Month: May 2013

Salida city councilor Jay Moore joins the Southeastern Colorado Water Conservancy board

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From The Mountain Mail (Joe Stone):

Salida City Councilman Jay Moore was sworn in recently as a director on the Southeastern Colorado Water Conservancy District board. Moore replaced Reed Dils as the Chaffee County representative on the board, and he also serves on the Upper Arkansas Water Conservancy District board and the Arkansas Basin Roundtable.

A retired physician, Moore moved to Salida about 9 years ago and was elected to Salida City Council in 2005. He said the fact that he is term-limited as a Salida councilman should help assure county residents that he will not “over-represent Salida.”

Moore stressed the importance of water issues to the local economy and said his experience with water issues through the Upper Ark district and the roundtable makes the new position a good fit. Moore said he promised local municipal and county officials prior to his appointment to the board that he would pass along important water information.

As an example, Moore said, he will be reporting to local officials that flows at the Thomasville gauge recently exceeded 100 cubic feet per second, allowing water to be imported into the Arkansas Basin from the Western Slope – good news for everyone from Arkansas Basin irrigators to rafting companies. Moore added that his first task as a board member is simply to get educated: “The Southeastern district gives me a huge expansion of information I need to learn.”

The district, which now encompasses a nine-county area, was created April 29, 1958, to develop and administer the Fryingpan-Arkansas Project. On Aug. 16, 1962, Congress authorized the construction of the Fry-Ark Project, which transports water via tunnel under the Continental Divide into the Arkansas River basin for storage in mountain lakes and Pueblo Reservoir. The project delivers an average of 69,100 acre-feet of fully consumable water per year into the Arkansas Basin. But as Moore pointed out, the amount of imported project water can vary greatly. For example, the project imported 97,000 acre-feet of water in 2011 but only 12,000 acre-feet in 2012.

“Water is terribly important to us,” Moore said, which is why he takes his role as a “water information conduit” seriously. On the other hand, “just knowing this stuff is fun,” Moore said.

More Southeastern Colorado Water Conservancy District coverage here.

Southern Delivery System: Colorado Springs stormwater plans fail to address Pueblo county 1041 permit requirements

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From The Pueblo Chieftain (Chris Woodka):

Colorado Springs may be spending nearly $46 million on stormwater projects this year, but Pueblo County commissioners are trying to determine if the money is being spent in the right places. “It’s fine that they’re spending the money, but it really doesn’t answer our question about whether the list of pre-2009 projects is being addressed,” said Commissioner Sal Pace.

Colorado Springs Mayor Steve Bach and Council President Keith King Thursday responded to questions raised earlier in the week by commissioners about whether stormwater spending is fulfilling the 1041 permit conditions for Southern Delivery System designed to mitigate flooding on Fountain Creek caused by increased growth from SDS. “Considering these tough economic times and the daunting task of ongoing fire recovery efforts, we are pleased that staff was able to find a way to more than triple the initial projections of funding for stormwater improvements in 2013,” Bach and King wrote in a letter to commissioners and Pueblo City Council.

On Monday, Pueblo County commissioners expressed concern about the progress of a stormwater task force in El Paso County. The task force was formed last year and determined there are more than $900 million in stormwater needs that should be addressed on a regional basis.

Bach, however, is seeking an independent accounting of the $686 million in projects that represent Colorado Springs’ share of the burden. He has advocated for Colorado Springs taking care of its own obligations.

Pueblo County commissioners want to know which of the projects on the list are among the $500 million in identified needs in 2009, when Colorado Springs indicated a stormwater enterprise was in place as part of conditions for the SDS permit. Colorado Springs City Council abolished the stormwater enterprise on a split vote following a 2009 election. Last year, city attorney Chris Melcher offered an opinion that Colorado Springs should be spending at least $13 million annually on stormwater to fulfill its SDS obligations.

“It seems like there is a lot of additional money being spent to address new flooding threats because of the Waldo Canyon Fire,” Pace said Thursday. “Colorado Springs has to meet that need, but that doesn’t replace what they should already be addressing.”

More coverage from the Chieftain:

Colorado Springs this week provided an accounting of $45.7 million in planned expenditures this year to address stormwater concerns.

