Water News
(Updated 06-May-2010)
Special
EPA Toxicity Information On Line
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is making it easier to find chemical information online. EPA is releasing a database, called ToxRefDB, which allows scientists and the interested public to search and download thousands of toxicity testing results on hundreds of chemicals. ToxRefDB captures 30 years and $2 billion of federal required testing results. In this day and age this is a handy regulatory and technical tool and simplifies at leash some of the required toxicity investigation research. View the information here.
EPA Launches New Web Tools to Inform the Public About Clean Water Enforcement
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is launching a new set of web tools, data, and interactive maps to inform the public about serious Clean Water Act violations in their communities.
Websites:
Interactive Map for Clean Water Act Annual Noncompliance Report
State Review Framework
Enforcement and Compliance History Online
Moffat Firming: It Doesn't Have to Be That Way
Denver Post Guest Commentary by Drew Peternell, director of Boulder-based Trout Unlimited Colorado Water Project
The Denver Post story casts Denver Water's proposed Moffat Tunnel project as yet another divisive standoff between conservation interests and water developers.
It's true that many conservation groups oppose Denver's Moffat project as it is currently envisioned — and for good reason. Denver already takes 65 percent of the natural flow of the Fraser River. Under the Moffat proposal, Denver would take another 20 percent of the Fraser's water, and several tributaries would be sucked dry. The Moffat project could, in short, drive the Fraser to the brink of collapse.
It's also true, however, that the Moffat project offers an opportunity for Denver to embrace a balanced water solution, one that meets the needs of Denver's citizens while preserving rivers and communities on Colorado's Western Slope.
Trout Unlimited, a sportsmen's group committed to preserving Colorado's rivers and fisheries, can accept a Moffat project if Denver agrees to responsible measures to protect western Colorado. That means, at a minimum, guaranteeing healthy year-round stream flows in the Fraser, Williams Fork and upper Colorado Rivers.
That also means improving Denver's track record on water conservation. Denver has implemented some meaningful conservation measures, but there is much more it can do — such as offering incentives for households to replace water-thirsty turf with drought-tolerant landscaping.
The projections Denver uses to justify Moffat are based on unconstrained use — that is, no watering restrictions even during severe drought. Denver residents clearly are prepared to do more. In a 2005 survey, 73 percent of Denver's citizens agreed they should conserve water to reduce impacts on mountain regions of the state.
What's at issue in the Moffat plan is our willingness on the Front Range to accept a modest tradeoff to preserve Colorado's magnificent outdoor resources. With smart resource management, we have enough water to sustain both our home places and our wild places — we don't need to choose between the two. If it respects diverse needs, Denver Water can find pragmatic water supply solutions that work for everyone, on both sides of the Divide.
EPA Establishes Web site on BP Oil Spill
As part of the ongoing federal response to the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, EPA established a website to inform the public about the spill’s impact on the environment and the health of nearby residents. The website – http://www.epa.gov/bpspill - will contain data from EPA’s ongoing air monitoring along with other information about the agency’s activities in the region. Additional information on the broader response from the U.S. Coast Guard and other responding agencies is available at: http://www.deepwaterhorizonresponse.com
Eagle River Watershed Council
Vail Daily
Vail Valley Spotlight: Eagle River Watershed Council
Eagle River Watershed Council tries to protect, preserve Vail Valley Rivers
http://www.vaildaily.com/article/20081223/NEWS/812239967&parentprofile=search
(Tuesday, December 23, 2008)
Water Wars
Pueblo Chieftain
Governor Hopes to Settle Rafting Rift
A bill that pits river rafters against private property owners has run aground, but Gov. Bill Ritter said Monday that efforts are afoot to move the controversy downstream before it crowds the November ballot. Ritter has met with rafting interests and landowners hoping to broker a compromise "so this doesn't become some kind of ballot Armageddon." Since the Senate amended HB1188 last month, it has been a fixture on the House calendar with no action. The original bill sought to clarify that licensed river outfitters have the right to float through rivers that cross private land. In that form, it passed the House. But in the Senate, amendments extended the courtesy to all river users, and ultimately tabled the question.
(Tuesday April 13, 2010)
Wall Street Journal
In This Political Battle, a River Runs Through It
In a clash that some lawmakers have dubbed "Row v. Wade," rafters and anglers are squaring off over rights to prized Colorado waterways. The core question: Do paddlers have an absolute right to float down any river in the state, even rivers that run through private property reserved for fly-fishing?
