrophic economic and environmental water crisis and the fact that the Southwest is the fastest-growing region of the world’s fourth-fastest-growing nation – a growth rate earlier cautioned against by various presidential commissions. It also looks at how that growth rate is driven by historically unprecedented immigration – legal and illegal – into the United States, the world’s third-most-populous nation after China and India. Immigration is responsible for more than half of the population growth in the Southwest this past decade, and nearly all of the growth in the largest southwest state, California.

Such high immigration has happened absent discussion or acknowledgement of its impacts on population or limited resources, such as water. Parker presents evidence that indicates there is insufficient water for the region’s current population, much less the larger future populations that will result if immigration continues at its present high rate.

The paper focuses on the drought- and growth-depleted Colorado River, including the high probability that the first-ever drought emergency could be declared on the river by early 2011 and the possibility that Lake Mead, the nation’s largest reservoir and a depression-era wonder of engineering, could run dry in the not too distant future, with hydroelectric production threatened even sooner.

This would imperil all of the Southwest, Nevada and Las Vegas – which depends on Lake Mead for 90 percent of its water – in particular, but also cities like Albuquerque, which uses Colorado River water via the San Juan-Chama diversion project. Such relatively junior water rights could be at risk in the midst of a profound or long-term water shortage on the Colorado River.

The legal allocation of the Colorado in the 1920s was based on a combination of flawed river-flow data and a failure to understand that the Southwest, historically, is a far more arid region – based on recent scientific research – than first believed. That concern is based on normal weather patterns, with the possibility of even further depletion of the river, the Southwest’s main source of water, should global warming happen.

Yet the water crisis unfolds in an atmosphere where, as pointed out by prestigious scientific groups like the National Academy of Sciences and the Scripps Institute of Oceanography, the extent of the crisis is not being sufficiently acknowledged or the advisability of the region’s high growth rate considered by leaders. That high growth rate, in turn, is driven by U.S. immigration policies that do not consider the implications of a growth rate that, if trends hold, could mean one billion Americans by late this century.

Six states are dependent upon Colorado River to provide water to roughly 60 million people, and that number could double over the next four decades if immigration is not returned to far lower levels in the near future.
Parker, now of Rio Rancho, N.M., earlier worked as a correspondent for the Santa Fe New Mexican in the 1990s, covering Los Alamos, Los Alamos National Laboratory, and the Jemez Mountain region. She also freelanced for the Albuquerque Journal, covering the aftermath of the Cerro Grande fire and other topics, and she recently authored an article, for a major forestry magazine, on the Cerro Grande fire. She often teaches adult-education courses on population and environmental topics, has worked widely on water issues in Colorado and New Mexico, and frequently writes commentaries.

The Center for Immigration Studies is an independent non-partisan research institution that examines the impact of immigration on the United States.

Contact: Bryan Griffith
(202) 466-8185, press@cis.org

More Colorado River basin coverage here.

Energy policy — oil shale: The Government Accountability Office warns that oil shale development may impact Colorado water quantity and quality

Here’s the summary for the report from the GAO:

Oil shale deposits in Colorado, Utah, and Wyoming are estimated to contain up to 3 trillion barrels of oil–or an amount equal to the world’s proven oil reserves. About 72 percent of this oil shale is located beneath federal lands, making the federal government a key player in its potential development. Extracting this oil is expected to require substantial amounts of water and could impact groundwater and surface water. GAO was asked to report on (1) what is known about the potential impacts of oil shale development on surface water and groundwater, (2) what is known about the amount of water that may be needed for commercial oil shale development, (3) the extent to which water will likely be available for commercial oil shale development and its source, and (4) federal research efforts to address impacts to water resources from commercial oil shale development. GAO examined environmental impacts and water needs studies and talked to Department of Energy (DOE), Department of the Interior (Interior), and industry officials.

