Proposed Penley Dam Project reservoir update
January 20, 2011
In November, residents in the Indian Creek area, near Sedalia, got together and organized an opposition group to Ventana Capital’s application for the Penley Dam Project, part of the proposed Penley Ranch development. The project’s effects on property values, aesthetics and possibly the flood plain were their main issues.
[Note: I was mistaken about this project. It is on Indian Creek, not Plum Creek. I still don't know about water rights that would be used to fill the reservoir.]
In December the Douglas County planning staff recommended approval for the project and sent it on the the Douglas County Planning Commission.
On January 10 the Commission voted unanimously (8-0) against the project, according to email from a Coyote Gulch reader.
The hearing before the Board of Commissioners originally scheduled for January 25 has now been continued to February 7. Here’s the notice from Douglas County:
The Douglas County Board of County Commissioners hearing to consider a Use By Special Review application for 3485 N. State Hwy 67-Penley Reservoir (Project File No. US2010-006), noticed for Tuesday, January 25, 2011, at 2:30 p.m., is being continued to Monday, February 7, 2011, at 6:30 p.m. This continuation is necessary to accommodate the numerous requests from citizens for an evening hearing.
Additional hearings are tentatively scheduled for Wednesday, February 23 and Thursday, February 24, 2011, also at 6:30 p.m. All project documents are available on the County’s website here.
More Penley Dam coverage here.
Snowpack news
January 20, 2011
From the Glenwood Springs Post Independent:
Overall, the snowpack in the [Roaring Fork] watershed is at 136 percent of average, and all stations are still “significantly above average,” according to the Roaring Fork Watershed Snowpack Report issued by the Roaring Fork Conservancy…
Regional snowpack
Roaring Fork Watershed, 136%
Independence Pass (Roaring Fork), 131%
Ivanhoe (Fryingpan), 132%
Kiln (Fryingpan), 122%
McClure (Crystal), 140%
North Lost Trail (Crystal), 153%
Schofield Pass (Crystal), 137%
Justice Hobbs talks Colorado water history at the state legislature
January 20, 2011
Wayne Aspinall is credited with saying, “In the West, when you touch water, you touch everything.” Well, these days you can hardly read an article about our new governor or the General Assembly that doesn’t mention water somewhere so I guess I have to agree with Aspinall.
Colorado Supreme Court Justice Gregory Hobbs was at the capitol building yesterday talking Colorado water history. Here’s a report from Patrick Malone writing for The Pueblo Chieftain. From the article:
Ancestral Pueblo Indians built [water works] in the southwest corner of the state between 750 and 1180 A.D. The San Luis People’s Ditch, the state’s oldest water right dating from 1852, is still honored today. “We didn’t even become a territory until 1861,” Hobbs said…
He discussed the complexities of water source augmentation, the unique role Colorado’s courts play in water decisions (appellate courts are bypassed straight to the Supreme Court on appeal), how Colorado’s neutral decision makers on water disputes — the courts — differ from other states’ more political approaches and the state’s history of consideration to agriculture in structuring water law.
More 2011 Colorado legislation coverage here.
Energy policy — nuclear: Colorado Citizens Against Toxic Waste file amended lawsuit against Cotter Corp over Lincoln Park/Cotter Mill superfund site
January 20, 2011
From The Pueblo Chieftain (Tracy Harmon):
An amended complaint was filed in Denver District Court Friday by attorneys Travis Stills of the Energy Minerals Law Center in Durango and Jeffrey Parsons with the Western Mining Action Project in Lyons, on behalf of Colorado Citizens Against Toxic Waste. The defendants are the state health department and Steve Tarlton in his capacity as manager of the state’s radiation control program, plus Cotter Corp. also is listed as a party.
