Day: June 11, 2013

‘This year, the river’s (#ColoradoRiver) massive reservoirs will be at their lowest levels since 1968’ — Anne Castle

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Anne Castle praises recent efforts to solve the supply problem in the Colorado River Basin in this guest column running in the Arizona Central. Here’s an excerpt:

We recently announced the “Next Steps” in the Colorado River Basin Study process — the steps that bridge the gap from identifying the problem to concrete, constructive solutions. Working in close partnership with the seven states that share the Colorado River, the U.S. Department of the Interior is convening the best experts in the water management business to assess options and strategies to ensure that the Colorado River is managed wisely so that it can meet the current and future needs in the basin. Farmers, cities, tribes, businesses, states, recreationalists and environmentalists will all be working together to better understand the Colorado’s limits and what can be done to conserve, stretch and manage its supplies.

We are also initiating a partnership with Native American tribes to undertake a comprehensive study of tribal water rights to ensure that the needs and capabilities of tribal nations can be fully factored into future strategies on the Colorado River. This effort supports the Obama administration’s commitment to building a better future for Indian country.

I am optimistic about this collaborative effort because its foundation is a multistate partnership that is unique in the United States. Over the past two decades, the seven Colorado River Basin states have formed a network of innovative problem solvers who have adopted proactive solutions that recognize their interdependence on the Colorado.

The Interior Department will also contribute to practical solutions on the Colorado River through its WaterSMART Program. With more than $200 million in federal investments since 2010, WaterSMART creates incentives and encourages innovative water conservation projects and has achieved real water savings benefiting millions of people.

The thread of the Colorado River is both fragile and resilient. Building upon recent successful efforts to improve water management in the basin, the Next Steps process will focus on enhancing the resiliency and sustainability of the resource we’ve been blessed with. After all, we’re all in this together.

More Colorado River Basin coverage here and here.

Colorado scores $20 million in federal wildfire disaster funds #COdrought

From The Denver Post (Jeremy P. Meyer):

The U.S. Department of Agriculture will direct $8.8 million to projects associated with the Waldo Canyon fire, $8.6 million for projects related to the High Park fire and $2.3 million for projects related to the North Fork and Weber fires.

“This is a huge deal,” Suzanne Bassinger, Larimer County’s recovery manager, said. “We have been waiting six months for this.”

Work will include aerial seeding to spur vegetation growth on burned-out hillsides, road protection, guarding homes from flooding, cleaning waterways of debris and building sediment basins in channels.

Around the High Park fire west of Fort Collins, the money will be split between Larimer County and water providers that serve more than 300,000 residents, Bassinger said.

Around the Waldo Canyon fire in El Paso County, work will be concentrated on protecting homes in the path of probable flooding, Langer said.

From The Durango Herald

The U.S. Department of Agriculture will direct $8.8 million to projects associated with the Waldo Canyon Fire, which burned into Colorado Springs; $8.6 million for projects related to the High Park Fire, which burned in Larimer County; and $2.3 million for projects related to the North Fork in Jefferson County and the Weber Canyon Fire near Mancos.

Denver Water blog: The trees can talk #COdrought

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From the Denver Water Mile High Water Talk blog:

Reconstructing 400 years’ worth of streamflow data require a simple tool: tree rings.

For the past 10 years, Denver Water has worked with experts from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association and the University of Colorado to develop a model that details when our watersheds have been dry, wet and average since the early 1600s.

To do that, scientists study trees. During dry years, trees don’t grow much, and a narrow ring forms tight to the one that emerged the year before. During wet years, when trees go through a growth spurt, trunks develop a wide growth ring.

Ponderosa pine, pinyon pine and Douglas fir trees are more sensitive to moisture than other trees, making them a reliable record of past climate cycles. Scientists at the university take core samples from those trees (samples from the South Platte River watershed date back 400 years; samples from the Colorado River watershed date to the 1400s). Then planners compare tree ring data with 100 years’ worth of recorded streamflow gage measurements. When those two data sets are paired together in a graph, the points match almost spot-on – meaning the tree ring data correlate to past streamflow. And, because tree ring information extends back hundreds of years – much longer than Denver Water’s observed records – it helps planners analyze what would happen to our water supply if any of the pre-1900 droughts reoccurred. “This tells us what has happened in the past, but it doesn’t tell us what might happen in the future with climate change,” said Steve Schmitzer, manager of Water Resource Analysis. “It helps document variability, though. With anything in science, the more good data you have, the better.”[…]

Denver Water’s documented records show that the worst drought in our watersheds occurred in the mid-1950s, with a close second in the early 2000s. But tree rings point to a different period – the late-1840s. That’s a fact Denver Water has been able to confirm with a fair amount of certainty by studying government records from the 1840s. At that time, the government sent a host of expeditions led by Army engineers across the Great Plains. Military expeditions are often a reliable source because of their meticulous record-keeping, Schmitzer said. Their records of wet years and dry years correlated to the tree ring data scientists tracked for Denver Water.

AWWA Annual Conference: ‘Every conversation about water should begin with conservation’ — Governor Hickenlooper

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From Drinks Media Wire:

Stressing that “every conversation about water should begin with conservation,” Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper urged water professionals to foster collaboration among agricultural, recreational and urban water interests.

Hickenlooper spoke before more than 2,000 water experts in the opening session of the 132nd Annual Conference and Exposition (ACE13) of the American Water Works Association. The conference, the largest of its kind in the world, is expected to bring more than 11,000 water professionals to Denver June 9-13 for training and access to the world’s cutting-edge water technology.

Noting that much of the West – and especially Colorado – is in the grips of prolonged drought, Hickenlooper noted that “water is the key to everything out here.”

AWWA Executive Director David LaFrance began the session by reading a proclamation from Denver Mayor Michael Hancock that declared June 9-15 “Water Professionals’ Week” in Denver. The proclamation said in part that water “delivers public health protection, fire protection, support for our economy and the quality of life we enjoy” and that “we are all thankful for the hardworking water professionals who provide this service to us each day and are proud to welcome them to the City of Denver.”

AWWA President Charlie Anderson, a consultant with CDM Smith in Arlington, Texas, urged attendees to remember the legacy they will leave. “Legacies are generated when people unite around a challenge with a specific vision for solving it to make the world they live in better,” Anderson said. “That’s exactly what we’ll do over the next few days together – we come together, bringing all our unique expertise and talents, and we solve problems that are common to all of us.”

The AWWA conference continues Tuesday with hundreds of presentations on pressing water issues in North America and beyond. Among the day’s highlights is the 3 p.m. “Best of the Best Water Taste Test,” a competition for the best-tasting water in North America. Winners from approximately 21 regional taste contests will compete.

More infrastructure coverage here and here.