Oil shale development could have significant impacts on the quality and quantity of water resources, but the magnitude of these impacts is unknown because technologies are years from being commercially proven, the size of a future oil shale industry is uncertain, and knowledge of current water conditions and groundwater flow is limited. In the absence of effective mitigation measures, water resources could be impacted from ground disturbances caused by the construction of roads and production facilities; withdrawing water from streams and aquifers for oil shale operations, underground mining and extraction; and discharging waters produced from or used in operations. Estimates vary widely for the amount of water needed to commercially produce oil shale primarily because of the unproven nature of some technologies and because the various ways of generating power for operations use differing quantities of water. GAO’s review of available studies indicated that the expected total water needs for the entire life cycle of oil shale production ranges from about 1 barrel (or 42 gallons) to 12 barrels of water per barrel of oil produced from in-situ (underground heating) operations, with an average of about 5 barrels, and from about 2 to 4 barrels of water per barrel of oil produced from mining operations with surface heating. Water is likely to be available for the initial development of an oil shale industry, but the size of an industry in Colorado or Utah may eventually be limited by water availability. Water limitations may arise from increases in water demand from municipal and industrial users, the potential of reduced water supplies from a warming climate, fulfilling obligations under interstate water compacts, and the need to provide additional water to protect threatened and endangered fishes. The federal government sponsors research on the impacts of oil shale on water resources through DOE and Interior. DOE manages 13 projects whose water-related costs total about $4.3 million, and Interior sponsored two water-related projects, totaling about $500,000. Despite this research, nearly all of the officials and experts that GAO contacted said that there are insufficient data to understand baseline conditions of water resources in the oil shale regions of Colorado and Utah and that additional research is needed to understand the movement of groundwater and its interaction with surface water. Federal agency officials also said they seldom coordinate water-related oil shale research among themselves or with state agencies that regulate water. Most officials noted that agencies could benefit from such coordination. GAO recommends that Interior establish comprehensive baseline conditions for water resources in oil shale regions of Colorado and Utah, model regional groundwater movement, and coordinate on water-related research with DOE and state agencies involved in water regulation. Interior generally concurred with GAO’s recommendations.

More coverage from the Associated Press via The Salt Lake Tribune:

The Government Accountability Office says in a report released Monday that oil shale development could have “significant” impacts on water quality and quantity, but more research is needed to determine the effects. The GAO says up to 12 barrels of water, or about 500 gallons, may be needed to produce a barrel of oil. It urges the Interior Department to coordinate more research.

Here’s a look back at the oil shale bust in the early 1980s from Jim Spehar writing in The Denver Post. From the article:

Tim Schultz, now president of the Denver-based Boettcher Foundation, was a 31-year-old Rio Blanco County commissioner during the Exxon days. Lamm recalls Schultz as one of the local leaders who was not “willing to sell out their heritage for a promise.” Schultz and others backed an industry-funded Oil Shale Trust Fund, which assisted with up-front impact costs and helped soften the bust. “It’s kind of hard to plan for the peaks,” Schultz warns, “but you always want to remember that those valleys are just around the corner.”

More oil shale coverage here and here.

Southern Delivery System: Colorado Springs Utilities is taking a wait and see stance with respect to Pueblo County’s legal fee bill

From The Pueblo Chieftain (Chris Woodka):

“We haven’t received any formal notification, so I’m not sure how to respond,” John Fredell, project director for the Southern Delivery System, said Monday. “This wasn’t an action between us and the county commissioners, since we’re not involved in the litigation, and we were peripheral to the lawsuit between Pueblo County and Pueblo West. We did participate in the negotiations that led to the agreement.”

