Day: June 26, 2011

Manitou Springs: Council has voted to put level one drought restrictions in place

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Here’s the release from the City of Manitou Springs:

Current Water Supply Conditions:

Due to the very dry conditions last fall and winter, current flows in French Creek will not support “normal” summer water demands. At this time (June 22, 2011), the City Council has voted to mandate Level One water restrictions. The City will continue to monitor daily water demands and the flow levels in French Creek.

Basis for potential water restrictions explained:

The watershed for Manitou Springs is located on the east area of Pikes Peak. Our reservoir gets its water from French creek. Manitou Springs has very senior “direct flow” rights to French Creek, but unfortunately a junior right for storage. As a result, we are virtually never allowed to store water. It is somewhat difficult to understand that we have a reservoir but cannot store the water but it simply means that if our reservoir goes down as a result of heavy water usage, we cannot refill it with French Creek. Instead we would have to work a complicated exchange process which consists of virtually taking water from the Pueblo Reservoir that the City has been allocated through the FryArk project, and exchanging it for water coming from French Creek into our reservoir. In simple words, we cannot refill the reservoir easily and if it is drawn down 1 foot we may need many months to recapture the loss. The decision to recommend water restrictions is made by Public Works and the City’s Water Consultant. Together, they determine how much water is coming into the reservoir from French Creek and how much water is going into the treatment plant. If the French Creek flow is less than the system water demand, then water stored in Manitou Reservoir would have to be used to meet system demands; this condition would trigger the decision to recommend water restrictions to the City Council. The City Council then has the right to declare the existence of a water shortage and announce the imposition of one of the following 4 restriction levels.

LEVEL ONE: Outdoor watering at properties with even-numbered addresses shall be restricted to Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays and outdoor watering at properties with odd-numbered addresses shall be restricted to Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays. During a Level One restriction, outdoor watering is permitted for a maximum of two hours on a day on which watering is permitted, and such watering is permitted only between the hours of 6:00 a.m. and 8:00 a.m. or between 6:00 p.m. and 8:00 p.m. Unrestricted hand watering and drip irrigation are permitted at any time.

LEVEL TWO: Outdoor watering of properties with even-numbered addresses shall be restricted to Tuesdays and Saturdays and outdoor watering at properties with odd-numbered addresses shall be restricted to Wednesdays and Sundays. During a period of Level Two restricted water use, outdoor watering is permitted for a maximum of two hours on a day on which watering is permitted and such watering is permitted only between the hours of 6:00 a.m. and 8:00 a.m. or between 6:00 p.m. and 8:00 p.m. Unrestricted drip irrigation is permitted at any time.

LEVEL THREE: Outdoor watering of properties with even-numbered addresses shall be restricted to Tuesdays and outdoor watering at properties with odd-numbered addresses shall be restricted to Fridays. During a period of Level Three restricted water use, outdoor watering is permitted for a maximum of two hours on a day on which watering is permitted and such watering is permitted only between the hours of 6:00 a.m. and 8:00 a.m. or between 6:00 p.m. and 8:00 p.m. Unrestricted drip irrigation is permitted at any time. No applications for residential water taps will be accepted during a period of Level Three restricted water use.

LEVEL FOUR: Outdoor watering is permitted only on the third Saturday of each month between the hours of 12:00 p.m. and 2:00 p.m.; the filling or refilling of ornamental pools, hot tubs, and swimming pools is prohibited. No applications for residential water taps will be accepted during a period of Level Four restricted water use.

Historically, the City has never been at LEVEL FOUR water restrictions but was at LEVEL ONE for 3 months from May to July in 2002 then jumped to LEVEL THREE for 9 months from August 2002 until April 2003. We then went back to LEVEL TWO for 2 months and then to LEVEL ONE from July to December 2003. The last restriction was LEVEL ONE from May to September 2006.

More conservation coverage here.

