Day: March 30, 2013

Forecast news: Widespread Pacific storm on the way, Sunday through Tuesday #codrought #cowx

From the National Weather Service Grand Junction office:

Warm, above normal temperatures and mostly sunny skies will prevail today, with isolated to scattered showers developing this afternoon over the higher terrain. Some thunderstorms will be possible mainly across the north as a weak disturbance moves through the westerly flow. Most activity will be confined to the higher terrain. A Pacific storm system will impact the region late Sunday through Tuesday, bringing an increasing chance of showers and cooler temperatures, with valley rain and mountain snow above 9000 ft. This will eventually drop temperatures back to more seasonal values by early next week.

Drought/snowpack news: La Junta watering restrictions start April 1 #codrought

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The check for drought restrictions by zip code click here to go to the CWCB’s drought response portal.

From the La Junta Tribune Democrat (Candi Hill):

La Junta has announced water restrictions will begin April 15. La Junta will be in stage 1 watering restrictions at that time, which means no watering can be done between 10 a.m. and 6 p.m. This applies to both residential and commercial properties. Watering restrictions will be enforced. Restrictions will be in place until Oct. 15, but during hotter and drier months, adjustments may be made as needed.

The reason behind the watering restrictions is the drought. The city wells are drier (lower static water levels) than they have been at any time since measurements started in 2000, including the drought year of 2002. City officials attribute it to two years the equivalent of 2002. The difference in the local situation this year is that there is enough water stored in Pueblo Reservoir to cover two years. At the end of the second year, however, we would be completely out of water to be used for outdoor purposes.

From the Associated Press via The Denver Post:

Agriculture officials said Thursday that Colorado farmers only intend to plant an estimated 1.25 million acres of corn, which is 12 percent below their plantings last year.

The U.S. Drought Monitor shows all of Colorado is experiencing some level of drought. A large portion of southeastern Colorado is experiencing exceptional drought, which is considered the most extreme condition on the U.S. Drought Monitor’s five-level scale.

Statewide mountain snowpack was 78 percent of average as of Thursday.

From the Northern Colorado Business Report (Steve Lynn):

The [Fort Collins] City Council has voted to approve possible water rates increases for commercial and residential customers in response to the drought. The rate increases, approved at the council’s meeting Tuesday night, would go into effect only if the city decides to reduce water use beyond the Level 1 restrictions that take effect Monday. Rates do not increase under Level 1 restrictions, though officials will consider limiting water use further if the situation worsens.

The city has up to four levels of restrictions outlined in the ordinance, depending on the severity of drought conditions.

> If the city raised restrictions to Level 2, water rates for single-family homes would increase from $2.19 for up to 7,000 gallons to $2.63. Commercial rates per one thousand gallons would increase from $2.20 to $2.90.

> At Level 3, water rates for single-family homes would rise to $3.07 while commercial customers would pay $3.60.

> Water rates would surge to $4.61 for commercial customers and $3.63 for single-family customers at Level 4…

The $3.37 surcharge for every 1,000 gallons of water used will take effect in May. The surcharge will apply to commercial customers because residential customers use much less water, said Laurie D’Audney, the city’s water conservation specialist.

From the Vail Daily (Laura Glenndenning):

The 2011-12 season was one of the worst winter seasons on record in terms of snowfall, but the statewide snowpack only just passed 2011-12 abhorrent levels. Storms have arrived on weekends and when big crowds are in town, and temperatures have generally remained colder than last year, which proves that drought conditions and snow conditions are not always aligned. Surpassing 2011-12 snowpack totals isn’t really much to celebrate, though, said Diane Johnson, spokeswoman for the Eagle River Water and Sanitation District. The Water District is already planning for this summer’s drought in the same way it planned for last summer, she said.

Last year, the ground was plenty saturated from the previous winter of 2010-11. But because the moisture never came in large enough numbers last winter, the ground this winter is dry. “The previous year’s precipitation was kind of carrying us through,” Johnson said.

Currently, the U.S. Drought Monitor rates Eagle County as “extreme,” or a level 3, the second-to-worst drought rating behind “exceptional,” which is a 4. A year ago, Eagle County was rated “abnormally dry,” or 0 on the 0-4 scale.

“We’re still about 20 percent below normal. But with an active week next week and hopefully continuing into mid-April, we shouldn’t slip any further and may actually make up a little ground,” said snow forecaster Joel Gratz, a meteorologist who runs the powder forecasting site http://www.opensnow.com.