Pueblo County commissioners last week decided to send Colorado Springs a bill for nearly $150,000 to pay for its legal costs in defending the county against a lawsuit by Pueblo West…

Under an agreement approved by commissioners and the metro district last week, Pueblo West will participate in the flow program, but can count return flows in Wild Horse Dry Creek as part of the program. The agreement also clears the way for Pueblo West to apply for a return-flow pipeline to the confluence of Wild Horse and the Arkansas River, and abandon its alternative plan to pump back return flows into the golf course wash, which empties directly into Lake Pueblo. Colorado Springs agreed to a paper trade of up to 900 acre-feet annually with Pueblo West to exchange its water in Lake Pueblo for Pueblo West water in Twin Lakes. By doing that, Pueblo West avoids transit loss when the water moves down the Upper Arkansas River…

Last week, County Commission Chairman Jeff Chostner said Colorado Springs should simply pay the bill, adding that it was for professional services and not intended as an antagonistic gesture. “Colorado Springs Utilities had a responsibility for the other participants to be informed. Colorado Springs should have resolved the problem without Pueblo West suing Pueblo County,” Chostner said. “So far, there has been professional cooperation on both sides. I think they realize that Pueblo County has taken a role Colorado Springs should have taken.”

More Southern Delivery System coverage here and here.

San Miguel River watershed: Wild and Scenic designation?

From the Telluride Daily Planet (Katie Klingsporn):

The BLM has already conducted an exhaustive eligibility study of sections of the San Miguel and Dolores Rivers that mapped and inventoried the waterways and documented “outstanding remarkable values” — such as abundant wildlife or significant historic value — of each. A final eligibility report, which was completed this summer, names free-flowing sections of the San Miguel River as well as parts of many of its tributaries (Beaver Creek, Dry Creek, Naturita Creek, Saltado Creek and Tabeguache Creek) as eligible for one of the following designations: wild, scenic or recreational. If designated, segments would enjoy certain protections tailored to keep them wild, beautiful or recreationally valuable.

Now, the BLM is moving into the suitability phase — which will use public input and land status records to determine which segments deserve protection, and if so, if it should be through designation. As part of this, the agency is seeking public input. And starting this week, it will be hosting a number of resource advisory committee subgroup meetings locally to talk about the river.

The meetings are scheduled as follows:

• Monday, 6:30 p.m., Norwood Community Center

• Tuesday, 6:30 p.m., Naturita Community Building

• Wednesday, 5:30 p.m., Wilkinson Public Library

More San Miguel River coverage here and here.

Colorado River basin: Brock Reservoir ready to come online

The new reservoir — built as part of the drought management plan for the Colorado River basin — passed its recent month-long testing period and is ready to store water on a temporary basis in order to control releases to Mexico. Here’s a report from the Associated Press via the San Francisco Chronicle. From the article:

The new reservoir, known during construction as Drop 2, grew out of a 2007 drought-management plan adopted by the seven states along the Colorado River. The plan identified opportunities to add water to the river by eliminating inefficient practices that led to system losses. One of those opportunities was in the system near Yuma, where billions of gallons of water allocated to U.S. farmers but never used by them flowed into Mexico, where it could be used without counting against that country’s annual allocation.

Nevada, at the time the state most at risk of running out of water, offered to pay much of the construction tab in exchange for a share of what was conserved. As the idea developed, Arizona and California agreed to contribute money for their own shares of water. In the end, Nevada paid $115 million for 400,000 acre-feet and Arizona and California added $28.6 million each for shares of 100,000 acre-feet. The states can use the water in increments over about 20 years or leave it stored in Lake Mead to delay drought restrictions…

The reservoir itself is not that big. Full, its two basins can hold up to 8,000 acre-feet. By comparison, Canyon Lake, the smallest reservoir on the Salt River, can hold more than 57,000 acre-feet. But Brock Reservoir, named for a farmer and agricultural researcher in California’s Imperial Valley, was not built to store water long-term. On any given day, it could be the largest body of water for miles in any direction, or it could be two empty holes in the ground. It will operate most often after a rainstorm, when farmers on the lower river decide they don’t need water they had ordered several days earlier. That water, which had previously flowed south into Mexico, will now be diverted into Brock and stay there until it can be returned to the system.