  • $14.2 million for new grade structures, stabilization projects, operation, maintenance and salaries.
  • $681,000 for Waldo Canyon Fire mitigation projects.
  • $12.8 million for Colorado Springs Utilities projects, including stabilization of lines crossing creeks, and repair of damage from washouts related to the Waldo Canyon Fire.
  • $8.8 million for Camp and Douglas Creek restoration.
  • $1.4 million for Colorado Springs Airport drainage projects.
  • $350,000 for Pikes Peak Highway drainage.
  • $7.5 million for remedial work on the Waldo Canyon Fire emergency watershed projects.

    • More Southern Delivery System coverage here and here.

    Snowpack/drought news: ‘We went from really, really bad to pretty good’ — Todd Boldt #COdrought

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    From the Fort Collins Coloradoan (Bobby Magill):

    Last month was the fourth-snowiest April in Fort Collins’ history, with a wet and sloppy 29.4 inches of snow piling up at the Colorado Climate Center weather station on the Colorado State University campus. That’s a whopping 23.2 inches above normal for the month. You’ll have to go back to 1945 to find an April at least that snowy.

    Climate Center researcher Wendy Ryan made that official Wednesday in her monthly Fort Collins weather summary report, which also revealed that this is the 16th snowiest winter season since record keeping began here in 1890. By April 30, a respectable 66.3 inches of snow had fallen since the snowfall season began. That’s 11.2 inches above normal for the season, a figure that doesn’t include snow totals from the city’s snowstorm Wednesday…

    As of April 30, Northern Colorado remains in a moderate drought, which in recent weeks has been downgraded from a severe drought, according to the weekly drought update report from the National Integrated Drought Information System.

    The region’s snowpack remains below normal, with the Laramie River Basin showing Colorado’s most water-laden snowpack at about 96 percent of normal, according to May 1 Natural Resources Conservation Service Snotel data.

    From the Loveland Reporter-Herald (Tom Hacker):

    “Overall, everyone should be pretty ecstatic,” said Todd Boldt, an NRCS surveyor who spent Monday in Rocky Mountain National Park and Tuesday on the upper Poudre River taking measurements. “We went from really, really bad to pretty good.”[…]

    Measures taken at four stations inside Rocky Mountain National Park showed a broad range of results. The water content of the snow at 9,000-foot Deer Ridge, near Moraine Park, was 50 percent above normal. Hidden Valley’s number matched the 30-year average exactly. Bear Lake’s total, after 36 inches of snow during just three April days, was still lagging slightly at 75 percent of normal…

    Snow at the Big South Fork of the Poudre contained 144 percent of the average year’s water content. The Chambers Lake reading was 104 percent, and the Cameron Pass snowpack was 91 percent of normal.

    The additional snow might lead Northern Water, the agency that manages the water supply from the Colorado-Big Thompson project, to ratchet up the quota that it grants its customers annually.

    Aspinall Unit update: Blue Mesa is expected to reach 7465 feet in elevation (400,000 af) at the end of June

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    Click here to read the notes from the recent operations meeting. Here’s an excerpt:

    Precipitation in the Gunnison Basin in October and November, 2012 was well below 50% of normal; December precipitation was near normal. January precipitation was in 70-90% range and February dropped to 50-70%. Conditions improved in March and April with April precipitation at 150% of average to date. March and April temperatures have been below average which delays the runoff.

    As of April 23rd, snowpack in the Gunnison Basin is 83% of the long-term average for that date. The current inflow forecast to Blue Mesa for April through July is 50% of the long-term average.

    Blue Mesa content is now 340,583 af and has gained only 13,000 af through the winter. April 2012 content was around 533,000 af.

    As of April 15th, the forecasted April-July inflow to Blue Mesa is 340,000 af, down from 370,000 af in January. 2013 falls in the Dry Year category and would be expected to be exceeded in 93% of years.

    If this inflow forecast is maintained, it would represent the 5th lowest inflow since Blue Mesa was constructed (1977, 1981, 2002, and 2012 were lower).

    The Black Canyon National Park peak flow will be based on the May 1 forecast; if the present forecast is maintained the peak would be 973 cfs. However, the drought provision in the water right (based on prior dry year and low Blue Mesa content) reduces this peak to 697 cfs. It is expected this flow will be achieved through normal operations; however a small increase may be necessary if conditions dictate otherwise.