The current basin-wide totals put the local snowpack at 78 percent of normal, and 118 percent of last year. But last season the snowpack accumulation peaked March 4-8 before declining for the rest of the year, while the snowpack accumulation this season is still rising. It could start to decline any day, or it could continue to rise into April. The average peak date for the Upper Colorado River Basin is April 10.

From The Yuma Pioneer (Tony Rayl):

Approximately 10-12 inches of snow fell in Yuma, and throughout the region, last Friday night and all day Saturday. It came with cold temperatures also, as the low Sunday and Monday was 2 degrees. The National Weather Service in Goodland, Kansas, could not confirm if that was a record low, though it had to be close. The low Tuesday was 10 degrees, with a gradual warmup for the rest of the week…

The storm’s timing was even better in regards to bringing the region moisture. Snow measurements ranged from 8 to 14 inches. It was a very wet snow, so a fairly-safe estimate in regards to actual precipitation is around three-quarters of an inch to 1-1/4 inches. “It’s going to be very helpful for the winter wheat crop,” local agronomist Merlin VanDeraa said. “…very beneficial for pastures and for spring dryland crops.”[…]

“It didn’t end the drought but it should put a dent in it,” said Mike Ferrari, another local agronomist.

The precipitation also is critical to pastureland, which was struggling in the drought conditions. A large swath through the center of the county also was trying to recover from last March’s Heartstrong Fire, putting area ranchers on edge in regards to how much, if any, grazing their herds would be able to do this year.

From the Aspen Daily News (Dorothy Atkins):

Area snowpack is currently 21 percent above what was recorded last year, but it is 23 percent short of the average, according to a report issued on Wednesday by the Roaring Fork Conservancy.

It took a while for this winter’s snowpack to outperform last season’s because the area had little to no snowfall in October and November, said Sarah Johnson, education and outreach coordinator at the conservancy. The amount of precipitation collected in December was about average and snowfalls in January and February were slightly below that. March was the first month that enough snow fell to push past last year’s numbers, she said.

“We’ve finally gotten a little bit above where we were last year,” Johnson said. “But if you look at where we are in terms of averages we’re still well below [the norm].”

Conditions are similar to those during the 2002 drought and that will likely persist throughout the summer, she said. Forecasters expect local river flows to be 50 percent below average this summer, according to a Natural Resources Conservation Services report.

Green Mountain Reservoir is 40% full #coriver

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From email from Reclamation (Kara Lamb):

The Shoshone power plant water right call came off the Colorado River today [March 29, 2013]. As a result, we were able to cut back releases from Green Mountain to the Lower Blue River. Over two installments, we reduced releases from about 125 cfs to 60 cfs. The first change was made at 11:30, dropping the release to about 100 cfs. The second change was made at 3 p.m. and dropped the release to 60 cfs.

Green Mountain Reservoir is currently about 40% full. The reduction in releases should noticeably slow the draw on the reservoir.

Parachute Creek spill: Benzene detected in monitoring wells 30 feet from the creek

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Click here to view a photo gallery from the spill site. Thanks to Aspen Journalism for the link.

From The Grand Junction Daily Sentinel (Dennis Webb):

Three monitoring wells between an oil and gas leak site and Parachute Creek showed “significant groundwater impacts” from benzene, Colorado Department of Natural Resources spokesman Todd Hartman said Thursday. The wells are about 30 feet from the creek, but numerous samples of creek water, including ones taken by the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission, show no evidence of contamination, he said in an e-mail update to reporters.

An investigation into the source of an unidentified liquid hydrocarbon found in a pipeline corridor continues, and investigators are working around a valve box for a pipeline carrying natural gas liquids away from Williams’ nearby Parachute Creek Gas Plant.

Some 6,000 gallons of the hydrocarbon and more than 176,000 gallons of tainted groundwater have been removed from the site.

Hartman said the monitoring wells show benzene at levels from 5,800 parts per billion to 18,000 ppb, with the 18,000-ppb reading coming from the well closest to a recovery trench and the area being investigated as the possible leak source. The state health standard for benzene in water is 5 ppb. “Operators are currently drilling another set of monitoring wells roughly 10 feet from Parachute Creek to further delineate groundwater impacts,” Hartman said.