(Thursday, April 8, 2010
Grand Junciton Daily Sentinel
Senate OKs diversion of private-land rafter bill to study group
A measure that would have allowed rafters to float through private land but was sidetracked in committee and turned into a study has cleared the Colorado Senate. Although it’s headed back to the House so it can take final action on House Bill 1188, its chief sponsor, unaffiliated Rep. Kathleen Curry of Gunnison, isn’t yet sure what she’ll do. Curry said Monday she’s faced with three options: Accept the bill as rewritten and allow the Colorado Water Congress, a nongovernmental water rights entity, to study the idea; Ask the House to adhere to its version of the bill, which allowed rafting through private land, a provision that likely would lead to the bill’s death; or force the measure into a conference committee of three representatives and three senators and try to iron out a compromise. Grand Junction Daily Sentinel; Tuesday, March 23, 2010
Summit County Citizen’s Voice
Impacts of Denver Water diversion plan unclear
Local officials say a Denver Water plan to take more water out of the Blue River Basin could hurt the Gold Medal trout fishery below Dillon Dam and cut into the boating season at the Frisco Marina and on the lower Blue River. The proposal to draw more water from Dillon Reservoir through the Robert Tunnel is part of Denver Water’s Moffat Tunnel collection system expansion. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is currently reviewing a draft environmental study for the project. Denver Water planning director Dave Little said the draft study did not identify significant Summit County impacts.
(Saturday, March 6, 2010)
Denver Business Journal
Front Range uses only 19% of Colorado’s water, report says
A new report on Colorado’s water usage concludes that the Front Range uses about 19 percent of the state’s water, yet generates between 80 and 86 percent of its economic activity and tax revenue. Most of the state’s water is used for agriculture, the report says. With Colorado’s population expected to double by 2050, and the potential for a 1 million acre-foot gap between water demands and supplies by then as well, the report is intended to help state planners and politicians decide existing water resources are best put to work, Wayne Vanderschuere, water supply manager for Colorado Springs Utilities, said Wednesday. “There’s the value of having the mountains, and the skiing and hunting and rafting and recreation is very real, but we have to keep that in context of where do we put the water to its highest value,” Vanderschuere said in an interview. Denver Business Journal
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
Pueblo Chiefton
Aurora and Eagle County reach water agreement
Aurora has reached an agreement with Eagle County water providers to sell water from Homestake Reservoir to meet Western Slope needs. Aurora City Council Monday agreed to provide an additional 500 acre-feet of water from the reservoir to Eagle County, Vail Associates, the Eagle River Water and Sanitation District, the Upper Eagle Regional Water Authority and the Colorado River Water Conservation District. The water users will pay Aurora $7.5 million and may use the water in drier years. “The old east-west model is obsolete. The new model is joint action. The Valley wins, Aurora wins. It’s how Colorado should work in the future,” said Aurora Mayor Ed Tauer.
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
The Christian Science Monitor
Pressure builds over bottled water
Towns around the U.S. fight firms that want to soak up a local resource
(Thursday, October 22, 2009)
Farm & Dairy
Water Wars Will Impact Us All
(Thursday, July 2, 2009)
Cortez Journal.com
Ritter wants state water to win
Governor addresses conference on state water, growth issues
(Thursday, October 01, 2009)
Colorado
Fort Collins Coloradoan
Coloradoans Still Value Environment
Money may be scarce in this recession, but Coloradans still like to climb fourteeners; they still visit national parks; and they still value a clean environment. That's the conclusion of a CSU study of the impacts of the faltering economy on Coloradans' environmental values.
(Sunday, April 25, 2010)
Summit Daily News
Officials examine Colorado’s water future
Global warming will make Colorado hotter, right? But will it also get drier? The answer is that it depends. A new $1 million study suggests snowier and rainier winters in the northern mountains and drier ones in the south by the mid-21st century. But everywhere across the Western Slope, summers will be hotter, longer and drier, putting more stress on reservoirs. Those tentative conclusions are found in the draft Colorado River Water Availability Study, a $1 million effort described by state water officials, who commissioned it, as cutting edge. “I don't know of any other state that is putting the time, resources and money into this,” said Jennifer Gimbel, executive director of the Colorado Water Conservation Board, a state agency charged with overseeing protection and development of Colorado's waters. About three-quarters of the state's water originates west of the Continental Divide, in the headwaters of the Colorado River and its tributaries, much of it in the form of snow.