Because Colorado radiation regulations require a decommissioning funding plan that outlines a cost estimate for closing the mill, Cotter and state officials have been working since 2009 to try to pin down an updated cost estimate. However, the lawsuit alleges the bond remains inadequate despite the fact that Cotter Corp. has agreed to up the bond from $14.7 million to $20.8 million by June of this year to cover cost of decommissioning the entire mill when it closes. The state estimated cleanup will cost about $43.7 million while Cotter estimated it would be $23.2 million. On Dec. 15, the state health officials agreed to leave the bond at $20.8 million despite public comment that urged it should be $53 million. “We would like to see them (Cotter Corp.) post the entire $43.7 million at least. It is a federal program the state is implementing and adding a 25 percent contingency (an additional $10.9 million) is standard,” Parsons said. “Both the bonding amount and the way it is calculated are serious problems because they are the first line of defense for the taxpayers of Colorado…
The suit also alleges that decommission work on the old mill is being done without benefit of any kind of updated decommissioning plan since the last plan was inked in 2005. Parsons said there is no current decommissioning plan, final closure plan or reclamation plan. “That is the huge elephant in the room, they (Cotter) are demolishing old buildings, old tanks and putting them in the tailings impoundments and what is going to happen with the tailings impoundment? Currently, they are pumping back contaminated water to adjust for leaking.
More coverage from Bruce Finley writing for The Denver Post. From the article:
The lawsuit filed in Denver District Court alleges that recent dismantling activity at Cotter’s Cañon City mill is being done without a required plan, presenting a public-health risk as toxic and radioactive waste is dumped into a waste-storage pond. “We have frequent high winds here. I always worry,” said Cañon City resident Sharyn Cunningham, leader of Colorado Citizens Against Toxic Waste. “We’d like an opportunity to weigh in.”[...]
The lawsuit also contends a plume of toxic groundwater contamination from the mill property — identified in 2008 — is flowing unchecked toward the heart of Cañon City and the Arkansas River…
Cotter president Amory Quinn said the lawsuit “doesn’t have anything to do with us” and confirmed that Cotter is dismantling old structures. He said Cotter hopes to move forward with plans to re-engineer and reopen the mill. The health department’s recent approval of a permit for another company to build a uranium mill in southwestern Colorado should have no effect on Cotter’s plans, Quinn said. “We have done millions of dollars’ worth of remedial work in the past few years, and we are going to continue until it is complete,” he said.
Arkansas Valley Super Ditch update
January 20, 2011
From The Pueblo Chieftain (Chris Woodka):
Water rights holders representing 67 percent of the land and 70-75 percent of the water under seven ditches proposed for inclusion in Super Ditch returned cards indicating they might be interested in selling water through a lease program, said Peter Nichols, water attorney for the district. If those who sign up accept contracts — they’re under no obligation to do so — there would be more than ample water to fill the current demand, Nichols said.
The Super Ditch has letters of agreement to supply water up to 8,000 acre-feet annually to El Paso County water users for 40 years and up to 140,000 acre-feet over the next 37 years to Aurora…
The Lower Ark district mailed cards to all shareholders on the Bessemer, Catlin, Fort Lyon, Holbrook, High Line, Otero and Oxford ditches last fall in order to identify the potential source of water under its application in Water Court. The deadline for returning the cards is Feb. 15. While some in the Super Ditch asked the Lower Ark district to directly contact water rights owners who have not signed on, the district has resisted. “If people don’t participate, we’re not going to twist their arms,” said Jay Winner, general manager. “It’s an individual choice.”[...]
Meanwhile, the district is moving ahead on several fronts to support the Super Ditch. It is requesting a $225,000 grant from the Colorado Water Conservation Board for engineering that would determine how to move water to Lake Pueblo, and a separate $28,000 grant to develop an online tool that would help farmers decide whether a lease program makes sense.
San Miguel River Wild and Scenic designation
January 19, 2011
The Bureau of Land Management is looking over a couple of reaches on the river. The last public meeting is on Thursday in Norwood. Here’s a report from Kathrine Warren writing for The Telluride Daily Planet. From the article:
If designated under the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act, portions of the rivers would enjoy certain protections tailored to keep them wild, free-flowing, beautiful or recreationally valuable. The BLM has conducted several public meetings over the past two months concerning the river’s suitability for Wild and Scenic status in an attempt to collect public comment for or against the possibility. The last meeting is this Thursday from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. at the Norwood Community Center with a presentation from Roy Smith of the BLM.