More Colorado River basin coverage here.

Pueblo Board of Water Works automated meter reading project update

From The Pueblo Chieftain (Chris Wooka):

Since 2007, the Pueblo Board of Water Works has installed more than 19,000 meters in a system that has nearly 40,000. Four thousand more will be installed this year, and by 2016 the entire system should be fully automated, at a cost of a little more than $200 per meter. So far, about $4.9 million has been spent. Installations have been in the outer areas of Pueblo because that’s mainly where new development occurs and because there’s more travel involved in manually reading meters away from central Pueblo. “The map looks like a donut, but not exactly,” said Terry Book, deputy executive director of the Pueblo water board. “We’re working our way in; converting areas that are difficult to read.”[...]

As meters have been converted, the water board’s six meter readers have seen their jobs change. Three of them, including [Charles Garrett], already are working primarily as installers. Eventually, all six jobs will be converted. The installers will stay busy, though, because meters will be rotated every 10 years, both to maintain the accuracy and to make sure the batteries don’t run down. Changing them out also will allow the water board to take advantage of better technology as it is developed.

“Our meter readers have had almost no misreads,” said Book, who has been on the job for 32 years. But having water-use data available on a twice-daily basis, rather than once a month when meters were read manually, will lead to quicker identification of problems, he said.

More Pueblo Board of Water Works coverage here.

La Niña update

From The Colorado Springs Gazette (Lance Benzel):

The last time [Colorado Springs] went this long without snow in autumn was 2008, and it ended with a Nov. 27 storm bearing 6/10ths of an inch. You can thank La Nina for the anomaly, meteorologists say…

According to [Kathy Torgerson, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Pueblo], La Nina years generally end with average snowfall in the Pikes Peak Region. It’s just that snow comes packed into larger storms that visit the region every once in a while rather than daily, she said.

Drought news

From The Pueblo Chieftain:

Fred Heckman, a farmer in McClave, says that area has had no appreciable rain since July. “Yes,” he says, “we’re concerned.” Doubly troubling is that the subsoils are very dry, according to the Colorado State University Research Center at Rocky Ford…

It’s too early to tell what the snowpack on the upper reaches of the Arkansas River basin will be during the winter snow season. But the water storage in Lake Pueblo is more than 120 percent of average, while Turquoise and Twin Lakes are at about average for this time of year.

Fountain Creek: Phragmites to require mitigation?

From The Pueblo Chieftain (Chris Woodka):

Called phragmites (frag-my-tees), the reeds also have been found near Lake Minnequa, said Scott Hobson, assistant city manager and head of the city’s planning department. The city has extensive plans to develop both Fountain Creek and Lake Minnequa, and the phragmites could be an impediment. “We’re monitoring it to see how much it’s spreading,” Hobson said. “It does expand very quickly, so we might have to look at controlling it somehow.”

About five years ago, the city cut down much of the tamarisk, or salt cedar, that grew in the Fountain Creek channel in an attempt to preserve the effectiveness of Pueblo’s levees. Tamarisk remains in some areas; others are a more natural mix of vegetation. A few large areas, however, have been colonized by large stands of phragmites, which look like amber waves of grain. “We’ve noticed it in the last two or three years, but it’s really taken off this year,” Hobson said.

Here’s the Wikipedia page for phragmites. Here’s an excerpt:

In North America, the status of Phragmites australis was a source of confusion and debate. It was commonly considered an exotic species and often invasive species, introduced from Europe. However now with evidence of the existence of Phragmites as a native plant in North America long before European colonization of the continent. It is now known that the North American native forms of P. a. subsp. americanus are markedly less vigorous than European forms. The recent marked expansion of Phragmites in North America may be due to the more vigorous, but otherwise almost indistinguishable European subsp. australis , best detectable by genetic analysis.

