Day: October 21, 2010

2010 Colorado elections: Ken Buck says that climate change is the ‘greatest hoax that has been perpetrated’

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From the Fort Collins Coloradoan (Robert Moore):

“Sen. Inhofe was the first person to stand up and say this global warming is the greatest hoax that has been perpetrated. The evidence just keeps supporting his view, and more and more people’s view, of what’s going on,” Buck said.

Bennet spokesman Kincaid criticized Buck’s global warming stance.

“The simple fact that Ken Buck doesn’t believe in proven science is troubling and calls into question his understanding of more complex issues. It helps explain why he would oppose developing the new energy economy that would create jobs right here in Colorado.”

More 2010 Colorado elections coverage here. More climate change coverage here.

Secretary of Interior Salazar announces the ‘Colorado River Basin Geographic Focus Study’

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Here’s the release from the Department of Interior. Here’s an excerpt:

“The Colorado River Basin is ground zero for assessing the effects of climate change on our rivers and taking creative management actions to head off the related dangers posed to our water supplies, hydroelectric power generation and ecosystems,” the Secretary said. “We are with you for the long haul to protect our region and its water.”

The Southwest Climate Center is the fourth of eight planned regional Climate Science Centers—or CSCs–to be established by the Department. With the University of Arizona in Tucson as home base, the center will be led by a consortium of that school and others — University of California, Davis; University of California, Los Angeles; Desert Research Institute, Reno; University of Colorado, Boulder; and the Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the University of California, San Diego.

More coverage from Amy Joi O’Donoghue writing for the Deseret News. From the article:

Called the Colorado River Basin Geographic Focus Study, the inventory will be conducted by scientific experts within the U.S. Geological Survey.

The study will be conducted over a three-year period and also is intended to provide a platform on how much water is needed to support ecosystems amid significant competition over water resources.

Salazar said the study is part of an ongoing effort outlined in the WaterSMART Secretarial Order signed in February of this year, adding that the last comprehensive assessment of water availability in the country was in 1978.

The USGS WaterSMART initiative will produce a water census for the nation, a new and ongoing appraisal for water availability that links both water quality and quantity. It will track changes in flow, use, and storage of water, as well as develop models and predictive tools to guide decisions.

A relatively new area of science evaluates how much water needs to be left in the streams to support important ecological values. This initiative includes a significant research and assessment effort to help wildlife managers characterize the flow needs for aquatic species and their habitat.

The USGS WaterSMART Colorado River Basin Geographic Focus Study will complement the River Basin Supply and Demand grant awarded for the Colorado Basin by the Bureau of Reclamation in 2010. It is one of three such studies on major river basins across the nation planned to begin this year.

More Colorado River Basin coverage here.

Climate change: Drought may threaten much of globe within decades

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Here’s the release from the National Center for Atmospheric Research. Here’s an excerpt:

Using an ensemble of 22 computer climate models and a comprehensive index of drought conditions, as well as analyses of previously published studies, the paper finds most of the Western Hemisphere, along with large parts of Eurasia, Africa, and Australia, may be at threat of extreme drought this century. In contrast, higher-latitude regions from Alaska to Scandinavia are likely to become more moist.

More Climate Change coverage here and here.

Aurora: Water treatment system background

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From the Aurora Sentinel (Sara Castellanos):

The city’s water supply is derived primarily from snowmelt runoff in the Colorado, Arkansas and South Platte river basins. The water is then stored in 12 reservoirs and lakes including Aurora, Homestake, Twin Lakes and Rampart. It’s transported to the city from as far as 180 miles away through pipes, tunnels and pumps. There are nine staff members at the Wemlinger Treatment Plant who have more than 200 years of combined experience in the water quality field, with extensive knowledge in the world of chemistry. “It’s awesome to be associated with so many people who care so much about making really great water,” [Sherry Scaggiari, quality control supervisor] said. “We don’t say, ‘OK, what’s the level we have to meet?’ We say, ‘We are going to do better than that, and we are going to lead the industry.’”[…]

The contaminants in the city’s water are far below the allowable level mandated by state and federal laws. For example, the maximum contaminant level of total coliform bacteria, which is naturally present in the environment, is no more than 5 percent per month. The highest monthly percentage found in Aurora’s water was 0.52 percent, according to the 2010 Water Quality report. Only one sample was found positive for total coliform bacteria out of 2,268 samples. Hard work has paid off for the employees at the Wemlinger Treatment Plant. In 2009, the plant was awarded the “Excellence in Water Treatment” status after undergoing three levels of review by the American Water Works Associations’ Partnership for Safe Drinking Water program. Wemlinger is one of six treatment plants in the country to receive the award.