    Flow Recommendations call for a 900 cfs peak at Whitewater in a Dry Year based on the present forecasted inflow. Base flow targets at Whitewater are 890-900 cfs from May- August in this type year.

    Under most probable conditions, Blue Mesa is expected to reach 7465 feet in elevation (400,000 af content) at the end of June which is 54 feet short of filling. By the end of the year, Blue Mesa is predicted to be 6 feet lower than the 2012 end of the year elevation.

    Black Canyon flows January to April were around 300 cfs and may increase to 400-500 cfs in the summer. A peak of around 700 cfs will occur. Changing conditions always have the potential to affect these early predictions.

    More Aspinall Unit coverage here and here.

    Say hello to ColoradoFloodThreat.com #COwx

    Here’s the pitch:

    The CWCB offers a daily assessment of flood potential around the state, issued at 11:00 am each day from May through September.

    Durango: Ambitious restoration/construction project for the city’s whitewater park to kick off in November

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    From The Durango Herald (Jim Haug):

    By using berms or coffer dams, sections of the river will be split into dry and wet sides to allow workers to get to the river bottom of the whitewater park, also known as Smelter Rapid, by Santa Rita Park and Durango’s wastewater-treatment plant.

    Contractors then will do restoration and maintenance work, such as grouting boulders into place, as well as creating a new underwater structure to allow for gentler rapids and to accommodate beginner and intermediate ability levels.

    The work is scheduled to begin in November and wrap up by next March, which also will result in a temporary diversion of the Animas River Trail to the other side of the wastewater-treatment plant and away from the river construction. This section of river trail is scheduled to get an upgrade, too, widening from 10 to 14 feet to accommodate an anticipated increase in traffic to the river.

    Plans also call for a partial relocation of the equipment yard for the wastewater-treatment plant to create a more park-like setting by the river entrance. Erosion of the shoreline would be mitigated with boulders. Officials hope to create a more graded or level access to the river that would be in compliance with the Americans With Disabilities Act.

    The city’s hired mastermind is Scott Shipley, a World Cup champion kayaker who also competed in three Summer Olympics and whose firm, S2O Design, also developed the hydraulic features in the whitewater course for the London Olympics. The firm currently is a consultant for the whitewater course for the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro…

    Trying to place rocks strategically without knowledge of the river bottom was “always a roll of the dice,” Brennan said. “You’re not sure what the (rock) is hitting,” Brennan said. “You’re hoping it stays.” With this construction plan, “we’ll see how the rocks are touching each other. We’ll be able to put it together like a jigsaw puzzle.”[…]

    The $1.3 million project is funded by a half-cent sales tax that voters approved in 2005 for parks and recreation purposes, but the project has ramifications bigger than minimizing maintenance and hopefully getting Durango “back on the map” as a destination for whitewater competitions. It fulfills a mandate of the city’s Recreational In-Channel Diversion right, which was granted by the Colorado Water Conservation Board about six years ago. “By completing the whitewater park, it gives us the right to protect the (river) forever,” said Cathy Metz, director of Parks and Recreation. “So we could never have a diversion of the Animas upstream or a dam on the Animas. It’s a big deal for our community, not only for paddling but for environmental reasons, as well.”[…]

    “This is the flagship of the whitewater parks, or it was,” [Shipley] said. “It will be the flagship of whitewater parks again. So I hear from you. This is not a project we’re going to fall asleep on.”

    More whitewater coverage here and here.

    Expanded groundwater testing for Wattenburg field puts Dems on a collision course with Governor Hickenlooper #COleg

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    From the Associated Press via The Denver Post:

    Colorado Democrats are closer to an intraparty clash over oil and gas drilling after a House vote to forward a water-testing bill opposed by Democratic Gov. John Hickenlooper.

    The House gave preliminary approval Tuesday evening to a bill to require more water testing in the state’s most active oil and gas drilling field, the Greater Wattenburg Area in northern Colorado. The field currently has lighter water-testing requirements than other areas of the state. The rules are set by the Colorado Oil & Gas Conservation Commission.
    Hickenlooper has informed legislators he opposes the bill. The governor believes current water testing guidelines are adequate.

    More 2013 Colorado legislation coverage here.

