Day: April 26, 2024

The Upper Gunnison Water Conservancy District gives $260K to water projects — The Gunnison Country Times

Map of the Gunnison River drainage basin in Colorado, USA. Made using public domain USGS data. By Shannon1 – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=69257550

Click the link to read the article on The Gunnison Country Times website. Here’s an excerpt:

April 24, 2024

The Upper Gunnison River Water Conservancy District awarded $260,000 to organizations and individuals across the basin during its 2024 grant cycle. This year marked the water district’s 15th annual grant program, which uses tax revenue to support diverse water projects in the basin. Grant funds will be used for projects that improve irrigation water management and efficiency, restore degraded stream channels and aquatic habitat, support engineering and design and carry out basin water education. The district received requests for more than $315,000. All applicants were required to provide a 50% cost match…

The 16 projects funded this year include maintenance on the boardwalk bog bridge along the Rec Path in Crested Butte, as well as the installation of educational signage about the wetlands in the area. The district gave $25,000 to support the ongoing harmful algal bloom study at Blue Mesa Reservoir with the U.S. Geological Survey. Two Western Colorado University students will work with the National Park Service to explore the effects of toxic algal blooms on the foraging patterns of kokanee salmon. An Arch Ditch automation project will allow the diversion to fully operate remotely. This is the first one of its kind in the Gunnison Basin. The upgrade will reduce the labor needed to manage the diversion and conserve water. In Gunnison, $50,000 will help address irrigation issues at the Dos Rios Golf Club and reduce water use. The existing system is 40 years old, and uses roughly 65 million gallons of water per year. With the new system, the managers expect to cut water use almost in half.

2024 #COleg: #Colorado voters may be asked to send more sports betting money to water projects — Fresh Water News

Central City back in the day

Click the link to read the article on the Water Education Colorado website (Jerd Smith):

April 25, 2024

Colorado voters may be asked to let more money flow to water projects by allowing the state to keep all of the sports betting tax revenue it collects, if a measure referring the issue to the November ballot is approved by lawmakers.

House Bill 24-1436 has bipartisan support, with House Speaker Julie McCluskie, D-Dillon, and Rep. Marc Catlin, R-Montrose, serving as the measure’s main sponsors in the House, and Sen. Dylan Roberts, D-Frisco, and Sen. Cleave Simpson, R-Alamosa, leading sponsorship in the Senate.

The sports betting program was initially approved by voters in 2019, passing with just over 51% of the vote. The measure collects a 10% tax on the proceeds of licensed sports betting. Some of the money is used to cover the cost of regulating betting and the rest, up to $29 million total, is funneled toward water projects. In the event tax collections exceed $29 million, the legislature decides how to refund the money under the Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights.

That’s where House Bill 1436 comes in.

If House Bill 1436 passes but voters reject the ballot measure, the bill directs the state to refund any sports betting tax revenue collected in excess of $29 million to sports betting operators. The provision is aimed at persuading voters to cast a “yes” vote on the question.

While the original sports betting ballot measure received tepid support, the tax question, if it makes the ballot, may win broader support due to ongoing voter concerns about water conservation and protection and the high-profile crisis on the drought-stressed Colorado River, veteran pollster and political analyst Floyd Ciruli said.

“I have not seen any polls that negate what we knew strongly back then, that water conservation and water protection are environmental issues that Coloradans care strongly about,” he said.

Since 2021, nearly $43.1 million in sports betting tax revenue has been transferred to water projects, according to the Colorado Department of Revenue, with annual cash for water projects nearly tripling during that time, rising from $7.9 million at the end of the 2021 fiscal year, to $23.7 million in 2023.

Brian Jackson, director of Western water for the Environmental Defense Fund, helped spearhead the 2019 campaign backing the initial ballot measure. He and a similar coalition of environmental groups are forming to campaign for this latest ballot measure as well, if lawmakers ultimately refer it to the ballot.

“Frankly, we never thought we would hit that cap,” Jackson said. “But revenues and profits have snowballed.”

State forecasts indicate the cap is likely to be exceeded in the next year or two, Jackson said, reaching $31 million this fiscal year, which ends June 30, and $35 million in the next.

