More Colorado Water News

Andy Jones Appointed to Supreme Court Appointed Water Court Committee

WINDSOR - August 11, 2008: Lind, Lawrence & Ottenhoff water attorney Andy Jones has been appointed to a 2-year term on the Supreme Court appointed Water Court Committee.

On August 8, 2008 Chief Justice Mullarkey signed an order creating a standing committee. Mr. Jones was officially appointed to the standing Water Court Committee where he will continue to review the water court process; identifying possible ways through rule and/or statutory change to achieve efficiencies in water court cases while still protecting quality outcomes; and ensure the highest level of competence in water court participants. The next meeting of the Water Court Committee is scheduled to be held on September 4, 2008. Click for more...

Despite some rain, the area's still dry

PUEBLO -  August 31, 2008: August did what it could, but the Pikes Peak region will still be relatively thirsty at the end of this month.

The consecutive days of precipitation in August produced more than an inch of rain more than the normal 3.48 inches.

"It was a very good month, precipitation-wise," said Mark Wankowski, meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Pueblo. Click for more...

City Opposes Glade Reservoir

FORT COLLINS - The City of Fort Collins has a message for the Army Corps of Engineers: it doesn't want the Northern Integrated Supply Project, at least not as it's proposed.

The $350 million project includes the controversial Glade Reservoir, which would draw and store water from the Poudre River. More than 30 residents showed up at Tuesday's City Council meeting to express their concerns. Opponents say the project endangers the environment, although in April, the Army Corps of Engineers said in its draft Environmental Impact Statement (EIS), the environmental impacts would be minimal.

The city of Fort Collins and its scientists disagree.

"Those impacts will be felt over decades, potentially, and we think those impacts will be quite profound," said John Stokes, director of natural resources for the city.

Those behind Glade say the Corps had it right in its draft EIS. Click for more...

Two Big Reservoirs Possible

U.S. Energy Corporation has filed its “résumé” of conditional water rights. The company has plans for a major molybdenum mine on Mt. Emmons west of Crested Butte. In a full-page legal notice published in the August 15 Crested Butte News, the mining company outlines all of its water and what it is doing to keep the water rights current for its proposed Lucky Jack project.  Click for more...

Draft to Solidify Water Supplies

Fort Collins - August 28, 2008: Federal officials have released the draft Environmental Impact Statement for Chimney Hollow Reservoir and the Windy Gap Firming Project, which would solidify water supplies for some Northern Colorado cities.

The draft EIS document looks at four alternatives for the project, which is intended to shore up Western Slope water supplies for participating water districts and municipalities, which include Loveland, Greeley and Longmont.

The lynchpin of the project is Chimney Hollow Reservoir, which would hold 90,000 acre feet of water, about as much as Carter Lake. An acre foot is enough water to meet the needs of one or two urban families.

The reservoir is the alternative preferred by the Northern Water Conservancy District and the municipalities. Click for more...

Centex to Build Irrigation System for Liberty Ranch

MEAD — August 29, 2008: Residents of Mead’s new Liberty Ranch housing development will be able to water their lawns next spring after all.

Centex Corp. and the Longs Peak Water District reached an agreement Thursday morning guaranteeing that Liberty Ranch residents will continue to get irrigation water for their lawns and other landscaping.

“We are working on an agreement where that brown-water system, that irrigation system, will be installed,” said Barry Dykes, general manager of the water district.

Centex will fund the construction of the brown-water system, which will divert water from a nearby irrigation ditch to homeowners’ properties, and Longs Peak will oversee the project.

Longs Peak will manage the new system, as it does the treated water delivered to Liberty Ranch homes. Click for more...

River restoration begins in Minturn

MINTURN — August 31, 2008: Restoration work is being done on a stretch of the Eagle River running through Minturn that was badly damaged by early development in town.

As homes and businesses were built near the water’s edge decades ago, the river was reshaped and deformed. High river banks were created that couldn’t hold plant roots, which caused erosion. Wildlife habitat was destroyed as the river widened.

“All this development from the highways, the railroad and the town had an effect,” said Dave Blauch, the project manager and a senior ecologist with Natural Resource Consultants.

The restoration area is roughly from the I-70 westbound bridge to the Bellum Bridge in Minturn, about 1.6 miles. The big idea is to make it more natural looking, a place where wildlife and plants could actually thrive they way they are supposed to.

Right now, the river pretty wide and shallow, which isn’t a good thing, Blauch said.
Restoration will involve strategically placing boulders and cobbles in the river, which will create a variety of homes for fish. There will be some fast moving shallow areas, and some slow moving pools. Click for more...

Rainwater Collection Might Ease Shortages

SAN FRANCISCO -- Tara Hui climbed under her deck, nudged past a cluster of 55-gallon barrels and a roosting chicken, and pointed to a shiny metal gutter spout.

"See that?" she said. "That's where the rainwater comes in from the roof."

Hui is one of a growing band of people across the country turning to collected rainwater for non-drinking uses like watering plants, flushing toilets and washing laundry.

Concern over drought and wasted resources, and stricter water conservation laws have revitalized the practice of capturing rainwater during storms and stockpiling it for use in drier times. A fixture of building design in the Roman empire and in outposts along the American frontier, rainwater harvesting is making a comeback in states including Texas, North Carolina, and California. Click for more...

West Slope Eyes Water Bank

SUMMIT COUNTY — August 31, 2008: Colorado water users could avoid drought shortages by pooling resources to buy or lease senior water rights and hold them in a new Western Slope “water bank,” according to officials with the Colorado River Water Conservation District.

Those collective water rights, established prior to a 1922 interstate agreement, would be an insurance policy against downstream demand from California, Arizona and Nevada, said Jim Pokrandt, education specialist with the river district.

“It would be an aggregation of pre-1922 water rights that could be used in case of a compact call,” Pokrandt said, explaining the potential for downstream states to “call” on their water rights at the expense of Colorado's water users.

Under the 1922 interstate contract, Colorado is obligated to deliver an average of 7.5 million acre feet of Colorado river water downstream annually.

In a worst-case scenario, Colorado water users could be forced to cut some of their existing uses if the downstream states demand their full allotment.

Water rights established before the compact was signed are not subject to the agreement.

Stored in a water bank, those senior rights could be used to provide water for Western Slope municipalities — even if the downstream demands cut into Colorado's allotment of water, said Boulder water attorney Glenn Porzak. Click for more...

Chimney Hollow Project Would Move Water East

Fort Collins - September 2, 2008: The proposed Chimney Hollow Reservoir would shore up water supplies for thirsty Front Range cities but inundate a scenic valley west of Carter Lake.

The reservoir proposal - also known as the Windy Gap Firming Project - also would reduce flows on the Colorado and Fraser rivers and have significant environmental impacts on the Western Slope, according to a draft Environmental Impact Statement on the project released last Wednesday by the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation.

The document, which took five years and $5 million to produce, looks at five alternatives for the project, including taking no action. The alternative preferred by the Northern Colorado Water Conservancy District and participating municipalities and water districts is Chimney Hollow. Click for more...