    Lincoln Park/Cotter Mill update: Cotter officials want to resume decommissioning the site

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    From The Pueblo Chieftain (Tracy Harmon):

    Cotter Corp. Uranium Mill officials want to get back to work at the now-defunct mill site and have asked the state health department to allow it. The mill site and a portion of the neighboring Lincoln Park community have been an EPA Superfund site since 1988 due to uranium and molybdenum contamination in groundwater and soils. Mill Manager John Hamrick said most work at the mill has been paused by the state health department to allow for decommissioning planning. “In recent meetings with the state and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Cotter has been directed not to conduct any activities that could be considered clean-up,” Hamrick wrote in a letter to the state Monday.

    Hamrick said Cotter was able to remove ore from a storage pad at the mill and ship it to the White Mesa Mill in Blanding, Utah. Now he would like the staff to excavate the ore pad area to remove uranium contamination and place fill material over the dried-out primary impoundment to reduce radon emissions. “Short-term (radon) control measures currently in place are adequate. However, the long-term presence of these materials is not in keeping with standards,” Hamrick wrote.

    Hamrick said he believes the pad clean-up falls under “any steps necessary to control contamination or provide worker and public health protection.” But he pointed out that Cotter is in the midst of “regulatory uncertainty” as work is paused.

    More Lincoln Park/Cotter Mill superfund site coverage here and here.

    ‘Sprawl will destroy what makes Colorado Colorado’ — Jim Lochhead

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    The Denver University Sturm College of Law was the location for a forum on water issues recently. Here’s a report from Ernest Luning writing for The Colorado Statesman. Click through and read the whole article. Here’s an excerpt:

    Despite increasing pressures on Colorado’s fragile water supply in the coming decades, competing interests — cities, industries, agriculture, recreation and environmental groups — could all be satisfied if the state takes a smart approach to growth combined with revamping antiquated policies governing how the precious resource gets used.

    That’s the conclusion shared by a panel of water experts who discussed the topic at forum on Tuesday at the University of Denver’s Sturm College of Law. The panel featured Colorado Department of Agriculture Commissioner John Salazar, Denver Water CEO Jim Lochhead and Bart Miller, who directs the water program at Western Resource Advocates. It was organized by the Denver-based law firm Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck and moderated by the firm’s Michelle Kales…

    “Water should not be a limiting factor for growth. It’s how you use that water,” [John Salazar] said. “As long as that water’s not used consumptively, it can be used over and over and over again to infinity,” he said, pointing to the reuse of “every single molecule” of water on the space station.

    Although farms and ranches use most of the state’s water, Salazar said, the equation could change in coming years as the state loses as much as 3 million acres of agricultural land over the next decade. And as urban and industrial users gobble up water rights, that could dry up an additional half million acres of agricultural land by mid-century.

    “We have to make every single effort we can possibly can to make sure that we keep water on the land, farming and raising crops,” he said, noting that agriculture makes up the second-largest slice of the state’s economy.

    Coloradans have to stop encouraging urban sprawl, Salazar said. “Instead of growing out, we should talk about planning our cities and growing upwards,” he said, noting that condominium dwellers, for instance, use as much as 70 percent less water than their neighbors in single-family homes surrounded by thirsty lawns…

    Lochhead made a similar point later.

    “If we continue the western ethic of sprawl, if we are developing quarter-acre, third-acre, half-acre lots half way out to Kansas, we will not have a sustainable environment, both environmentally, and particularly from a water-use standpoint,” Lochhead said. He added, “Sprawl will destroy what makes Colorado Colorado.”[…]

    Scientists are projecting significant increases in temperature, particularly in the spring months, which could have a devastating effect on snowmelt, Miller said. Add in a future where “decreasing snowpack is the norm” and the West’s water landscape could change dramatically. “We are facing a future where Lake Powell and Lake Mead may not function the way they have,” he said.

    “What climate change does is forces us to think longer-term,” Miller said after the discussion. “On top of the fact it’s more people, we have to deal with this long-term drought issue. I think it heightens the need for us to have smaller water footprints, have new developments that don’t use as much water so they won’t be impacted by drought or climate change as much. If your dependency on water is lower, you won’t be as affected by climate change.”

    “Water is not only a scarce resource but it is potentially a diminishing resource if you look at the effects of a warming climate,” said Lochhead, noting that Denver Water recently hired a climate scientist to help grapple with the looming challenges…

    The panelists agreed that water law needs reforming, with Lochhead — himself a former water lawyer — calling it “way more complicated than it needs to be.”