Jackson said early polling indicates strong support for a new ballot initiative among Democratic and Republican voters statewide, but he said those who back removing the cap plan to campaign heavily even with the early support, in part because this November’s ballot is expected to be crowded with a number of questions on topics like property taxes and abortion access.

“We are going to run a campaign because this is a great opportunity to invest in our state and to widen the message about conserving and protecting Colorado’s water,” Jackson said.

Voters approved Proposition II, a similar tax-surplus measure related to tobacco taxes for preschool funding, in 2023.

Little formal opposition appears to have formed as of now, although at least one tribal community, the Ute Mountain Ute in Towaoc, has been engaged in a three-year battle with the state over the sports betting program. Among the issues is whether, as a sovereign nation, the tribe should be required to pay the 10% tax on profits, according to Peter Ortego, general counsel for the Ute Mountain Ute.

“We believe federal law makes it clear that we do not have to pay that tax,” Ortego said.  “But we are very far apart from the state on that issue.” The Ute Mountain Ute have not taken a position on House Bill 1436.

The Colorado Department of Revenue did not respond to a request for comment about the dispute with the tribes over sports betting.

The gaming industry spent millions in 2019 in support of the original sports betting ballot measure. Whether it will support or oppose House Bill 1436 isn’t clear. The Colorado Gaming Association did not respond to a request for comment.

The measure has passed the House and is now in the Senate. The 2024 legislative session ends May 8.

More by Jerd SmithJerd Smith is editor of Fresh Water News. She can be reached at 720-398-6474, via email at jerd@wateredco.org or @jerd_smith.

Five Tips for an Earth-Friendly Yard — #Colorado State University

Downy serviceberry in Mrs. Gulch’s landscape April 25, 2024.

Jessica Thrasher from the Colorado Water Center shares five tips on creating your own earth-friendly, sustainable yard to conserve water and support pollinators and surrounding wildlife. Watch all videos in our How To Be A Better Earthling series:    • How to Be a Better Earthling  

Money keeps pouring in for Shoshone rights — The #GrandJunction Daily Sentinel #ColoradoRiver #COriver #aridification

The wave at Glenwood Whitewater Park has become a destination for kayaking and paddling enthusiasts. It’s also a nice spot for families looking to spend time on a sunny afternoon. Streamflow on the Colorado River near the park on April 12, 2023 was at 2,040 cubic feet per second. CREDIT: LAURINE LASSALLE/ASPEN JOURNALISM

Click the link to read the article on The Grand Junction Daily Sentinel website (Dennis Webb). Here’s an excerpt:

April 24, 2024

Local funding

Following is a list of local entities that have committed funds so far to an effort to purchase the historic Shoshone power plant water rights:

* Eagle County, $2 million

* Ute Water Conservancy District, $2 million

* Mesa County, $1 million

* Grand County, $1 million

* City of Grand Junction, $1 million

* Clifton Water District, $250,000

* Grand Valley Irrigation Co., $250,000

* Grand Valley Water Users Association, $100,000

* City of Rifle, $100,000

* Orchard Mesa Irrigation District, $100,000

* Basalt Water Conservancy District, $100,000

* Palisade Irrigation District, $50,000

* Mesa County Irrigation District, $50,000

* West Divide Water Conservancy District, $50,000

Total: $8.05 million

Secretarial #drought designations for 2024 include 569 primary counties and 345 contiguous counties through April 24, 2024 — @DroughtDenise

For more info, please see the Emergency Disaster Designation and Declaration Process Fact Sheet at https://fsa.usda.gov/Assets/USDA-FSA-Public/usdafiles/FactSheets/emergency_disaster_designation_declaration_process-factsheet.pdf

Biden-Harris Administration Announces New Interagency Effort to Support Tribal Water and Sanitation Infrastructure

Photo credit: U.S. Department of Interior

Click the link to read the release on the U.S. Department of Interior website:

April 23, 2024

WASHINGTON — The Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Reclamation and Indian Health Service (IHS) today announced a new Memorandum of Understanding to further develop safe drinking water and community sanitation infrastructure projects across Indian Country. Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Water and Science Michael Brain made the announcement at the White House’s first-ever Clean Water Summit, alongside Indian Health Service Deputy Director Benjamin Smith and Yakama Nation Chairman Gerald Lewis. Reclamation Commissioner Camille Calimlim Touton also spoke on a panel at the event to uplift Reclamation’s investments in climate and drought resilience across the West.