Phragmites australis subsp. australis is causing serious problems for many other North American hydrophyte wetland plants, including the native Phragmites australis subsp. americanus. Gallic acid released by Phragmites is degraded by ultraviolet light to produce mesoxalic acid, effectively hitting susceptible plants and seedlings with two harmful toxins. Phragmites so difficult to control that one of the most effective methods of eradicating the plant is to burn it over 2-3 seasons. The roots grow so deep and strong that one burn is not enough.

More Fountain Creek coverage here and here.

Arkansas Valley Super Ditch: Bob Rawlings and The Pueblo Chieftain editorial board jump on the Super Ditch bandwagon

From The Pueblo Chieftain (Bob Rawlings):

Those of us who share that passion [to protect and preserve the water of the Arkansas basin] have been greatly disheartened by the destructive assault on our water from urban developments to the north. We must do everything within our collective power to stop the loss of our precious water, which is the very lifeblood of the Valley.

Until recently, we expressed only guarded support for the idea of a Super Ditch. The concept is for a group of farmers on irrigating ditches to lease water (the temporary sale of the water, but not the water rights) while rotating the land upon which they continue to irrigate their crops.

The Chieftain editorial board, which I chair, now has come to the conclusion that the Super Ditch is the most practical means available for protecting the Lower Arkansas Valley’s water. It’s not because lease-fallowing doesn’t come without risk. It does. But we believe that on balance the Super Ditch is far superior to losing the water forever through the permanent sale of the water rights.

More Arkansas Valley Super Ditch coverage here and here.

Montezuma County: Goodman point connects to Montezuma County Water

From the Cortez Journal (Reid Wright):

The recent water service to the rural area concludes a 30-year saga by residents to provide water for themselves when no one else would provide it for them. The group eventually founded the non profit Goodman Point Water Association in August of 2006, successfully securing $300,000 worth of grants…

The project required the construction of more than 11 miles of pipeline, a pump station and a 54,000 gallon storage tank, Bauer said. He expects the project to come in 10 percent under budget…

Berry said the total price tag of the project will likely fall between $700,000 and $800,000.

More infrastructure coverage here.

Cedaredge: Residents to see 69% increase in sewer fees

From the Delta County Independent (Bob Borchardt):

On Thursday, Nov. 18, the Cedaredge Town Council approved Resolution 32-2010 to increase the current sewer rate ($13 per month) by $9 over an 18-month period, beginning January 2011…

When asked, Cedaredge town administrator Kathleen Sickles said a “defensible rationale” for the increase is that the sewer plant is operating at a loss. “Revenues are not covering operational expenses,” said Sickles.

More wastewater coverage here and here.

Aurora Reservoir: New state record smallmouth bass

Here’s the release from the Colorado Division of Wildlife:

Conner Peitsmeyer, 11, of Aurora probably won’t remember the chill of the 35-degree air on the morning of Nov. 12. What he will remember for a long time is catching the new Colorado state record smallmouth bass.

Conner was fishing at Aurora Reservoir with his dad, Michael Peitsmeyer, in the family’s fishing boat that Friday morning. A few days before, Conner had landed his first ‘big fish’ in the same area, a smallmouth that was more than five pounds. But nothing prepared Conner for the 20¾ inch, 6-pound, 8-ounce monster he would pull from the water that morning.

“We had caught quite a few big bass that week, so we knew they were in there,” said Michael. “When he caught that first big one, Conner told me he was shaking, but he wasn’t sure if it was from the cold or from the excitement.”

Conner’s catch eclipses the previous state record smallmouth, a 21-inch, 5-pound, 12-ounce bass caught by Carl Dewey at Navajo Reservoir in 1993.

The bass isn’t the only state record fish caught at Aurora Reservoir this fall. On Oct. 4, 20-year-old Jessica Walton, landed a 43-pound channel catfish at the reservoir east of Denver.

“Aurora Reservoir has ideal forage conditions to produce very large fish,” said Paul Winkle, DOW aquatic biologist who manages the fishery. “There’s an outstanding population of crayfish and yellow perch, which provides an excellent food source for fish to grow to enormous sizes.”