This meeting will be the final chance for public comment, but for those who can’t attend, comments can be submitted to the BLM by e-mailing UFORMP@BLM.GOV.
CWCB: Water Availability Task Force meeting recap
January 19, 2011
From the Associated Press (Catherine Tsai) via The Colorado Springs Gazette:
Forecasters say this is just the beginning of what could be a two-year La Nina cycle, when the second year is often drier than the first. If that pans out, that could pose problems for farmers already hurting for rain and snow cover this winter.
Still, water planners say it’s too early to be optimistic or pessimistic about water supplies, even just for this year. Colorado typically gets most of its snow in March and April. “If it were a football game, we’d only be in the second quarter,” said Bob Steger, raw water supply manager for Denver Water…
Breckenridge Ski Resort, where at least one trail sign was halfway covered in a snowdrift Tuesday, reported 26 inches of new snow in the past 24 hours…
The storm helped boost the statewide snowpack to 125 percent of the 30-year average Tuesday, but the Upper Rio Grande and Arkansas river basins in southern Colorado are below average, according to the Natural Resources Conservation Service. If the southwest corner of the state hadn’t gotten hit with December storms, it also would be hurting, said NRCS snow survey supervisor Mike Gillespie. Instead, the San Miguel, Dolores, Animas and San Juan basin stands at 120 percent of average, according to NRCS…
In December, moisture from storms that struck California helped the state turn around its snowpack totals, but little of it made its way east of the Continental Divide, said state climatologist Nolan Doesken. In the Arkansas basin, the headwaters are in decent shape, but farmers and ranchers to the east aren’t getting the same moisture, he said.
Summit County: Forest health task force meeting schedule
January 19, 2011
Click through for the complete listing from the Summit Daily News (Janice Kurbjun). Times vary but you can get the inside skinny on the Forest Health Task Force website. Here are a couple that might interest you:
March — Watersheds. It’s a meeting hosted by Denver Water, Aurora Water, Blue River Watershed Group, and should have participation from the U.S. Forest Service…
December — Year-end wrapup. All the key players in environmental protection, watershed protection, youth, communications and education, optimizing future forest conditions, understanding beetles and other forest pests, Forest Service, and more will be invited to the discussion.
NIDIS Weekly Climate, Water and Drought Assessment Summary of the Upper Colorado River Basin
January 19, 2011
Here’s are the notes from the Colorado Climate Center.
Rio Grande Water Conservation District’s quarterly meeting recap
January 19, 2011
From the Valley Courier (Ruth Heide):
When the state pulls the trigger on groundwater rules and regulations, many Valley irrigators could be shut down. Colorado Division of Water Resources Division Engineer for Division 3 Craig Cotten reported during the Rio Grande Water Conservation District’s quarterly meeting on Tuesday that those rules are very close to being completed. State Engineer Dick Wolfe has been working with a large advisory group for the better part of two years to develop regulations that governing groundwater use in the Rio Grande Basin. Well irrigators who are not part of a water management sub-district or who have not completed individual augmentation plans may find themselves out of business when the rules go into effect and the state begins shutting down wells.
Currently, one water management sub-district of the sponsoring Rio Grande Water Conservation District is on appeal with the Colorado Supreme Court, while five or six other sub-districts throughout the Valley are in various stages of development. Because it appears the state’s rules could be in place before the sub-districts, the state engineer’s office asked legislators like State Senator Gail Schwartz and State Representative Ed Vigil to carry legislation adding language to existing legislation that would give folks within a pending sub-district some protection when the bullets start flying.