Southern Delivery System update: Project managers are looking for ways to accelerate development to take advantage of low prices in the supply chain

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From The Colorado Springs Gazette:

Utilities staff and construction personnel are analyzing different scenarios to see whether hiring more workers or buying more materials now could save money or time during the next few years. Building materials, such as steel, are cheaper now, thanks to the recession. “If — and this is a big if — you could get some savings on materials and construction, then that’s what they’ll come back and say,” said City Council President Scott Hente, who chairs the Utilities board. “If you can do things cheaper, I’m all for it.”

Speeding up SDS construction could lessen rate hikes for ratepayers, though it’s far from certain, said SDS spokeswoman Janet Rummel. As it stands, water rates are expected to increase by 12 percent yearly until 2016 for the project’s first phase, which includes a 62-pipeline and the hookup into Pueblo Reservoir…

Still, Utilities officials are already finding ways to cut millions off the price tag, Rummel said. Utilities is about to sign a contract with McCarthy Building Companies Inc. and Carollo Engineers to build SDS’s water treatment plant, at a price much lower than what Utilities originally estimated. “They identified millions in possible construction cost savings, if they design it in a certain way,” Rummel said…

Utilities’ study will be presented to the Utilities board at its July 20 meeting. The 1 p.m. meeting, on the fifth floor of the south tower of Plaza of the Rockies, 111 S. Tejon St., is open to the public.

More Southern Delivery System coverage here and here.

Conservation: Denver Water is considering a program to increase landscaping that is appropriate to the area’s semi-arid environment

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From The Denver Post (Bruce Finley):

Denver Water authorities this week revealed they’re considering paying residents to rip out lawns and replace them with landscapes better suited to the semi-arid environment…

Castle Rock residents today use 84 gallons of water per person per day on average, down 8 percent from the 92 gallon average in 2003. Water use in Douglas County overall decreased by 32 percent from 215 gallons per person per day to 146, according to state data. The growing push for water conservation has nudged Castle Rock ahead of Denver, where utilities officials this week pegged household-only water consumption at 86 gallons per person per day, down from 104 in 2000. (In Europe and Australia, municipal water use has been reduced to 40 gallons per person per day.)

More conservation coverage here.

Colorado-Big Thompson Project update: 550 cfs in the Big Thompson River below Olympus Dam

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From email from Reclamation (Kara Lamb):

Just a quick update: with the 90+ degree heat, we’ve seen increases in nightly snow melt run-off into Lake Estes. As a result, we upped releases from Olympus Dam to the lower Big Thompson River again last night, by 50 cfs. Today, there should be about 550 cfs flowing at the top of the canyon.

More Colorado-Big Thompson Project coverage here.

Fryingpan-Arkansas Project update: 746 cfs in the river below Ruedi Reservoir

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From email from Reclamation (Kara Lamb):

A quick update for you this morning: With the 90+ degree heat, we are seeing snow melt run-off inflows pick up into Ruedi Reservoir again at night. With Ruedi almost full, this means we have to increase releases to the lower Fryingpan River again. Today, Sunday, releases from the dam will bump up twice in 50 cfs intervals each time. The first happened already at 6 a.m., bringing our releases up from 581 cfs to 631 cfs. The second change will be at noon, raising releases from around 631 cfs to about 681 cfs. With the Rocky Fork still running steadily at about 65 cfs, the gage below Ruedi Dam will wind up reading 746 cfs by this afternoon.

More Fryingpan-Arkansas Project coverage here.

How should Colorado balance consumptive and non-consumptive needs in the Yampa River Basin?

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Here’s a guest column written by Janet Sheridan that’s running in The Denver Post. From the article:

Recreationalists talk about the adventure and renewal found on the river: bald eagles soaring overhead, canyons opening before a camera, serenity and peace seeping into one’s soul; a river that drifts in calm ox-bows between Hayden and Craig, then plunges into heart-stopping rapids in the remote canyons of Dinosaur National Monument.

Outspoken recreational user Kent Vertrees understands we need to use the water of the Yampa, but asks, “Should we dam, de-water, and divert every big river in our state? Shouldn’t we retain the one natural system left?”

Conservationists like Luke Schafer of the Colorado Environmental Coalition want to preserve the river as habitat: “The Yampa is a wild Western river most Coloradans couldn’t find on a map. Yet it is a major migration corridor that nourishes the waterfowl gliding above it, the fish thriving within it, and the plants lining its banks.