    As the only panelist who isn’t a water lawyer — although his brother, former Interior Secretary Ken Salazar more than makes up for it — Salazar said that complex and expensive water law too often stymies practical solutions to water problems.

    “If there was less water attorneys in the state, I think we’d get along a little better,” he said. “You can get two people in the room, and you can discuss and figure out a solution, and then one water attorney walks in the room and everything goes to hell in a hand basket.”

    More infrastructure coverage here.

    Colorado-Big Thompson Project update: 100 cfs in the Big Thompson below Olympus Dam #ColoradoRiver

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    From email from Reclamation (Kara Lamb):

    We’re starting to see a little bit of run-off come down the Big Thompson River and into Lake Estes. As a result, we’ll be bumping up releases from Olympus Dam on Lake Estes to the Big Thompson Canyon later tonight to pass the native flow on downstream.

    We have been releasing about 45 cfs out of Oympus Dam to the lower Big Thompson River. Tonight, April 30, at midnight, we will bump releases up by about 60 cfs to around 100 cfs.

    If the forecast storm for tonight and tomorrow cools things off, we could be making another change late in the night of May 1 to reduce releases again. I will keep you posted.

    Fryingpan-Arkansas Project update: 110 cfs in the Fryingpan River below Ruedi Dam #ColoradoRiver

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    From email from Reclamation (Kara Lamb):

    It’s been an interesting couple of weeks. We will be re-evaluating our spring operations at Ruedi Reservoir once we’ve had a chance to incorporate new information from the May 1 forecast into our own models.

    Meanwhile, spring is here and it is time to change the release regime from Ruedi Dam to the Fryingpan River. Most years around May 1 we make this adjustment. We are required to release the lesser of inflow or 110 cfs. As a result, today at 5 p.m. and again tomorrow and 10 a.m., we’ll increase releases from the dam to the river by about 33 cfs. By this time tomorrow, the release from Ruedi Dam to the lower Fryingpan will be about 110 cfs.

    We have seen quite a bit of snow in the upper reaches of the Fryingpan River Valley. Our crews spent the last two weeks in the high country opening the sixteen diversion dams of the Fryingpan-Arkansas Project. To see photos, check out the Ruedi webpage.

    Currently, Ruedi is about 60% full. It will likely continue to drop slowly until run-off. I will send notices when we make changes.

    More Fryingpan-Arkansas Project coverage here and here.

    El Paso County Watershed Assessment of River Stability and Sediment Supply meeting May 2

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    From the Colorado Springs Indpendent (J. Adrian Stanley):

    Ever since the Waldo Canyon Fire charred our hillsides, Colorado Springs and the small communities that dot our foothills have been at extremely high risk for flooding. The WARSSS is an escape route — a detailed plan on how best to control the water, mud and debris.

    The WARSSS will tell us how water moves and how to trap it. It will show us where to build the detention pond that will prevent the Pleasant Valley neighborhood from drowning, and how to control a wild rush of water out of Williams Canyon that is pointed at the center of Manitou Springs.

    Thus, it is with excitement that I tell you the study will be presented to the El Paso County Commissioners on Thursday, May 2. Woo-hoo, indeed.

    Waldo Canyon Fire WARSSS to be Presented May 2

    Colorado Springs, CO, Thursday, April 25, 2013 — The Watershed Assessment of River Stability and Sediment Supply (WARSSS) Study will be presented by Dr. David L. Rosgen of Wildland Hydrology at 2:30 to 4:30 p.m. on Thursday, May 2, 2013, in the Hearing Room at the Pikes Peak Regional Development Center located at 2880 International Circle, Colorado Springs.

    WARSSS is a technical procedure for water quality scientists use in evaluating streams and rivers impaired by excess sediment. It will predict how water, sediment and debris will move along and off the Waldo Canyon Fire burn scar. Based on its findings, it will assist in providing a list of prioritized mitigation projects.

    More stormwater coverage here and here.

    Forecast news: Rain turning to snow, hard freeze tonight, red flag warning southwest #COdrought #COwx

    From the National Weather Service Pueblo office:

    A late season winter storm will move across Southern Colorado through Thursday morning. Winter Weather Advisories have been posted for the Central and Eastern Mountains…as well as Teller and Northern El Paso counties with several inches of accumulation likely. The highest amounts will be in the mountains. Areas over the Plains will likely start out as a rain-snow mix, but change over to all snow by late this morning. In addition…very cold air will move into the region for Wednesday night into Thursday morning. A hard freeze is expected with overnight lows dropping into the lower to mid 20s. Precautions should be made to protect plants and sprinkler systems.