“We are going to have a situation, I think, where we will have rules and regulations in place. Those rules and regulations are in draft form right now and the rules and regulations will go into effect May 2012,” Cotten said. “If those rules and regulations go into effect we will have sub-districts that are in court but not through the process, so those people in those sub-districts will be stuck … They could be caught in a position where they are going to be shut down and they don’t have any ability to apply for a substitute supply plan.” He said without an augmentation plan, those folks would have to shut their wells off. Cotten explained that the state has had legislation for nearly a decade that provides for temporary or emergency substitute water supply plans to be approved while an official augmentation plan is pending with the courts. “It allows somebody to go forward and do what they are planning on doing, replace their water, as they wait on the court case to get done,” Cotten explained. He said the statute in place right now provides for several different situations but does not specifically mention sub-districts because it was enacted before the Valley began developing water management sub-districts.
Pueblo Board of Water Works board meeting recap
January 19, 2011
From The Pueblo Chieftain (Chris Woodka):
The water board could save $50,000 to $60,000 annually in costs for powdered fluoride if the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services lowers fluoride standards for drinking water, Don Colalancia, division manager for water quality and treatment, told the board at its monthly meeting Tuesday…
This week, the Environmental Protection Agency is recommending stricter testing limits for chromium 6. “It’s an oxidized state of chromium,” Colalancia explained, adding that chromium 6 is not likely to be a problem here, but that to be sure it has to be measured…
Right now, the water board tests for total chromium, under EPA standards of 100 parts per billion. Pueblo’s water has less than 4 parts per billion of total chromium. Chromium 6 is probably a small part of the total chromium. California is looking at chromium 6 levels that are 0.06 ppb, a minute quantity which not all labs can measure, so water managers are scrambling to find qualified labs even as prices for testing go up, Colalancia explained.
More Pueblo Board of Water Works coverage here.
Snowpack/Lake Mead news
January 18, 2011
From The Arizona Republic (Shaun McKinnon):
The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation says it now expects runoff from the winter snowpack to raise water levels at Lake Mead later this year, easing drought conditions at the giant reservoir, which last fall sank to its lowest level since 1937. The lake has already risen 5 feet since Dec. 1, after a series of storms drenched southern Utah and southern Nevada. Snowpack in Colorado’s Rocky Mountains is 133 percent of average overall, with some locations reporting amounts 200 percent of average…
In its January water-supply forecast, the bureau says there is now a 76 percent chance that runoff from the snow will allow the agency to release extra water from Lake Powell downstream into Lake Mead, a procedure designed to better balance the contents of the two reservoirs. The extra water, an estimated 3.13 million acre-feet, would raise the lake’s level 30 feet above the first drought trigger. The water won’t erase the effects of a decade of dry conditions – Lake Mead has dropped more than 130 feet since 1999 – but it could be just enough to protect water users from rationing. More significantly, it would give Arizona and Nevada, the states that would be hardest hit by rationing, a chance to better prepare.
Pueblo: Maintenance work on the Arkansas River levee update
January 18, 2011
From The Pueblo Chieftain (Chris Woodka):
Work was supposed to have started in early January, but cold weather delayed that. Plus, there were details in contracts with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to work out. “Any time you’re dealing with the federal government and four contractors, there’s going to be some uncertainty,” said Gus Sandstrom, president of the Pueblo Conservancy District.
The first step in the project will be to build a small levee in the Arkansas River channel to divert water away from the concrete levee on the north side of the river…
On Monday, there were crews working to install rip-rap on the embankments of the newly completed Fourth Street bridge, a Colorado Department of Highways project, but no work in the river channel itself…
The levees are being damaged by flows from the kayak gates, which double as fish shelters, that have been built along the levee. The water is undermining the base of the levee. After the flows are diverted, vents will be installed at the base of the levee to allow water to flow through without washing away soil
More Arkansas River basin coverage here.