Investigators believe the creek recharges nearby groundwater, rather than the groundwater feeding the creek, which is helping protect the creek from contamination.

The contamination was first discovered March 8. The site is about four miles northwest of Parachute.

From The Grand Junction Daily Sentinel (Dennis Webb):

Workers excavated under a valve box Friday that has been a focus of an ongoing investigation into the source of a liquid hydrocarbons leak near Parachute Creek northwest of Parachute.

Crews also continued work on hand-drilling a new set of monitoring wells, a day after the Colorado Department of Natural Resources said three monitoring wells about 30 feet from the creek showed high levels of benzene in groundwater. Additional wells are now being drilled within 10 feet of the creek. So far, creek water samples show no sign of contamination, authorities say.

Some 6,000 gallons of hydrocarbons have been recovered in a pipeline corridor about 50 feet from the creek.

The investigation has begun to focus on the valve box, which is for a 4-inch-diameter pipeline carrying natural gas liquids away from the nearby Parachute Creek Gas Plant, owned by Williams.

Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission staff believe the creek recharges nearby groundwater, rather than vice versa, which is helping protect the creek from contamination.

Bob Arrington, a retired engineer in nearby Battlement Mesa and an oil and gas activist, wrote Thursday on the blog of fellow activist Peggy Tibbetts of Silt, voicing concerns over the commission’s theory. He worries that the trench traps being used will allow benzene and other toxins to flow with the balance of groundwater unless the traps go to the bottom of the aquifer. “This newest evaluation does not improve the situation, if anything it makes it worse as plume routing spreads and becomes harder to trace,” he wrote.

On Friday, a conservation group raised the situation on Parachute Creek in criticizing Gov. John Hickenlooper. In a statement, Clean Water Action pointed to the leak and to Hickenlooper’s visit to tar sands operations in Canada this week. “Instead of touring one of the world’s dirtiest sources of energy in Canada, Gov. Hickenlooper needs to get back to Colorado and take care of business here and ensure the public health is protected. It’s time for the governor to stop pretending all is well with the oil and gas industry and force it to operate in a transparent and accountable way,” the group said.

From The Denver Post:

Benzene is polluting groundwater near a plume of hydrocarbons leaking from the Williams Midstream natural gas plant north of Parachute, in some places 3,600 times greater than the level considered safe for drinking, the state Oil and Gas Conservation Commission reported Thursday. Samples of water from nearby Parachute Creek — a source of water for the town and irrigators — have shown no evidence of contamination, COGCC said. Tests of water from three monitoring wells, about 30 feet from the creek, showed benzene levels ranging from 5,800 parts per billion to 18,000 ppb in a well closest to a trench dug to recover fouled water and oil. The state health standard is 5 ppb…

Hydrological consultants for plant operators Tulsa-based WPX and Williams have analyzed groundwater flow in the area and determined that groundwater is recharged by the creek, rather than groundwater feeding the creek. However, company workers are drilling another set of test wells about 10 feet from Parachute Creek to confirm the pollution is not moving toward the stream…

COGCC said the water being pumped from the recovery trench is “enhancing groundwater flow away from Parachute Creek.”[…]

Since the spill was reported, company workers have been excavating to determine its origin. Earlier this week, the company reported a valve box for a pipeline carrying natural gas liquids away from the plant may be the source.

From Aspen Journalism (Brent Gardner-Smith):

The director of the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission sought to reassure Pitkin County commissioners on Wednesday that appropriate actions were being taken to contain, and find the source of, a mysterious plume of hydrocarbons threatening Parachute Creek. “They are taking appropriate response actions to identify the source of the release, to clean it up, to keep it from reaching Parachute Creek if at all possible, and hopefully taking actions in the future to prevent similar incidents,” said Matt Lepore, the director of the COGCC, about the two companies involved in the incident — Williams and WPX Energy, a former Williams subsidiary that owns the land where the leak was found.

The location of the plume of liquid hydrocarbons, which the EPA has referred to as “oil,” is 4 miles northwest of the town of Parachute. The plume is 50 feet from Parachute Creek at a point 5 miles above its confluence with the Colorado River…

Commissioner Michael Owsley told Lepore, who was in Pitkin County to talk with local officials, that it sounded as if Williams and WPX were “self-regulating” themselves in handling the incident. “I can’t agree with that commissioner,” Lepore responded. “They are not self-regulating, they are under an order from COGCC to respond to the incident and to clean it up. And they are also working under an order from EPA to respond and clean it up.”