    From the National Weather Service Grand Junction office:

    A low pressure system and associated cold front will continue to push southward across the forecast area this morning. Much colder and breezy conditions will occur today behind the front. Precipitation will favor the northern Colorado mountains, where up to 6 inches of snow will fall. Isolated to scattered showers will also fall across the lower elevations of western Colorado this morning then diminish, with other areas remaining mostly dry. Across far Southwest Colorado a Red Flag Warning is in effect for this afternoon, due to gusty winds and dry conditions. Most locations will be near to below freezing on Thursday morning, which may pose problems for tender vegetation. Fair conditions with gradual warming is anticipated Thursday afternoon into Friday.

    ‘It’s [the current drought] right in there with some of Colorado’s worst droughts’ — Nolan Doesken #COdrought

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    From KRDO (Rachel Plath):

    “It’s right in there with some of Colorado’s worst droughts you have to give it credit for being bad. People aren’t just whining,” said Doesken.

    Doesken said with respect to the wind, lack of rain, humidity levels, temperature and duration, Colorado has not seen a drought of this magnitude since the 1950s.

    The drought has hit ranchers and farmers especially hard, but everyone who uses water should consider themselves affected by the drought.

    The recent snowstorms have also helped to provide some relief. However, in order to eliminate the drought, Doesken said the state needs to see average monthly rainfall plus an additional 6 to 12 inches of water. In Colorado Springs, that’s equivalent to 39 to near 70,000 Olympic-sized swimming pools. In Pueblo, that’s equivalent of from 10 to near 17,000 pools.

    Doesken said, it is not ideal to get this kind of relief all at once, but added that many of Colorado’s past droughts have ended abruptly because of major flooding. “At this time of year, going into summer, knowing that much of this region of the state’s precipitation falls in the form of intense summer showers, be on the lookout. This could be a flood year right in the middle of a drought,” said Doesken.

    Drought forecasts do not look favorable for relief in the near future, but Doesken said due to the multiple factors that influence droughts, these long-term forecasts are not very reliable. “Quite honestly, you get to the middle of the summer and things end up being random convection and end up being the monsoon circulation, which is very difficult to anticipate in advance. So, there’s a lot of uncertainty here,” said Doesken…

    “Eventually we’ll get out of the drought. It’s just a question of, will it be this summer? Will it be next? Will it be four years from now? We all hope it’s soon,” said Doesken.

    From The Colorado Statesman (Ernest Luning):

    When officials at the state’s largest water utility declared a Stage 2 Drought and put in place the harshest watering restrictions in over a decade at the beginning of April, they mentioned that another seven or so feet of snow might help — and that’s nearly what Mother Nature has delivered. There’s even time left for more fresh powder, though none was in the forecast at press time.

    But don’t break out the champagne or crack open the sprinkler just yet. In the complex metrics that govern water availability in the high desert, a snowpack approaching historic averages isn’t enough to overcome what everyone agrees is the persistent and longstanding drought afflicting the region.

    “We don’t have all of the answers yet. It’s still too early in the season,” said Denver Water’s Chris Piper, a government relations specialist, at a presentation to constituents of state Sen. Irene Aguilar, D-Denver, on Tuesday.

    Denver Water, which gets about half its water from the South Platte River Basin east of the Continental Divide and the other half from the Colorado River Basin on the Western Slope, has to consider more than simply snowpack when it determines the year’s water supply, Piper told the crowd of about 50 at the Washington Street Community Center in Denver.

    “By the end of May,” Piper said, “we’ll be able to determine whether we’re going to have to stick with the plan and stay at Drought Stage 2, or whether things have gotten better enough we can do something different.”[…]

    How is it, though, that unanticipated snowfall measured in feet hasn’t turned things around? For one thing, Piper said, while the South Platte and Colorado basins’ accumulated snow depth might be above historic averages, the measures for Denver’s watersheds — the portions of the basins where Denver Water draws its supply — are still lagging. As of this week, it stands at about 78 percent for the South Platte and 87 percent for the Colorado.