Upper Arkansas Valley Water Conservancy District board meeting recap
January 17, 2011
From The Mountain Mail (Joe Stone):
Witte said he believes the vast majority of seep water affected by the new rules is in southeast Colorado “because there are big ditch companies out there with large canals that cross dry arroyos.” Witte explained water from the big ditches seeped into arroyos through time and people claimed rights to that water instead of allowing it to return to the river. Because seep rights are more recent or junior rights, failure to administer them under the priority system has deprived senior rights holders of their water – particularly in the Upper Arkansas River Basin, Witte said. “I’m absolutely convinced we’re doing the right thing,” Witte said, adding he sees no basis for distinguishing between ditch seepage and natural springs.
On a separate topic, Witte said water storage in the basin is down about 15 percent because of dry fall weather. He said an environmental impact statement process is under way for the Arkansas Valley Conduit.
More Arkansas River basin coverage here.
Martin Luther King Day
January 17, 2011
Enjoy your day today. Take time to reflect on King’s legacy and contributions to freedom in the U.S.
Fort Collins: Proposed floodplain rules update
January 17, 2011
From the Fort Collins Coloradoan (Kevin Duggan):
The latest proposal from city stormwater officials for upgrading the regulations — allowing non-residential development in the floodplain as long as it has “no adverse impact” on other properties — might be the solution sought by riverside property owners who hope to develop their land, she said. Or it may create a regulatory environment in which development would become cost prohibitive because of the need for engineering studies to show no harm would come from a project, she said. Mitigation efforts needed to prevent water from one property going to another during a flood event, such as channeling the river, could be too costly except for the largest and wealthiest developers, she said.
More Stormwater coverage here.
2010 Colorado election gubernatorial transition: Governor Hickenlooper’s first official tour recap
January 17, 2011
I’m feeling sorry for the new governor. Chasing across the valleys, crossing pass after pass, bracing against twists and turns up and down canyons and gazing out the window at timeless vistas, it must be tough to get psyched for your first official tour of Colorado. Here’s a report from NewsFirst5.com. From the article:
As part of his state wide tour, Governor Hickenlooper made his first official trip to Southern Colorado Sunday with stops in Pueblo and Colorado Springs. He says bringing more growth into the state economy is going to be a tricky task. “The whole state has to be more pro-business, but this is Colorado so we have to hold ourselves to the highest standards of protecting our land and water, making sure we hold our businesses to the highest ethical standards.” he says, “But as we do that we want to be more pro-business.”
More coverage from the Associated Press via CBS Denver:
Hickenlooper began in Edwards in Eagle County. He told the audience made up of hundreds that he wanted their ideas. “This can only really work if we get more people involved, not usual suspects but different suspects,” said Hickenlooper.
More coverage from the Longmont Times-Call:
Gov. John Hickenlooper is to discuss economic development and job creation Monday afternoon with northern Colorado business leaders, community members and local officials.
The Loveland meeting, which is open to the public, will conclude a four-day tour that Hickenlooper began Friday to promote what the governor calls his “bottom-up economic development plan.” Hickenlooper has proposed local creation of economic development plans for each of Colorado’s 64 counties. Those county plans would then be rolled into 14 regional plans, which collectively would amount to a statewide economic development plan.
Monday’s meeting is set for 3 p.m. in the McKee Community Building at The Ranch, 5280 Arena Circle, Loveland.
Here’s a look at Governor Hickenlooper’s vision for the Department of Natural Resources, from Bobby Magill writing for the Fort Collins Coloradoan. From the article:
“We’re going to have to focus on making sure that Colorado is open for business and we’re working well with folks in the tourism industry and the oil and gas industry,” he said. The Department of Natural Resource’s, or DNR, 11 divisions oversee state parks, forestry, wildlife, water resources, oil and gas, state land, mining, minerals and enforcement of the state’s natural resources rules and regulations, including new rules created governing in situ leach uranium mining in Northern Colorado.