In the last decade, the DOW has stocked more than 135,000 fish at Aurora Reservoir, including trout, bass, catfish, walleye and wiper, helping to establish the 640-acre reservoir as one of the state’s most popular fisheries.

The youngest of three brothers, Conner said he loves angling so much that he had saved his birthday and Christmas money to buy his own fishing gear – a medium to light St. Croix graphite rod and a Shimano reel spooled with Berkley Trielene XL 6 pound test line.

The DOW issued Conner Peitsmeyer his Master Angler award certificate and patch, and added the record smallmouth bass to the Colorado State Fishing Records.

“Any time someone lands a new state record, it’s exciting for us,” said Greg Gerlich, DOW fisheries chief. “It’s even more exciting when it is a youngster that pulls in one of these big fish. This is yet another example of how anyone, regardless of age or experience, can have a great day fishing.”

The DOW tracks fish records by weight in 43 different species categories. Potential record-holders must have a valid Colorado fishing license or be under the age of 16. The fish in question must be weighed on a state-certified scale, and a weight receipt must be signed by a person who witnessed the weighing. The fish, before being frozen, gutted or altered in any way, must be examined and identified by a DOW biologist or wildlife manager before an application is submitted.

To view Colorado’s Fishing Records, please visit the DOW’s website at:

http://wildlife.state.co.us/Fishing/AwardsRecords/

To download photos to accompany this story, use the following links:
Conner and Biologist Paul Winkle http://dnr.state.co.us/ImageDBImages/26076.JPG
Conner and his state record smallmouth bass

http://dnr.state.co.us/ImageDBImages/26075.JPG

[Note to broadcasters: Connor's last name is pronounced "PEETZ-my-er." ]

California exports Colorado River water to Colorado in the form of produce

Here’s a column from Curtis Swift running in the Grand Junction Free Press. He makes the point that bluegrass lawn along the Front Range should be valued less than water going to California for crop production.

More Colorado River basin coverage here.

Logan County: What is causing the rise in the water tables?

Are augmentation ponds the culprits? Here’s a report from the Sterling Journal Advocate (Forrest Hershberger):

Wednesday’s meeting was designed for homeowners experiencing water problems to meet with state water engineers to discuss options. Dick Wolfe, a state water engineer, was among the officials meeting with homeowners. He said the state’s response will depend on what can be learned locally. “What we want to do is gather the facts,” Wolfe said. “We have similar events occurring other places in the (South Platte) basin.”[...]

One resident noted that the flooding started about seven years ago, about the same time ponds were built west of the subdivision [Pawnee Ridge]. Rod Zwirn, of Iliff, said some of his pivot irrigation customers are getting stuck in mud, due in part to the rising water table…

Jim Yahn, manager of the North Sterling Irrigation company, is a multi-faceted issue. The focus cannot be limited to just one issue. “To point your finger at just one thing is not the correct thing to do,” Yahn said…

Wolfe encouraged property owners to monitor water levels, document changes in the area such as new ponds or wells, or unusual precipitation.

More South Platte River basin coverage here.

CWCB: Draft SWSI 2010 Municipal and Industrial Water Conservation Strategies Report comments due by December 15

From email from the Colorado Water Conservation Board (Ben Wade):

The CWCB has completed a Draft of the SWSI 2010 Municipal and Industrial Water Conservation Strategies Report. This Draft Report illustrates the potential statewide savings from active M & I water conservation programs and measures out to 2050. The Draft Report is available for public comment until 5:00 p.m. Wednesday December 15, 2010. The report is on the CWCB website. Please direct any questions or comments to Veva Deheza Section Chief, Office of Water Conservation & Drought Planning, at 303-866-3441 ext. 3226.

More CWCB coverage here.

