Day: October 16, 2010

Aurora: Prairie Waters dedication recap

A picture named prairiewaterstreatment.jpg

From the Aurora Sentinel:

Hundreds of people attended the Prairie Waters Project opening celebration last week at the Peter Binney Water Purification Facility near the Aurora Reservoir…

It is expected to increase Aurora’s water supply by 20 percent and deliver up to 10,000 acre-feet of water per year…

“Water projects in the arid west don’t just happen,” said Mark Pifher, director of the city’s water department, at the celebration. “They require the natural resource itself — the water, many permit approvals, technological means to capture that water, to treat it and distribute it, and perhaps most importantly … projects of this nature need the political will to bring them forward from design to fruition. This project possessed all of those attributes.”

More Prairie Waters coverage here.

La Niña: Big snows in December and January?

A picture named plowingsnowsanjuans.jpg

From the Summit County Citizens Voice (Bob Berwyn):

Joe Ramey, a climatologist with the National Weather Service in Grand Junction, went out on a limb last weekend to forecast a snowy winter, beginning in December and lasting at least through January, and possibly into February. The early part of the ski season might stay dry and warm a little longer than most eager skiers and snowboarders would like, but odds are the dumps should arrive for the heart of the season, he said. “The weather flip-flop in 2010 gives us a high level of confidence … but don’t bet the ranch,” Ramey said, speaking last week at the annual Colorado Snow and Avalanche Workshop in Leadville.

He based his forecast on the dramatic shift away from El Niño to La Niña, with much cooler than average sea surface temperatures in the eastern equatorial Pacific. Based on those temperature readings, this year’s La Niña is shaping up to be one of the strongest in several decades, but that alone doesn’t guarantee a big winter.

2010 Colorado elections: The Denver Post editorial board endorses Michael Bennet over Ken Buck

A picture named gunnisonriver.jpg

From The Denver Post:

Bennet has the potential to lead a bipartisan coalition of centrist U.S. senators who can finally begin tackling the nation’s burdensome debt, the unsustainable entitlement system, and the confusing, unfair tax code while also helping to guide us out of two wars and a deep recession.

More 2010 Colorado elections coverage here.

Forecasting water supply in a La Niña year

A picture named elninolanina.jpg

From the Vail Daily (Lauren Glendenning):

The La Nina weather pattern this coming winter means one thing for sure — there will be unusually cold ocean temperatures in the eastern Pacific Ocean near the Equator. The conditions tend to bring wetter than normal conditions across the Pacific Northwest and dryer and warmer than normal conditions across much of the southern tier of the United States. Colorado sits right in the middle, meaning things here could go either way. The last La Nina winter was 2007-08 and brought tons of snow to the valley. Powder days became the norm, but you never would have known it based on some early winter weather predictions that year, though…

[Klaus Wolter, a Boulder-based climatologist with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration] said this coming winter is a “big La Nina year,” but that doesn’t necessarily mean previous La Nina patterns in the area mean anything about what’s to come. “2007-08 was a La Nina that was very beneficial for us, and unfortunately that doesn’t mean it will happen again,” Wolter said…

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s long-range weather prediction for Western Colorado for the upcoming December, January and February months shows a 7.5 percent probability for record high amounts of snowfall, a 30.4 percent chance for above normal snowfall, a 36.1 percent chance for near normal snowfall, a 33.4 percent chance for below normal snowfall and an 8.7 percent chance for record lows of snowfall. Greene said looking at data like that and interpreting it “kind of depends on if you’re a glass half-full or glass half-empty person.”

Sanchez Reservoir: The Colorado Division of Wildlife plans to eradicate rusty crayfish in the reservoir

From The Pueblo Chieftain (Matt Hildner):

Tom Remington, the division’s director, signed the order this week in an effort to keep the rusty crayfish from being moved into other waters. “Rusty crayfish are a tenacious invasive species that have the potential to impact streams and lakes,” Greg Gerlich, the agency’s aquatic section manager, said in a news release. The crustacean has large claws and out-competes native species for food and habitat. They’re also capable of clearing large areas of aquatic plants, reducing habitat for invertebrates and shelter for small fish.

More rusty crayfish coverage here.

Interbasin Compact Committee: How much of the future municipal water gap can be met with conservation?