Under Gov. Bill Ritter, King helped oversee the creation of legislatively mandated oil and gas rules hailed by environmentalists but detested by the energy industry, which said the rules would send jobs to other states. King, who continues as DNR executive director after assuming that position eight months ago in the Ritter administration, said the department’s primary focus is on jobs and economic development. The DNR, he said, will work with state tourism officials to figure out how to use state parks to generate more tourism revenue.
More coverage from The Pueblo Chieftain (Matt Hildner):
Costilla County Commissioner Crestina Martinez said residents in her county have only one company that offers both voice and data services. She noted that some people don’t even like to travel over La Veta Pass because its a black hole for service of any kind.
While a fairly solid agricultural economy helped the valley stave off the worst of the recession this year, according to a recent state report, local officials emphasized the problem of connecting some products — such as locally grown food and livestock — to niche markets.
More coverage from John Schroyer writing for The Colorado Springs Gazette. From the article
His [Hickenlooper's] aim, he said, is simple — create jobs. After pointing out that the state is flat broke, and Coloradans aren’t in the mood for a tax hike, he repeated what has become his political mantra. “There’s no other solution than to be more pro-business.” He heard from dozens of area residents Sunday, ranging from self-described “interested citizens” to local CEO’s, government officials, attorneys, activists, teachers, and even a filmmaker.
More 2010 Colorado elections coverage here.
Good luck Steve Jobs
January 17, 2011
Steve Jobs is taking a leave of absence from Apple.
2011 Colorado legislation: Will the General Assembly tackle the vise grip of TABOR, the Gallagher Amendment and Amendment 23?
January 17, 2011
Here are some recommendations from former and current state budget wonks, from The Denver Post:
STRUCTURAL CHANGES: Colorado has some of the easiest requirements in the nation for citizen-initiated constitutional changes. This has led to problematic additions to the Constitution that have had unexpected and drastic consequences.
• Ask the voters to reform the state’s initiative process to make it more difficult for people to put changes to the state’s constitution on the ballot. The panel’s suggested changes are in line with 2008′s Referendum O. With no real supportive campaign, the measure failed 52 percent to 48 percent.
• Ask voters to revise the Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights to preserve the essential elements that were used to sell it to voters in 1992. The panel agreed that TABOR should be distilled to its basic tenet: no new or increased taxes without a vote of the people.
A revision would include keeping the requirement that voters have to approve tax rate hikes, any new taxes, and bonded indebtedness. The idea is to preserve voter approval while ridding our constitution of artificial restraints, such as the hard revenue cap, that prevent governments from keeping funds raised from existing taxes to provide core services.
• Ask voters to revise Amendment 23 (guarantees minimum levels of funding for K-12) that was passed as a response to TABOR and legislatively enacted permanent tax cuts.
Despite Amendment 23, the K-12 education budget is not protected. The majority of panelists supported amending the provision that directs 0.33 percent of state income tax to the state education fund as follows: reduce the amount to 0.25 percent and redirect the funds into the State Land Board Trust Fund, which is designated for education support in the Constitution. The interest from the collected funds would be used to support K-12 and could not be raided for other uses.
The Gallagher amendment was passed in 1982 as a way to maintain a constant ratio between property tax revenues coming from residential and business parcels. However, TABOR’s prohibition on assessment-rate increases without a popular vote has distorted the intent of Gallagher. One of the results has been a vast and unsustainable shift in responsibility for K-12 funding away from the local level to the state. Thus, funding for K-12 now takes up the lion’s share of the general fund.
• Ask voters to repeal Gallagher but freeze the assessment rate on residential properties at the current 7.96 percent. The ratio between the state and the local districts would remain constant, and there would be no increase in property tax rates, yet revenues could increase with increased values.
More 2011 Colorado legislation coverage here.
Pueblo: Stormwater seminar January 27
January 17, 2011
From The Pueblo Chieftain (Chris Woodka):
The city will host a seminar on stormwater discharges from 8 to 11 a.m. Jan. 27 at the Pueblo Convention Center. The seminar intends to answer questions from the business sector, contractors and developers about the city’s stormwater system, and cover ordinances, best management practices and maintaining construction sites and private homes. “If it’s not stormwater, it does not belong in the system. Rainwater and snowmelt are two examples of stormwater,
More stormwater coverage here.