Custer County: The Upper Arkansas Valley Water Conservancy District withdraws its proposed blanket augmentation plan

Here’s an in-depth look at the Upper Ark’s augmentation attempts for Custer County from Nora Drenner writing for The Wet Mountain Tribune. From the article:

In a phone interview with the Tribune following UAWCD’s decision on Friday, Nov. 19, to withdraw its proposed plan, [Upper Arkansas Valley Water Conservancy District Manager Terry Scanga] said the UAWCD board of directors took the action due to opposition from the Custer County commissioners and others within the community. He also said he felt the concerns raised by the commissioners and others were due to a lack of understanding in regards to how a water augmentation plan works and as such UAWCD would strive to educate Custer County residents and elected officials.

Scanga also said the UAWCD hoped to sit down with the Custer County commissioners in the near future to hash out a plan to bring a water augmentation plan back on the table.

Scanga also said a memorandum of understanding outlining all details would be signed by the UAWCD and commissioners before a proposed water plan would be submitted to water court.

More Custer County coverage here and here.

EPA: WaterSense program update

From the Summit County Citizens Voice (Bob Berwyn):

WaterSense is a partnership program sponsored by EPA that seeks to protect the future of our nation’s water supply by offering people a simple way to use less water. It’s similar to the agency’s Energy Star program, which certifies homes for reaching a certain level of energy efficiency.

WaterSense can helping homebuyers cut their water and energy use while at the same time saving money on utility bills. Four WaterSense-labeled new homes have been built by KB Home in Roseville, California, and will help families save an average of 10,000 gallons of water and at least $100 on utility costs each year.

The EPA estimates that, if the approximately 500,000 new homes built last year had met WaterSense criteria, the homes would save Americans 5 billion gallons of water and more than $50 million in utility bills annually.

More conservation coverage here.

Rio Grande Basin: Save Our Senior Water Rights meeting recap

From the Valley Courier (Ruth Heide):

[Attorney Tim] Buchanan updated SOS on where the appeal [of the management plan for the Rio Grande Water Conservation District's first groundwater management subdistrict] stands before the Colorado Supreme Court. Testimony in this case was submitted to the Supreme Court three weeks ago. Briefs from both sides will now be filed, and oral arguments will be scheduled before the seven-member Supreme Court, Buchanan explained. He anticipated those oral arguments to be heard in the time frame from February to April. Each side will only have half an hour to present its case, but the judges will have an opportunity to ask questions afterward.

Buchanan said the Supreme Court’s options include: upholding Kuenhold’s decision and approving the sub-district plan; ruling that parts of Kuenhold’s decision should be changed, so the plan would be sent back to him; or ruling that the entire process was flawed so Kuenhold’s decision was incorrect, and the process would have to start over.

Buchanan reminded the group of some of the reasons SOS believes Judge Kuenhold made a mistake in approving the sub-district plan. He said one of the reasons was the provision in the plan that the state engineer would make a decision every year as to how the plan would operate.

Buchanan said Senate Bill 222 said the water court would approve a comprehensive plan regarding how water was going to be managed to prevent injuries to senior water rights. If the sub-district did not have a comprehensive plan, the water judge should not approve it, Buchanan said.

“The legislature didn’t say ‘let the state engineer approve it and if anybody complains you appeal to the judge’,” Buchanan said. “I don’t have a lot of confidence in what the state engineer might do.”[...]

Buchanan also argued against the sub-district taking Closed Basin Project water as credit for depletions. “The Closed Basin Project is just another group of wells pumping from the aquifer,” Buchanan said. “That just shifts the burden. It doesn’t put new water into the system.” Buchanan also questioned the sub-district’s figure of 8,000 acre feet as the amount the sub-district must replace back to the river. He indicated the amount of replacement water should be higher. Assuming the 8,000-acre-foot figure was correct, however, Buchanan said the sub-district does not have any water to replace that amount now. “They don’t have any contracts for water. They don’t have any agreements for purchasing water, nothing in place to replace the water, so how do we know they are actually going to replace those depletions?