Through the Memorandum of Understanding, the agencies will collaborate to complete studies, planning and design to be used in constructing domestic water infrastructure projects. The collaboration is aimed at accelerating completion of such facilities in Tribal communities. The MOU follows President Biden’s Executive Order 14112, which directs federal agencies to work together to remove barriers and streamline Tribal access to resources. 

“At the Interior Department, we know that having modern water infrastructure is not only crucial to the health of our kids and families – it’s also important for economic opportunity, job creation and responding to the intensifying effects of climate change,” said Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Water and Science Michael Brain. “Through this new agreement, and historic resources from President Biden’s Investing in America agenda, we are taking a significant stride towards ensuring essential water and sanitation infrastructure throughout Indian Country.  

“This Administration’s all-of-government approach allows us to leverage funds from historic investments through President Biden’s Investing in America Agenda to go even further for Tribal communities,” said Commissioner Camille Calimlim Touton. “Reclamation is pleased to work with the Indian Health Service in exploring opportunities for projects with the Yakama Nation and other Tribes to initiate implementation of this MOU.” 

A potential pilot project under this agreement has been identified on the Yakama Reservation in Washington State. After an IHS engineering investigation confirmed high levels of arsenic in the water system of the small community of Georgeville, the Yakama Nation and IHS agreed to construct a treatment system to remove arsenic from the water supply using Bipartisan Infrastructure Law funding. The MOU allows the Bureau of Reclamation to provide technical support for this and future projects.  

“Having access to safe and reliable water systems is an essential matter of public health,” said Indian Health Service Director Roselyn Tso. “Unfortunately, far too many Native American communities are still awaiting these basic services. The Indian Health Service appreciates the Biden Administration’s historic multi-billion-dollar investment in water and sanitation infrastructure in Indian Country. This agreement with the Bureau of Reclamation will accelerate completion of these critical projects and reduce barriers for our tribal nations to partner with our agencies.”  

In 2022, Reclamation joined the Federal Infrastructure Task Force to Improve Access to Safe Drinking Water and Basic Sanitation to Tribal Communities. With new resources provided through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and Inflation Reduction Act, the Bureau has committed significant funding towards Tribal water infrastructure projects. Earlier this month, the Bureau made $320 million available for Tribal domestic water supply projects, as part of an overall $550 million allocated through the Inflation Reduction Act and as part of President Biden’s Justice40 Initiative for domestic water assistance for disadvantaged communities. The Indian Health Service is currently in its third year of funding water and sanitation projects through a $3.5 billion investment from the Biden-Harris administration, and today announced allocation decisions of $700 million in Fiscal Year 2024.  

President Biden’s Investing in America agenda represents the largest investment in climate resilience in the nation’s history and is providing much-needed resources to enhance Western communities’ resilience to drought and climate change, including providing significant resources towards expanding access to clean water in Tribal communities. The Bureau of Indian Affairs has also dedicated $250 million from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law towards repairing Tribal water infrastructure – including dams, irrigation, and water sanitation systems.  

Native land loss 1776 to 1930. Credit: Alvin Chang/Ranjani Chakraborty

Mesa County contributes $1 million to the Shoshone Water Rights

Shoshone Falls hydroelectric generation station via USGenWeb

Click the link to read the release on the Mesa County website:

April 23, 2024

On April 23, during the administrative public hearing of the Board of Mesa County Commissioners, they approved a million-dollar contribution toward the permanent protection of the most senior, non-consumptive water right on the Colorado River — the Shoshone water rights.

“Mesa County’s $1 million investment in the Shoshone water rights is not just a financial commitment, but a pledge to our community’s future,” said Bobbie Daniel, Chair of the Board of Mesa County Commissioners. “By safeguarding these rights, Mesa County ensures that the West Slope’s lifeblood — our beloved Colorado River — continues to sustain our families, farms, and natural habitats. We stand united with our fellow counties and stakeholders in protecting and preserving our most precious resource for future generations.”

For more information about the Shoshone Water Right Preservation Campaign & Coalition, visit KeepShoshoneFlowing.org.

Watch the video below to learn why the signing of the Shoshone Water Rights Agreement is vital to Mesa County.