    Cloud-seeding program for the central mountains for this season ended on April 10 #COdrought #ColoradoRiver

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    From the Summit County Citizens Voice (Bob Berwyn):

    While the winter’s biggest snow totals came after the end of this year’s program, the seeding operations may have helped bring near-average snowfall to area in February and March, according to the operators, who are now measuring their efforts under a “target and control” evaluation that will be submitted to the Colorado Water Conservation Board for review.

    Durango-based Western Weather Consultants, which seeds the central mountains, was able to extend operations into early April and use all its allotted operational days, said Larry Hjermstad. During the 2012-2013 season, the central mountains program cost $293,600 and targeted an area of about 1,668 square miles of the Upper Colorado River Basin, generally above elevation 8,500 feet, in parts of Pitkin, Eagle, Summit, and Grand counties. Front Range water providers and ski areas, along with other partners, help fund the program, aimed at enhancing water supplies and boosting ski conditions at A-Basin, Breckenridge, Keystone and Winter Park, all included in the target area…

    In past seasons, Hjermstad estimated that cloud-seeding may have boosted snowfall by as much as 15 percent in targeted areas.

    Cloud-seeding efforts in Colorado have a long, on-and-off history dating back to the 1970s, when the federal Bureau of Reclamation was active in the southwestern mountains, said state climatologist Nolan Doesken, who acknowledged that there is still a debate about the effectiveness of cloud-seeding. Doesken said that there is good evidence that cloud-seeding can work in the right conditions, with very specific requirements as to wind direction, moisture and temperatures. Outside that range, the results are less clear.

    Funding comes from the Front Range Water Council including Aurora Water, Denver Water, Colorado Springs Utilities, Northern Colorado Water Conservancy District, Twin Lakes Reservoir & Canal Company, Southeastern Colorado Water Conservancy District, and Pueblo Board of Water Works. The Colorado River Water Conservation District, A-Basin, Keystone, Breckenridge, and Winter Park also participate.

    The Colorado Water Conservation Board and the Lower Basin States, including the Southern Nevada Water Authority, Central Arizona Water Conservation District, and California Six Agency Committee also help fund the cloud-seeding, but don’t directly participate in the program, said program manager Maria Pastore, of Glenwood Springs-based Grand River Consulting.

    More cloud-seeding coverage here and here.

    Englewood rolls out draft water conservation plan #COdrought

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    From the Englewood Herald (Tom Munds):

    The plan will be available for review May 1 on the city’s website at http://www.englewoodgov.org. Starting May 1, comments on the plan can be made through the website, which will be listed under the “In the Spotlight” portion of the home page. Residents also can make comments in person by attending one or both of the meetings of the Englewood Water and Sewer Board that will be held at 5 p.m. May 14 or at 5 p.m. June 11 in the community development conference room. The conference room is on the third floor of the Englewood Civic Center, 1000 Englewood Parkway. The deadline for public comment is July 1.

    The main objective of a water conservation plan is to improve water-use efficiency, which, in turn, reduces overall water demands…

    The city’s draft plan was created by staff members and conservation consultants hired using a state grant. Those working on the draft also considered input from members of Englewood’s Water and Sewer Board…

    “The draft, if approved by the state, will be a 10-year plan,” Abouaish said. “The plan will be reviewed once a year to see if the measures are moving toward the ultimate goal, which is a 10 percent reduction in water use over the 10-year period.”

    More conservation coverage here.

    San Luis Valley: State Engineer Approval of the 2013 Annual Replacement Plan for Subdistrict No. 1

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    From email from the State Engineer’s office (Kathryn H. Radke):

    On April 30, 2013, State Engineer Dick Wolfe approved the Annual Replacement Plan for Subdistrict No.1.

    This approval will be filed with the Division No. 3 Water Court later today.

    All documents are located on DWR’s website at the following location:
    http://water.state.co.us/DivisionsOffices/Div3RioGrandeRiverBasin/Pages/Subdistrict1ARP.aspx

    Note: these documents can also be downloaded from the DWR’s FTP site:
    ftp://dwrftp.state.co.us/dwr/Annual%20Replacement%20Plans/2013/Subdistrict%201

    From The Pueblo Chieftain (Matt Hildner):

    State Engineer Dick Wolfe approved a water replacement plan Tuesday aimed at mitigating harm from groundwater pumping in the north-central San Luis Valley.