“I see the Yampa as an artery that nurtures everything it touches,” Luke continues, “and I believe it’s an artery in good shape — no need of bypass surgery.”

More Yampa River coverage from Scott Scott Willoughby writing for The Denver Post. From the article:

Buchanan and the clan of more than 20 river-runners arguably were more excited than most at the prospect of seeing the last free-flowing major tributary of the Colorado River system at flood stage. Coordinated by Steamboat-based Yampa River Awareness Project (YRAP) board members Tierney and Kent Vertrees, the group of advocates, educators, public officials and filmmakers had set out on a five-day mission to document the unique resources and values of the wild and free-flowing river in an effort to protect it.

Hydrology, wildlife, recreation and park experts among the group pointed out that the basin is not only capable of carrying so much water, but stood to benefit from it. In a river historically dependent upon a thorough spring flush, they say, such opportunities for natural change deserve to be preserved.
“It’s just that ‘wildness’ that gives the Yampa such a different character from other rivers in the Colorado basin,” Vertrees said. “And as the last major river in the system to really retain that wild character, it needs to be kept intact.”

Motivated by a string of proposed “water grabs” capable of altering the hydrograph, YRAP firmed its resolve in 2007 after the Northern Colorado Water Conservancy District laid out plans for a prospective new reservoir pulling water from the Yampa River upstream of Dinosaur National Monument and pumping it back across the Continental Divide.

A similar diversion concept pumping Yampa water eastward through 250 miles of pipelines and tunnels was identified in the recently released Statewide Water Supply Initiative (SWSI) report to satisfy future Colorado water demand.

More Yampa River basin coverage here and here.

Pueblo County has allocated $350,000 for Fountain Creek projects

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From The Pueblo Chieftain (Chris Woodka):

The money will come from a $2.2 million payment to Pueblo County from Colorado Springs in lieu of dredging Fountain Creek. Colorado Springs agreed to the dredging as a condition of Pueblo County’s 1041 permit for the Southern Delivery System. “This is not a commitment by Pueblo County to spend the remaining $1.9 million,” said County Commissioner Jeff Chostner. “This is only a demonstration project.”[…]

The money will help pay for an in-stream dredging system that will remove sediment from Fountain Creek in a demonstration project. If the project is successful, more of the devices would be installed along the creek through Pueblo to preserve the effectiveness of levees…

Sediment collectors in Fountain Creek would remove the sediment while allowing particles suspended in water, which are beneficial to agriculture, to continue to the Arkansas River. The total cost of the sediment collection system demonstration project will be $835,000, said Larry Small, executive director of the Fountain Creek Watershed Flood Control and Greenway District…

The site for the collector, at an out-of-service railroad bridge near the confluence of Fountain Creek at the Arkansas River, is being prepared. The collector will installed in mid-July.

Meanwhile, here’s an update on the water quality study of Fountain Creek from Chris Woodka writing for The Pueblo Chieftain. From the article:

[Del Nimmo, a research associate at Colorado State University-Pueblo] updated the Fountain Creek Watershed Flood Control and Greenway District on water quality studies that CSU-Pueblo has been conducting for more than five years. While there are practical applications, like improving the fishing, the main thrust of the studies has been to measure water quality, especially in light of changes that will be caused by the Southern Delivery System, Nimmo said. “If you don’t have an emphasis on water quality, it seems to us we’ve missed the mark if we want to have some semblance of improving Fountain Creek,” Nimmo said. “It’s an effluent-driven stream and likely to be more so with the development of SDS.”[…]

Nimmo, along with CSU-Pueblo biology Professor Scott Herrmann, explained that fish habitat on Fountain Creek could be expanded with the creation of deeper pools, wetlands and trees to control temperatures. They found large brown trout, some up to seven years old, in Upper Fountain Creek, above the confluence with Monument Creek in Colorado Springs, and said the fish could spread farther downstream if the right conditions are maintained.

More Fountain Creek coverage here and here.