Lepore said the COGCC is the lead regulatory agency on the incident and has had either an environmental protection specialist or an engineer on the site every day since March 15, except for two days. He said a “level of decision making” has been left to the companies, but the COGCC is reviewing those decisions. “We know what decisions they’ve made and we review those to determine, in our view, whether what they are doing is adequate,” Lepore told the commissioners. “And if it’s not, we direct them to do other things.”

“Why hasn’t it been fixed?” Owsley asked about the plume.

“Well, to fix a release, you need to know where it is coming from,” Lepore said.

In an interview after the meeting, Lepore said crews from Williams have inspected two pipelines in the area, a 30-inch line bringing natural gas products to the processing plant, and a 4-inch line leading away from the plant.

Crews dug up 130 feet of the 30-inch line and found nothing wrong. They ran a pressure test on the 4-inch line and found it to be intact. Natural gas wells in the area of the plume also have been pressure-tested and show no signs of anything amiss, Lepore said…

On Wednesday, work was focused on a “valve box” connected to the 4-inch line running from the processing plant, as the soil around the valve box was found to be saturated with hydrocarbons. Special crews trained in handling hazardous materials had to be called in to dig up the saturated soils. Lepore said officials are using the relatively generic term “hydrocarbons” to describe the substance of the plume because the exact substance has yet to be identified…

Documents, maps and photos describing the incident are being posted on the COGCC’s website. From the home page, click on “images” and then select “projects” from the “type” drop-down menu. Then type in the project number, which is 2120. Then hit search.

From The Grand Junction Daily Sentinel (Dennis Webb):

An investigation into a hydrocarbon leak northwest of Parachute is focusing on a valve box for a 4-inch-diameter natural gas liquids line, the director of the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission said Monday. “The soil around that valve box is fairly saturated with hydrocarbons,” Matt Lepore told commissioner members at their meeting in Denver.

The line leaves Williams’ nearby Parachute Creek Gas Plant, which removes a mix of propane, butane, ethane and other liquids from raw natural gas produced in the region.

An investigation has been continuing into the source of some 6,000 gallons of an unidentified hydrocarbon liquid that Williams discovered after doing pipeline location work in preparation for building an additional plant at the same facility. Lepore said when excavation began around the valve box as part of the continuing investigation, “they called a halt to the work because of the odors present in the area.”

“They wanted to bring in air monitoring equipment and/or respirators for the workers to be equipped with before they continued the investigation,” he said.

Michele Swaner, a Williams spokeswoman, said work around the valve box had resumed by Monday. “It’s accurate to say that we’re certainly looking in that area as a potential source,” she said. But she said the work is part of Williams’ plan to look at all potential sources.

Lepore said crews have excavated around a 30-inch-diameter raw gas pipeline in the area of the valve box but have found no signs of it having leaked. The pipeline leads to the gas plant.

Lepore also confirmed what WPX Energy has said — that testing of gas pressures involving the cement seals around wells it has in the area shows the wells appear to be sound.

Because both Williams and WPX have infrastructure near the leak site, COGCC staff have issued notices of alleged violation against each of them as the investigation into the leak’s cause continues.

The leak is just 50 feet from Parachute Creek, but authorities say there hasn’t been any sign of the creek having become contaminated. The leak has come in contact with shallow groundwater. Lepore said Williams has been installing groundwater monitoring wells between an interception trench and the creek, and test results are being awaited.

Leslie Robinson, chair of the Grand Valley Citizens Alliance, said she feels agencies still need to be more forthcoming about the investigation. “We’ve got to have some lines of communication with the public and I just don’t see it there except for (through) the media,” she said.

From The Denver Post:

Oil company workers investigating a weeks-old spill along Parachute Creek are focused on a valve box on a pipeline carrying natural gas liquids away from the Williams Midstream gas plant, the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission said Tuesday…

“The soil around the valve box is saturated with hydrocarbons,” the commission reported Tuesday. “Williams continues to conduct cautious investigation in an active pipeline environment.” COGCC said the gas company has collected tainted groundwater in trenches, though no measurable amounts of hydrocarbons have been collected since last week, when the total was logged at about 6,000 gallons of oil. The company also collected more than 60,000 gallons of contaminated water.

More oil and gas coverage here and here.