    Wolfe’s approval made few changes to the proposal from Subdistrict No. 1, which is required to lay out what sources of water it will use to replace water lost by the pumping of nearly 3,400 wells in the subdistrict’s boundaries.

    He did bar the use of 86.5 acre-feet of water from Ruby Reservoir southwest of Creede until a substitute water supply plan is submitted to and approved by his office.

    But that still leaves the subdistrict with a pool of more than 7,500 acre feet of water it can release into the Rio Grande to mitigate the injury to surface water rights holders.

    A state computer model estimated that pumping would cause 5,389 acre-feet in depletions that the subdistrict must replace.

    More San Luis Valley groundwater coverage here and here.

    SDS: Pueblo County is looking at advance payments from Colorado Springs for Fountain Creek projects

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    From The Pueblo Chieftain (Chris Woodka):

    Pueblo County commissioners want to explore the possibility of jumpstarting projects on Fountain Creek with advance payment of money promised by Colorado Springs Utilities as a condition for Southern Delivery System.

    “We need clarity on the acceptability of using the $50 million, using it in advance,” Commissioner Terry Hart said.

    Under its 1041 permit for the Southern Delivery System, a $1 billion pipeline that takes water from Pueblo Dam to El Paso County, Colorado Springs promised to pay $50 million for flood control projects south of the city that benefit Pueblo County.

    The money is scheduled to begin arriving in five installments to the Fountain Creek Watershed Flood Control and Greenway District in 2016, after SDS goes online.

    But $600,000 already has been paid to the district — $300,000 for a flood control study and $300,000 that was used to complete a master corridor study and as its share to provide interim funding to the district.

    Last week, Hart, who sits on the Fountain Creek board, was approached with the idea of asking for another $100,000 from the Colorado Springs fund to continue interim funding until the district settles on a strategy for securing a funding source. Commissioner Sal Pace asked attorneys if the county could ask for the entire $50 million to be paid sooner.

    “If we bring it in sooner, it could be used to leverage other money,” Pace said.

    Commissioner Liane “Buffie” McFadyen said flooding on Fountain Creek is likely to be more intense after the Waldo Canyon Fire and supported using the money sooner, rather than later.

    Ray Petros, the county’s water attorney, was uncertain if advance payment is possible. Colorado Springs asked for the five-year schedule for mainly financial reasons, and the payment is just one of a series of conditions that must be met over time. “We’d have to be careful from our side that we weren’t acknowledging that SDS wouldn’t be suspended for some other reason,” Petros said.

    From The Pueblo Chieftain (Chris Woodka):

    County staff and Colorado Springs Utilities are discussing the adequacy of revegetation requirements on the pipeline route of Southern Delivery System through Pueblo West.

    The pipeline is buried, but cuts a 100-foot-wide swath through 7 miles of Pueblo West on its way from Pueblo Dam to Colorado Springs.

    As part of Pueblo County 1041 conditions for SDS, Colorado Springs is bonded for two years while revegetation is completed. Although droughtresistant species are being used, seeds must be irrigated to sprout. That raised some questions Monday in a work session on SDS issues.

    “We’re in the throes of a drought, and my question is whether this is a good time to do revegetation,” Commissioner Terry Hart said. “If we’re going to be irrigating it for two years and suddenly pull off the water, what happens?”

    Attorney Gary Raso said experts from Colorado Springs Utilities and the county’s consultant, Warren Keammerer, are meeting on the issue, but the results likely won’t be known at the end of two years. The county is concerned that too many “weedy” species will take hold, rather than beneficial grasses.

    “It became clear to me that at the end of two years, the best you could conclude is that it was going in the right direction,” Raso said. “The experts don’t like being tied to (the two-year limit).”

    Hart questioned what recourse the county would have if problems surfaced five years after revegetation was deemed complete. The county has in the past altered the 1041 conditions with Colorado Springs on $2.2 million for dredging Fountain Creek through Pueblo and accepting a $15 million payment for restoration of Pueblo West roads damaged during construction.

    There also are unresolved revegetation issues with the portion of the pipeline that crosses Walker Ranches north of Pueblo West.

    Commissioners agreed that they need to further discuss issues with Keammerer.

    More Southern Delivery System coverage here and here.