A picture named ibccroundtable.jpg

From The Pueblo Chieftain (Chris Woodka):

The IBCC is looking at how much of the state’s municipal water gap could be met by conservation and how the state should be involved in achieving conservation as part of a plan it hopes to complete in December. A subcommittee of the IBCC recommended stepping up state efforts to promote water conservation. Last year’s HB1051 required domestic water providers who supply more than 2,000 acre-feet — more than 100 are in that category — to report on water conservation…

Recommendations also included reducing water use by state agencies and adopting statewide efficiency standards that are tougher than federal rules for appliances in building codes in the short term.
In the long-term, the subcommittee wanted to look at more storage of conserved water and to see if more efficient agricultural irrigation could be a source of supply for municipal water.

Some IBCC members thought more mandatory conservation measures should be required, while others said that was too big a step that undermined local control and could put low-income homeowners at a disadvantage. “A lot of smaller communities would welcome the help because they see what happens when the cities buy and dry agriculture,” said Jay Winner, general manager of the Lower Arkansas Valley Water Conservancy District. “This is the lowest hanging fruit. Either we adopt this or stop meeting.”[…]

Several members of the IBCC disputed the idea that a reduction of water use on agricultural systems could be used to improve municipal supplies. Any savings would be passed on to the next junior water right, said Eric Wilkinson, executive director of the Northern Colorado Water Conservancy District. Wilkinson also pointed out that passive savings, the expected natural consequence of higher rate structures, updated appliances through market forces or public consciousness, would reduce demand, as staff of the Colorado Water Conservation Board projects. “It’s reduced demand that increases your supply. It just never shows up,” he said…

A savings of about 150,000 acre-feet annually is projected by the year 2050 through passive measures.
More active measures — the mandated building codes or landscape requirements — could save another 500,000 acre-feet annually by 2050. However, the water saved could either serve as security against drought or a future supply. “Since 2002, the Front Range has added 800,000 people and no water,” said Rod Kuharich, executive director of the South Metro Water Authority. “Conservation has gone to provide supply.”

More conservation coverage here. More IBCC — basin roundtables coverage here.

2010 Colorado elections: Pueblo County and City of Pueblo officials are freaking over the prospect of Proposition 101, Amendment 60 and Amendment 61 passing

A picture named ridgwayreservoir.jpg

From The Pueblo Chieftain (Peter Roper):

Pueblo County and city government officials are facing a tough budget year in 2011, but they don’t even want to imagine the difficulties if state voters approve the tax-cutting ballot measures known as Amendments 60, 61 and Proposition 101…

But when council asked Finance Director Sam Azad what would be the impact of the three ballot measures, he was blunt: Taken together, the city would lose $10 million in revenue in 2011 and up to 15 to 20 percent of its revenue over the next three years…

Calvin Hamler, Pueblo County’s finance director, said county revenues would shrink by $7.7 million next year if the ballot measures pass. “We’d see a loss of $6.4 million in property taxes alone in the first year,” Hamler said last week…

Proposition 101 would be more expensive, by Azad’s computations. The city would lose $6.7 million in revenue from a list of tax cuts or eliminated fees. The biggest item on the list would be the loss of $3.2 million in lost sales tax on telecommunications, auto sales and rentals.

Looking at the county’s budget for 2011, Hamler said Amendment 60 would cost $6.4 million in property tax revenue and $1.3 million more if Proposition 101 passes as well. While Pueblo city government depends on sales tax revenue, county government leans heavily on property tax receipts.

Hamler is forecasting property tax revenue of $41 million in 2011, but the passage of Amendment 60 would cut that down to $34.6 million.

More coverage from the Vail Daily (Chris Romer):

These issues have broad, bipartisan opposition across both sides of the aisle.

Our State Senator, Al White (R), said, “You know what the contingency for 60, 61 and 101 is? There isn’t one. Move to Wyoming. My position is hell no. No way.”

Add to that State Senator Greg Brophy (R), who said, “It’s like losing your job and getting sick at the same time. I’m for limited government, but not no government.”

Colorado Attorney General John Suthers (R) called these tax-cutting measures “pure anarchy.”

Weld County Commissioner Sean Conway (R) said “these measures make matters much worse in Colorado. They eliminate jobs, keep employers from moving to Colorado and putting people to work and push Colorado deeper in recession.”

The Denver Post, in an editorial against these issues, summed it up with the understanding that 60, 61 and 101 “might be tempting for some voters. But they would be devastating for Colorado.”

The Aurora Sentinel says, “Proposition 101 isn’t just a bad bill, it’s an insidious leap toward catastrophe disguised as economic aid for taxpayers.”

More 2010 Colorado elections coverage here.