La Niña update
January 17, 2011
From the Summit County Citizens Voice:
“The solid record of La Niña strength only goes back about 50 years and this latest event appears to be one of the strongest ones over this time period,” said Climatologist Bill Patzert of [NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory]. “It is already impacting weather and climate all around the planet.”
“Although exacerbated by precipitation from a tropical cyclone, rainfalls of historic proportion in eastern Queensland, Australia have led to levels of flooding usually only seen once in a century,” said David Adamec, Oceanographer at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md. “The copious rainfall is a direct result of La Niña’s effect on the Pacific trade winds and has made tropical Australia particularly rainy this year.”
Fort Morgan flooding discussion
January 17, 2011
From The Fort Morgan Times (John La Porte):
Residents of the Eighth Avenue area near Main Street blame flooding in the last two years at least partially on the downtown improvement project completed in the summer of 2009. The project has moved a flooding problem from downtown to Eighth, some residents said at a meeting called by city officials Wednesday to discuss the flooding and try to reassure residents that they were working on a solution.
And while city engineer Brad Curtis acknowledged that runoff from the downtown area “didn`t help” the long-standing flooding situation on Eighth, Scott Bryan of the city council pointed out that the area had not seen in a long time rainstorms like it has seen the last two years. Bryan, who owns a cleaning and service business, said that flooding problems in Fort Morgan are not isolated to Eighth. He said he and his workers pump out 50 to 60 houses after every big storm. He has had the business since 1995, he said, and has not seen anything to compare with the storms of the last two years.
More stormwater coverage here.
From the Montrose Daily Press:
[U.S. Energy Corp] The company wants to undertake geologic studies, using test pits and shallow holes, to analyze the soils and geology in the area, which has molybdenum.
The first meeting will be from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. Jan. 25 in the South Ballroom (Room 215) at the Western State College Student Center in Gunnison. (Park in the north parking lot.) Another meeting will be from 7 to 9:30 p.m. Jan. 26 at the Lodge at Mountaineer Square, Mountaineer Conference Center, in Crested Butte.
The U.S. Forest Service wants to present more information on what is proposed for the baseline studies and the agency’s role in the projects and proposals, said Gunnison District Ranger John Murphy. “It’s important for folks to know the sideboards of our authority, as well as to provide them an opportunity to discuss the proposed work with resource specialists,” he said.
More Gunnison River basin coverage here.
Bureau of Land Management’s Southwest Colorado Resource Advisory Council meeting January 28
January 17, 2011
From the Montrose Daily Press:
The open meeting will be from 9 a.m. to noon ,” with a public comment period at 11 a.m. ,” on Jan. 28 at the Holiday Inn Express Jordan Room, 1391 S. Townsend Ave. The Southwest Colorado RAC subgroup is composed of area residents representing diverse interests within the Uncompahgre Field Office. The seven-member subgroup will provide recommendations to the BLM Southwest Colorado RAC regarding development and implementation of the public lands within the field office.
More Uncompahgre River watershed coverage here.
From the Cortez Journal (Joe Hanel):
The new Democratic governor at times sounded like a Republican, calling for a “regulatory impact statement” on bills to keep the Legislature from bothering businesses with more paperwork.
At other times, though, he had Democrats cheering by pledging to defend two of former Gov. Bill Ritter’s proudest accomplishments: the conversion of coal power plants to natural gas and the expansion of government-provided health care for low-income families.
But, befitting of the bipartisan tone Hickenlooper tried to strike in his first address to the Legislature, he received the loudest ovation from both sides of the aisle for his challenge to legislators to cooperate.
“A lot of people don’t think the state can operate in a nonpartisan way for the benefit of Colorado,” he said. “We don’t agree.”
More 2010 Colorado elections coverage here.
