From the Cañon City Daily Record (Cari Canterbury):
Because of a shortage of water in Lake DeWeese, the DeWeese-Dye Ditch and Reservoir Company board has restricted water usage, beginning Monday. Secretary Dorothy Ormsby said Division 1 will receive water Mondays, Division 2 on Tuesdays, and Division 3 on Wednesdays. Unless there is significant rainfall this summer, the restrictions are expected to remain in place until mid-September.
From the Cañon City Daily Record (Rachel Alexander):
“Everything you want to throw away is required by the Atomic Energy Control Act to go into the impoundments,” Cotter’s vice president of milling John Hamrick said. Hamrick said CDPHE has approved a method of solidifying the material using an oil-dry product that “looks like kitty litter”. He said the company put the solidified material into water to prove it would not dissolve…
[Steve Tarlton, radiation control project manager for the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment] said the company is “de-watering” the impoundment, and eventually, there will be no water to leak if one exists. “Then, it will be capped so no liquid can get in,” Tarlton said. He also said the leaking materials are not leaving the site. There is a series of groundwater dams and barriers that stop groundwater from leaving the facility, and any water that reaches them is pumped back into ponds to be evaporated. Cotter estimates the old mill buildings will be completing down and disposed of in the inpoundment by fall.
From the Grand County Water Information Network website:
The Grand County Water Information Network needs volunteers this summer to monitor lake clarity on Grand Lake and Shadow Mountain Reservoir. The Three Lakes Clarity Monitoring Program is part of a multi-year project designed to develop lake-clarity standards at the headwaters of the Colorado River. Monitoring takes less than an hour per week of your time and is your chance to help ensure that our lakes remain clear and healthy. With your invaluable help, we can develop a more accurate and comprehensive understanding of our lake. For more information, please contact Ben Carver or stop by our office at 610 Center Ave in Grand Lake. Read on to learn more about our monitoring programs, or here to find out about other volunteer opportunities.
More Colorado River basin coverage here.
Here’s the release from H2 Innovation. Here’s an excerpt:
The Company will also deliver a brine minimization system for the East Cherry Creek Valley Water & Sanitation District’s Northern Water Supply Project in Colorado. This system will enhance permeate recovery from the District’s low-pressure reverse-osmosis drinking water production system, presently being assembled by H2O Innovation. The City of Sterling, Colorado, has also selected H2O Innovation to supply a nanofiltration membrane system that will produce softened water.
More water treatment coverage here.
From The Yuma Pioneer (Tony Rayl):
Debra Daniel, from Burlington, was recently hired from a field of 43 applicants to replace Stan Murphy as the General Manager for the Republican River Water Conservation District (RRWCD)…
Daniel has an agricultural background which includes four years as the executive administrator of the Irrigation Research Foundation in Yuma, and five years as the district manager for the Plains and East Cheyenne Ground Water Management Districts in Kit Carson and Cheyenne counties.
From The Holyoke Enterprise:
During his [6.5 years] with the district, Murphy and his staff implemented various federal well retirement programs to convert irrigated land to dryland and permanently retire the wells to assist the State of Colorado to get into compliance. More than 30,000 irrigated acres have been enrolled in these programs to reduce consumptive use and increase stream flow for future compact benefit.
Another project that Murphy has worked on is the $71 million Compact Compliance Pipeline to deliver ground water from a network of wells northeast of Wray to the North Fork tributary of the Republican River near the Colorado/Nebraska state line to help satisfy compact requirements. A general contractor for that pipeline project will be designated at the RRWCD Board meeting on July 14 in Holyoke, with plans to deliver water from that pipeline in fall 2012.
From The Pueblo Chieftain (Chris Woodka):
In the past, water usage for Pueblo routinely spiked above 50 million gallons per day without rain when temperatures approached the 100-degree mark. So far this year, that’s only happened twice — last Thursday and Saturday. Since the historic drought of 2002, Pueblo has not come close to its historic peak day of 63 million gallons. “What we’re tracking is close to 2006,” said Seth Clayton, finance division manager for the Pueblo Board of Water Works…
“There has been a drop of 16-17 percent since the drought and that doesn’t appear to be changing, even with as dry as it’s been,” Clayton said. The drop is partly because of a change in watering practices and increased use of Xeriscape techniques, particularly in newer homes, Clayton said. The increased use of water should help the water board meet its projected revenues of $20.5 million, about two-thirds of annual water revenue for the board. The estimate was based on 8 billion gallons of use, a drop from 2010. Right now, Pueblo is on track to use 8.5 billion gallons, but that could change with more rain.
More conservation coverage here.