More water treatment coverage here.

Colorado State University Named Host Institution of Department of the Interior’s North Central Climate Science Center

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Here’s the release from Colorado State University (Kimberly Sorensen):

Colorado State University is a hub of climate change research and is now home to one of eight U.S. Department of the Interior Climate Science Centers, announced today by Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar. The CSU-led consortium of nine universities and other affiliated national laboratories was selected to host a regional Climate Science Center. The center is designed to put science to work to help federal, state, local, private and non-profit natural resource managers understand current and future impacts of climate change on critical natural, cultural, wildlife and agricultural resources.

The new North Central Climate Science Center will eventually host as many as eight federal scientists and several post-doctoral fellows who will provide regional land, water, fish and wildlife, and cultural heritage resource managers with the scientific tools and information to strategically adapt to and mitigate the impacts of climate change. The center is expected to be up and running in early 2011.

The CSU-led North Central consortium includes the University of Colorado, Colorado School of Mines, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, University of Wyoming, Montana State University, University of Montana, Kansas State University and Iowa State University. In addition, other federal partners in the consortium include the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration, National Center for Atmospheric Research and others.

“The members of the consortium headed by Colorado State University can provide us with great expertise in the major climate-related challenges facing the North Central region – including diminishing water supplies, the spread of invasive species, outbreaks of pests and diseases, changing fire regimes, decreased crop and livestock production, and loss of habitat for critical fish and wildlife species,” said Salazar. “Selected through an open competition, these universities represent the full array of landscapes in the Rocky Mountains, Intermountain West and Great Plains.”

Regional Climate Issues

Federal scientists will collaboratively work with university researchers and address pressing regional climate issues such as the effects of pine bark beetle outbreaks on water, forest conditions and grizzly bears in Yellowstone National Park, and study the potential for dust from overgrazed areas to accelerate climate-driven snowpack melting.

Other work of the U.S. Department of the Interior North Central Climate Science Center will include:

Downscaling of global climate change models linking physical factors with biological, physical and ecological responses.

Forecasting of the effects of climate change on fish and wildlife populations, habitat and ecosystem services dynamics – including research as well as tool and data development and distribution.

Researching climate adaptation related to vulnerability assessments, adaptive management development, coping strategies and risk analysis development.
Developing innovative decision-support tools for adaptation and mitigation.

Colorado State University as Host

Colorado State University’s historic strength in environmental research and education on climate issues affecting land, water and energy supplies not only advances scientific understanding, it also cultivates the next generation of students and scientific workforce, making CSU an ideal host of a Climate Science Center.

“Colorado State University faculty have long been leaders in advancing environmental and climate research, and we’re honored and proud to be named home to the new North Central Climate Science Center, “ said CSU President Tony Frank. “This is a testament to the extraordinary achievements of our faculty and their colleagues across the region, and it will provide them a stronger platform to engage with other scientists on critical and pressing climate studies.”

Dennis Ojima, professor in CSU’s Department of Forest, Rangelands and Watershed Stewardship and senior research scientist at the Natural Resource Ecology Laboratory in CSU’s Warner College of Natural Resources, will lead the consortium.

“CSU has world-class expertise in climate, and we are leaders in engaging the public and policy makers in rendering our science and discoveries into practical solutions. Those strengths will be critical as the North Central Climate Science Center engages the research community and then ultimately translates that science to the decision-making community,” Ojima said.
State of Colorado Leader in Climate Science

In addition to premiere research universities, the state of Colorado is home to one of the most respected climate science communities in the world with many prominent institutions specializing in climate science including the National Center for Atmospheric Research, National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration’s Earth Science Research Laboratory, National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Western Water Assessment Regional Integrated Science and Assessments program, Agriculture Research Service, National Ecological Observation Network among many others. The North Central consortium will tap these and other institutions as they address regional climate science.

“Congratulations to Colorado State University for being selected to lead such a prestigious consortium of research institutions and to serve as host for the North Central Climate Science Center,” said Gov. Bill Ritter. “Over the past few years, Colorado has become a recognized leader in addressing climate change. We have enacted numerous policies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and implemented strategies to adapt to and mitigate those impacts. This new regional center will advance this work and continue to keep Colorado on the leading edge of one of the most important challenges facing the world today.”