Another issue Buchanan raised with Judge Kuenhold’s decision was “he revised the plan himself … I don’t think he has that authority.” Buchanan said he believed the most likely decision of the Supreme Court in this case would be to reject the plan and send it back with direction to Judge Kuenhold to require revisions of certain parts of it.

More Rio Grande River basin coverage here.

Arkansas Valley Super Ditch extends sign up period for ditch companies to February 15

From The Pueblo Chieftain (Chris Woodka):

During public informational meetings last week, some questions were raised about why the deadline for signup to participate in possible lease contracts came before many of the ditch companies had annual shareholder meetings. “It made sense to wait and give them the opportunity,” Schweizer said…

“We thought the meetings went really well,” Schweizer said. “We really anticipated more objections than we got. I think I admitted that I don’t know everything, but there’s not a lot we can do until we know how many participants we have.” While the main objective of the Super Ditch is to lease water, and its customers so far are outside the Lower Arkansas Valley, there are future benefits to keeping water in the valley, Schweizer said…

There are other possible benefits, such as leasing water to put into the future Arkansas Valley Conduit, Schweizer added. “There has been some talk that in a short year, Super Ditch could be a way of moving water between the canals. That would be a year when there would otherwise be no chance of raising a crop on all of the ditches,” Schweizer said. The main thrust of questions from the meetings last week centered on how much farmers could expect per acre from the two lease agreements under discussion, he added. The amount suggested in both lease agreements is $500 per acre-foot of water, although the corresponding acreage that must be dried up to reach that figure and to account for moving the water into storage at Lake Pueblo varies from ditch to ditch. It also depends on the weather conditions, availability of water and engineering restrictions.

More Arkansas Valley Super Ditch coverage here and here.

Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving. I hope you’re about to spend the day with family and friends…and food. Just remember, you are what you eat.

Snowpack news

Hello La Niña.

From the Fort Collins Coloradoan (Bobby Magill):

Snowfall during the past several days has given the snowpack a big boost, with some Northern Colorado snowpack monitoring stations reporting a snow depth 200 percent of normal or greater. A monitoring station in the Medicine Bow Mountains near the Rawah Wilderness reported a snowpack of 221 percent of normal Tuesday morning.

The basinwide snowpack in the South Platte River Basin, which includes Poudre Canyon, was 154 percent of normal overall, and the North Platte and Laramie River Basin, which includes North Park and Cameron Pass, was 186 percent of normal on Tuesday.

Fort Morgan: Water rates go up January 1

From The Fort Morgan Times (Dan Barker):

The monthly base charge for water will rise from $34.13 a month to $35.83 per month, and the volume charge will go from $2.52 per 1,000 gallons to $2.65 as of Jan. 1, said water resources Director Gary Dreessen. However, the wastewater rates will not rise, City Manager Pat Merrill said.

A water and wastewater study completed by The Engineering Company indicates that a rate adjustment is needed to balance the water department budget, he said. Like other departments, the water department has limited its capital projects this year to help balance the 2011 budget, Dreessen said.

More infrastructure coverage here.

Pueblo County plans to bill Colorado Springs a little over $148,000 for legal costs associated with the Southern Delivery System and the winter flow program

From The Pueblo Chieftain (Chris Woodka):

“Colorado Springs should have had this taken care of,” said Jeff Chostner, chairman of the Pueblo County commissioners. “We’re not happy about having to fight with our neighbors because Colorado Springs did not do their job.”

On Tuesday, Pueblo County commissioners and the Pueblo West Metropolitan District board approved a settlement agreement that would end the lawsuit by providing a road map to allow Pueblo West to recover more of the water it’s entitled to under exchanges.Colorado Springs Utilities and the Pueblo Board of Water Works also were part of negotiations and must approve the agreement as well.

More Southern Delivery System coverage here and here.