A Future for Birds and People in the #ColoradoRiver Basin: Audubon and partner NGOs propose an alternative for post-2026 operations — Audubon #COriver #aridification

Adult Yellow-billed Cuckoo. Photo: Andy Reago and Chrissy McClarren/Flickr (CC-BY-2.0)

Click the link to read the release on the Audubon website (Jennifer Pitt):

March 29, 2024

Audubon has joined partner conservation organizations to propose “Cooperative Conservation” as an alternative for the federal Bureau of Reclamation (Reclamation) to study as they consider how to manage the Colorado River after 2026, when current management rules expire. Reclamation has initiated a process expected to assess multiple alternatives before they establish new operational rules.

In recent weeks the Upper Basin (Colorado, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming) and Lower Basin (Arizona, California and Nevada) have each submitted proposals of their own. They appear to be in broad agreement that Colorado River water uses need to be reduced, not only because the Colorado River’s water is over-allocated, but also because climate change is shrinking the river. But alignment between the Upper Basin and Lower Basin ends there, with significant dispute over whose water uses should be reduced.

Cooperative Conservation has a different focus. It prioritizes stabilizing the Colorado River water supply, provides opportunities to make management more equitable, and creates mechanisms to improve environmental outcomes [ed. emphasis mine]:

  • Water supply reliability would be improved by consideration of recent trends as well as assessing the health of the entire system, departing from the current operations that have not kept up with changing conditions such that in 2022 federal managers were worried about the continued ability release water through the dams.
  • Ecosystem health would be addressed with stewardship and mitigation provisions. Today’s operations are based on a policy framework that has not prioritized Colorado River habitats, leaving many used by birds such as Yuma Ridgeway’s Rails and Yellow-billed cuckoos degraded and vulnerable.
  • Colorado River Delta habitats and flows have been restored in recent United – States Mexico agreements, and the opportunity for future binational agreements to extend and expand commitments to these resources would be preserved. Most of Colorado’s Delta was desiccated as the river was developed through the 20th century, and these agreements have developed a path towards restoring some of what was lost.
  • A Conservation Reserve program to incentivize water conservation, that improves on the current system of “Intentionally Created Surplus” by adding to the stability of water supplies, offering an opportunity for state and federal governments to forge an agreement with Colorado River Basin Tribes looking to realize greater benefits from their water rights, and create ecological benefits through flexible management that puts water where it is needed in the Colorado River.

These innovations could help the diversity of birds and wildlife and more than 35 million people who depend on the Colorado River. But Reclamation will not be able to move forward with them if the states cannot answer important questions about who should reduce water uses to bring demands into balance with supplies. Without consensus, Colorado River management could be headed to the courts, and opportunities for improved management will be lost. We remain optimistic that over the coming months the states will negotiate a solution, and urge them to recognize that reaching agreement on how to share water shortages is essential.

In the meantime, Audubon will be promoting Cooperative Conservation and all that it offers. Reclamation is expected to publish their analysis of Colorado River management alternatives by the end of 2024.

DOWNLOADABLE RESOURCES

Cooperative Conservation Alternative 20240329.pdf

Map credit: AGU

New Agreement to Improve River Flows in Grand County — @Northern_Water

Willow Creek, at the headwaters of the Colorado River, on April 2, 2021. Photo/Allen Best

Here’s the release from the Northern Colorado Water Conservancy District (Christine Travis and Jeff Stahla):

April 23, 2024

Grand County and Northern Colorado Water Conservancy District (Northern Water) have agreed to a unique and first-of-its-kind Operational Framework that provides Grand County with the ability to have as much as 7,000 acre-feet of additional controllable water to release from the Colorado-Big Thompson (C-BT) Project for stream enhancement and other purposes that will benefit Grand County’s recreation and agriculture industries. The volume available for streamflow improvement will be dependent on annual river conditions and C-BT Project storage levels.

Approved Tuesday [April 23, 2024] by the Grand County Commissioners, the agreement outlines a methodology to determine the water that will be available to the County each year. Water made available under this agreement to the County will be released to Willow Creek, or to the Colorado River, will supplement existing flows, and could accumulate to nearly 40,000 acre-feet over the course of a decade. Prior to 2005, this water was used for irrigation of hay fields near the Town of Granby. Since that time, the underlying lands have been removed from agricultural production and converted to residential and commercial development. Without this agreement, the water will continue to be captured by the C-BT Project and available to Northern Water for uses in Northeastern Colorado.