Other Climate Science Centers

The regional Climate Science Centers are a key element of the Interior Department’s first-ever coordinated strategy to address current and future impacts of climate change on America’s land, water, ocean, fish, wildlife and cultural resources. Climate Science Centers are intended to be a seamless network to access the best science available to help resource managers and decision-makers.

On Wednesday, the Interior Department announced the University of Arizona as home of the Southwest Climate Science Center. The Southeast Climate Science Center is led by North Carolina State University, the University of Washington hosts the Northwest Climate Science Center, and an Alaska Climate Science Center is led by the University of Alaska. The department will soon announce the host institutions for the Northeast, South Central and Pacific Islands Climate Science Centers.

Salazar initiated the coordinated climate change network in September 2009 that not only created the regional Climate Science Centers, but also a network of Landscape Conservation Cooperatives that engage federal agencies, local and state partners, and the public in crafting practical, landscape-level strategies for managing climate change impacts on natural resources.

More climate change coverage here.

2010 Colorado elections: Proposition 101, Amendment 60, Amendment 61 and Amendment 62

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From the Broomfiled Enterprise (Dylan Otto Krider):

There aren`t many issues that can unite unions, business groups, school boards, charter schools, the Broomfield Chamber of Commerce and the Colorado beef industry, but amendments 60, 61 and Proposition 101 have done just that, bringing together the seemingly disparate groups in a stance against the ballot measures. They are among the groups that have joined a concerted effort to defeat the measures, which opponents say will cause massive layoffs and prevent future building at a time when schools budgets are shrinking…

Among those who have sent declarations of opposition to the measures to the Enterprise are Alliance for Sustainable Colorado, the Charter Institute, the State Board of Education, the Colorado Cattlemen`s Association and 36 Commuting Solutions. Broomfield City Council and the Broomfield Chamber of Commerce also are in opposition to the measures…

Steve Bobrick, former chairman of the Broomfield Economic Development Corp. board of directors, said the organization has come out against the measures, because building things such as water reservoirs are what lure facilities such as the new Conoco-Phillips training facility, slated to open in 2012 or 2013 at the former Storage Technology campus in Louisville. “You need government to do things most people will not do — take care of fire, police, water,” Bobrick said. Those core services could be in jeopardy if taxes are raised on government enterprises, a move Bobrick called “unprecedented.” Enterprises are cooperative efforts between government and private enterprise, such as universities…

In an investigation of a complaint for campaign finance violations, a Denver judge fingered anti-tax crusader Douglas Bruce, a former El Paso County commissioner and state representative, as being behind the effort to collect the more than 400,000 signatures needed to get the initiatives on the ballot. Despite the fact Bruce avoided dozens of attempts to compel him to testify in a deposition, the judge saw enough evidence to conclude Bruce coached petition collectors. Secretary of State records show eight professional signature collectors lived in a Colorado Springs rental house owned by Bruce while they collected 26,000 signatures. The Colorado Springs Gazette reported Bruce was found to have communicated with the petitioners using the e-mail address info@cotaxreform.com. Menten said she only became the spokesperson in March or April, and can`t comment on anything that happened before. She characterized the group as “grassroots” and said the language had been crafted by a number of different people.

Meanwhile, Ed Quillen takes a look at some of this year’s ballot amendments in his column in today’s Denver Post. From the article:

Which brings us to the ballot issues this year, which are making me a big fan of the quaint system of having a republic, where we elect people to make laws after hearings and thoughtful deliberation, rather than all this direct democracy.

We can start with Amendment 62, the “personhood amendment,” which would grant full legal rights to fertilized eggs. It’s almost identical to Amendment 48, which was soundly defeated two years ago. Apparently the zygote zealots plan to circulate petitions every two years until we get sick of voting it down and they manage to slip it through. You can have a small, frugal government, or you can have one that monitors every woman of child- bearing age to be sure she’s protecting the legal rights of any fertilized egg she may be carrying. But you can’t have both.

Then, we get to this year’s “Evil Three”: Amendments 60 and 61, along with Proposition 101. They’re assaults on self-government.

For instance, local residents can currently vote to “de-Bruce” their local governments, allowing them to keep tax revenue that would otherwise have to be refunded. It’s hard to see what’s wrong with that — people making decisions about taxes — but Amendment 60 would pretty well put an end to it.

Amendment 61 limits government borrowing. If I’m buying a house, I can decide whether a mortgage of 10, 20 or 30 years would work best. But if I’m a voter, then Amendment 61 says I’m too stupid to make such decisions.