Thursday, March 25, 2010
Colorado River
Taking control: Managing selenium is important because it causes defects in fish
Company won't seek water right on Yampa
(Saturday, February 20, 2010)
Eagle River
http://www.waterinfo.org/taxonomy/term/1339
The Vail Daily
Minturn Developer Makes Run at Pueblo Water Rights
Minturn resort hopeful offers $30 million in cash for rights to small, but unique water source
http://www.vaildaily.com/article/20090210/NEWS/902109859&parentprofile=search
(Tuesday, February 10, 2009)
The Vail Daily
Eagle Mine Pond Floods Highway 24 Near Minturn
Acid levels show possible contamination that could be harmful to fish in Minturn
http://www.vaildaily.com/article/20090122/NEWS/901229880&parentprofile=search
(Tuesday, January 22, 2009)
The Vail Daily
Flooding Causes Problems Outside of Minturn
http://www.vaildaily.com/article/20090122/NEWS/901229972&parentprofile=search
(Tuesday, January 22, 2009)
Mining Activities
The Colorado Independent
Udall's Good Samaratan water-cleanup bill drawing support
The bill seeks to encourage grassroots action and close loopholes to industry
http://coloradoindependent.com/42802/udalls-good-samaritan-water-cleanup-bill-drawing-support
(Monday, November 23, 2009)
The Colorado Independent
Udall introduces new 'Good Samaritan' water clean-up legistation
Senator: ‘I'm dying to set these groups loose so they can get to work.’
http://coloradoindependent.com/40122/udall-introduces-new-good-samaritan-water-clean-up-legislation
(Thursday, October 15, 2009)
The Colorado Independent
Colorado Water Cleanups Hobbled by ‘Good Samaritan’ Legal Risks
New laws protecting volunteer groups would spur restoration work
http://coloradoindependent.com/38169/colo-water-cleanup-projects-hobbled-by-good-samaritan-legal-risks
(Thursday, September 24, 2009)
Durango Herald
Acid rock talk
Workshop traces source of metals in Silverton-area water
http://durangoherald.com/sections/News/Earth/2009/08/06/Acid_rock_talk/
(Thursday, August 6, 2009)
The Colorado Independent
EPA Proposes New Clean-up Plan for Leadville
Wary Superfund site residents still guard mine-town geography
http://coloradoindependent.com/34677/epa-proposes-new-clean-up-plan-for-leadville
(Tuesday, August 4, 2009)
Oil Shale Issues
Shell: Oil shale project to go on
Company won't seek water right on Yampa
(Wednesday, February 24, 2010)
Vail
Colorado NPS Connection
Vail plans voluntary stormwater protection program
Other communities in watershed to also benefit
(Fall 2008)
Water
United States' drought has 'extraordinary' reversal
As of last week, only about 7% of the contiguous USA was in a drought, in a few isolated spots in the interior West and upper Midwest.
(Wednesday, February 17, 2010)
Silverton Standard & the Miner
MSI publishes study on nitrogen in lakes. Research took Place in the San Juans
http://www.silvertonstandard.com/news.php?id=77
(Thursday, November 19, 2009)
The Aspen Times
Concerns flow over diverting water for Aspen hydro power
City's plan for hydroelectric plant raises questions for residents, environmentalists
(Saturday, November 14, 2009)
Denver Post.com
Reservoir under construction south of Denver, but there's no water to hold
(Tuesday, 10 November, 2009)
The Colorado Independent
Upper Colorado River, Front Range Water Resources Threatened
Experts: Population Growth, Energy Industry, Pose Double Risk
(Thurday, November 5, 2009)
Earth System Research Laboratory
Western Water Outlook: Grim
But good management can lower the risk of reservoir depletion, study shows
http://www.esrl.noaa.gov/news/quarterly/fall2009/western_water_outlook_grim.html
(Fall 2009)
The Pueblo Chieftain
Trust works to protect streams, lakes
State is the ultimate conservation guardian, but the group works to help the cause.
(Sunday, October 18, 2009)
The Pueblo Chieftain
Moving water: Chances may be improving
Some still see stiff resistance from Western Slope to any new project.
(Friday, October 16, 2009)
Summit Daily News
New storage eyed as Colorado confronts more people & less water
(Monday, October 14, 2009)
The Colorado Independent
Reports trace spring contamination to two Western Slope gas companies
(Monday, October 14, 2009)
The Denver Post
Fears of tainted water well up in western Colorado
(Sunday October 11, 2009)
The Rocky Mountain Independent
Triple Treat Imperils Colorado's Water Supply
(Wednesday, September 2, 2009)
The Rocky Mountain Independent
Triple Treat Imperils Colorado's Water Supply, Part 2
(Thursday, September 3, 2009)
The Vail Daily
Ginn drops out of Vail Valley ski resort
Resort will likely wait for economy; company associated with project lender will take over in Vail Valley
(Wednesday, September 9, 2009)
The Steamboat Pilot
Water levels in Colorado declared healthy
Speaker at conference: Snow levels caused unnecessary scares
(Friday, August 21, 2009)
The Denver Post
Thirsty cities eye Wyoming water
Four options
(Sunday, August 16, 2009)
Cortez Journal
State faces thirsty future - Cities target agricultural water supply
(Tuesday, August 8, 2009)
The Denver Post
Aurora water plan could leave developer high, dry
Aurora water buy could delay Minturn proposal
(Monday, July 13, 2009)