“The Operational Framework Agreement will provide the County with an additional water management tool to improve and enhance flows on the Colorado River,” said Grand County Commissioner Chair Merrit Linke. “The Colorado River is the life blood to sustaining our agriculture and recreation industries that are critically important to our local economy as well as all of the West Slope.”

Grand County and Northern Water will, in coming months, consult and coordinate with the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation regarding the implementation of the agreement.

Some of the winter wheat is feeling the effects of the dry weather over the past few months — @DroughtDenise #drought

The amount of #winterwheat in good to excellent condition has fallen, while the wheat in poor to very poor condition has risen. https://agindrought.unl.edu/Home.aspx

#ElNiño  is winding down. Here’s what the winter season looked like for #Colorado’s mountains — and what comes next: The seasonal pattern is transitioning to #LaNiña into the summer, bringing with it a change in the jet stream — The Summit Daily #ENSO

Click the link to read the article on the Summit Daily website (Robert Tann). Here’s an excerpt:

April 23, 2024

This past winter marked the first in three years to experience an El Niño season. But what impact the pattern had on the Rocky Mountains is harder to tell compared to other parts of the state. In Breckenridge, for example, the majority of winter and early spring netted above-average precipitation, something that would be associated with a La Nina year, said Kenley Bonner, meteorologist for the National Weather Service office in Boulder. November was the only month to see below-normal precipitation, while the rest of the months through March were above normal, Bonner said. Temperature wise, this past winter was warmer than average, according to data collected in Dillon. The same can be said for much of the Western Slope. In Grand Junction, monthly average temperatures have hovered around 4 degrees above normal since November, said Lucas Boyer, meteorologist for the National Weather Service office in Grand Junction…

Snowpack in the Blue River Basin, which encompasses all of Summit County, had a slow start to the season, with levels below the 30-year median for much of November through the first half of January. Snowpack climbed afterwards, trending along the 30-year median line for much of February before rising above normal for all of March and the first two weeks of April. 

The same was true for the entirety of the Colorado River Headwaters Basin, which includes some central and northern mountain areas as well as parts of the Western Slope…

NOAA Climate Prediction Center forecast for each of the three possible ENSO categories for the next 8 overlapping 3-month seasons. Blue bars show the chances of La Niña, gray bars the chances for neutral, and red bars the chances for El Niño. Graph by Michelle L’Heureux.

According to an April 11 report from the Climate Prediction Center, a transition from El Nino to a neutral system, where ocean temperatures are seasonally normal, is 85% likely to happen between April and June. There is currently a 60% chance that a La Nina system will then develop between June and August. Early reports show the transition could make for a hotter, dryer than normal summer across the U.S…

A three-month outlook released by the prediction center on April 11 shows Colorado has between a 33% and 50% chance of experiencing above-normal temperatures for May, June and July in various areas. The southwestern portion of the state also has between a 33% and 40% chance of seeing below-normal precipitation during that period, while the northeastern portion has equal chances of seeing above- or below-normal precipitation.

Missed the public hearing for Thornton’s 1041 water pipeline application (April 22, 2024)? Here’s a recap — The #FortCollins Coloradoan #PoudreRiver

Graphic credit: ThorntonWaterProject.com

Click the link to read the article on the Fort Collins Coloradoan website (Ignacio Calderon). Here’s an excerpt:

April 22, 2024

Monday’s hearing started with a presentation from county staff, during which the Larimer County Planning Commission recommended approval of the project if proposed conditions were met. Thornton then gave another presentation to talk about how the city’s new application is different from the previous one. After that, the session was open to public comment, which will continue at the next hearing…

Planning Commission recommends approval

“With the proposed conditions of approval in place, this application meets the review criteria for a water transmission pipeline,” [John] Barnett said. “… Therefore, the development service team recommends approval of the Thornton water project.”

[…]

The public hearing session will resume at 6 p.m. May 6 via Zoom and in person in the First-Floor Hearing Room of the Larimer County Administrative Services Building, 200 W. Oak St. in Fort Collins. For more details on how to sign up for public comment and the 1041 regulations, visit www.larimer.gov/planning/1041-regulations. You can also track the progress on the permit and access related documents on this county portal.