Proposition 101 would roll back auto-license taxes that the legislature increased by calling them “fees” and avoiding a public vote. The honest course would have been to fund highway maintenance by seeking a fuel-tax increase in a referendum. But roads and bridges don’t fix themselves, and the state had to do something.

More 2010 Colorado elections coverage here.

Arkansas Valley: All parties settle out of new surface water irrigation rules case

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From The Pueblo Chieftain (Chris Woodka):

All parties have stipulated in the case, but the final decree has not been sent to Division 2 Water Court Judge Dennis Maes, according to Mardell DiDomenico, an employee of the court…

The rules have been discussed for nearly three years as a way to prevent consumptive use from expanding as a result of more efficient farm practices such as canal lining or sprinklers fed from ponds. State Engineer Dick Wolfe organized a committee to develop the rules in 2008 after numerous objections surfaced to the initial form. Wolfe argued that the rules are needed in order to prevent Kansas from beginning new litigation over the 1949 Arkansas River Compact. Colorado and Kansas last year settled a 24-year lawsuit over the compact.

The rules include provisions for general compliance, individual engineering reports or group plans to meet guidelines for new systems that have been developed by the state engineer. They apply only to agricultural surface water, as wells already are covered by 1996 rules.

More Arkansas Valley consumptive use rules coverage here.

Lower Arkansas Valley Water Conservancy District board meeting update

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From The Pueblo Chieftain (Chris Woodka):

“One of the exciting things we are finding is that we can fallow land and not be penalized,” Jim Valliant, coordinator of the study, told the Lower Arkansas Valley Water Conservancy District on Wednesday. “Now we are looking at the economics: What does the farmer have to have to make it worthwhile to fallow the land.” Valliant explained that fertilization is typically best done in the fall for two reasons:

– Fertilizer is generally cheaper at that time of year.

– It allows the fertilizer to blend with the soil. “If you get a little moisture in the fall, it mellows the land for planting,” Valliant said.

A study began in 2007 at the Arkansas Valley Ag Research Center, operated by Colorado State University, to look at what is needed to bring land back into production after it has been fallow for one to three years. Four plots were cultivated, with corn planted each year on one, three years on a second, two years on a third and one year on the fourth. The harvests from the fourth year were just completed, so the final results aren’t known. However, the nitrogen levels for all four years show the soil retained sufficient levels of nutrients to produce a crop without fertilization up to three years after first being fallowed. Fertilization was considered sufficient if at least 200 bushels of corn per acre were harvested. In each of the first three years, each plot yielded more than 200 bushels, except the initial year when just one of the four was planted and harvested. In other words, the plots that had been fallowed still produced adequately in the first or second year after replanting. That reduces the input cost to farmers during the fallow years, although there are still labor and fuel costs to maintain fallowed land.

Valliant said the next step is to analyze the relative cost of taking land out of production to determine how much farmers should reasonably charge for water when land is taken The Lower Ark district initiated and funded the study — about $50,000 over four years — as part of its efforts to establish the Super Ditch. At the time, there were few reports on the cost of bringing land back into production, or the financial risk farmers take by breaking cropping cycles.

More coverage from Chris Woodka writing for the The Pueblo Chieftain:

A survey by the U.S. Geological Survey and other partners began sampling fish in Fountain Creek in April and collected 20,000 fish at 10 sites, Pat Edelmann, head of the USGS office in Pueblo, told the Lower Arkansas Valley Water Conservancy District Wednesday. In the 10 areas, reaches of just 150-500 feet were studied, raising the possibility of many more fish in the creek, Edelmann said.

Of special interest is the flathead chub, a plains fish that is abundant in many places, but listed as a species of special concern in Colorado, and threatened or imperiled in several other states. In Colorado, the fish is found primarily in the Arkansas River basin below Florence and in the Rio Grande basin. “Some people say it is a trash fish, but our data collectors had a discussion with the blue herons and they think the chub are an excellent source of food,” Edelmann quipped…

The study is important to Colorado Springs Utilities, which is considering a fish ladder that would allow the chub to swim upstream. The project is part of the Army Corps of Engineers Fountain Creek Watershed Study and Pueblo County requirements for the Southern Delivery System. An earlier study found the flathead chub are poor jumpers, but persistent in finding their way around obstacles like rocks. Surprisingly, 15 of the tagged fish were found upstream of the Clear Springs Ranch site, presumably during the brief time once a week when a gate is opened to flush sediment. Some fish moved as much as 18 miles upstream.

More Fountain Creek coverage here and here.