Protect the White River Basin - The Time is Now

The White River basin is a national treasure. Take action to help ensure that energy development is balanced with our hunting and angling traditions! The BLM’s White River Field Office (WRFO) recently released its Draft Resource Management Plan Amendment (RMPA) for Oil and Gas leasing in the White River basin.  The WRFO covers over 2.6 million acres of Northwest Colorado and holds some of the best fish and game habitat in the nation. The basin is also home to some of the most extensive energy development in the nation, and conflicts exist over how to balance these resources.

Trout Unlimited is extremely concerned with the Draft RMPA. It fails to adequately balance energy development with other public land uses and fails to ensure that healthy fish and wildlife populations will be sustained over the life of the plan. We are deeply concerned about inadequate protections for water quality and streams, and the quantity of water required to develop at the levels the BLM has outlined.

The Preferred Alternative calls for drilling over 15,000 new wells over the next twenty years which would require over 1,300 miles of new roads, over 1.2 million truck trips, and 67.5 billion gallons of water all while reducing big game herds by 30% and doubling the population of Rio Blanco county. Moreover, the Preferred Alternative does not require that drilling operations be setback from streams and other surface water or require buffers between drilling operations and sensitive soils or steep areas. These deficiencies increase the likelihood of waters being contaminated by toxic substances or overwhelmed with sediment.

Possibly the most troubling of all is a lack of protection for Colorado River cutthroat trout (CRCT). The WRFO’s CRCT populations are vulnerable and isolated - they only exist in about 39 stream miles. The East Douglas Area of Critical Environmental Concern (ACEC) is designated for the protection of CRCT. However, after multiple requests by TU staff to apply protective stipulations in the area, the BLM continues to fall short in providing adequate protections for this area and others in the Draft RMPA. We believe that where an ACEC has been designated to protect a species, the management scheme in that area should reflect that protective intent.

You have probably heard about TU’s efforts to support responsible energy development. We are proud to seek collaborative solutions and to reach out to energy companies to find solutions to the toughest energy question of our times – how to balance energy production with conservation of other natural resources? However, when the BLM presents a development scenario like that found in the Draft RMPA, we have no choice but to call it what it is – an unsustainable plan that too severely degrades the environment and seats energy development as the first and most important use of our public lands.

We ask that our members help us spread the word and submit comments asking the BLM to change course and adopt a plan that sustains all natural resources in the WRFO, one that ensures healthy public lands and fish and wildlife populations even after energy development has moved on.

Key points to include in your comments:

• A 500ft or greater setback should be required for all surface waters. • A ¼ mile setback should be required for all cutthroat trout waters. • A No Surface Occupancy (NSO) stipulation should be applied to the East Douglas ACEC to protect fragile cutthroat populations. • Adopt the conservation alternative (Alt. B) and refrain from granting waivers and/or exceptions to protective stipulations. • Require mitigation measures for fish and wildlife and their habitat that is harmed during energy development operation. • Refrain from developing areas that are unroaded and/or have wilderness characteristics. • Assess the cumulative impacts of energy development within neighboring field offices when determining appropriate development levels. • Require a “closed loop” system for water use during energy development. This means that all waters must be recycled and reused. • Please visit www.tu.org/whiteriver to see our vision of how the WRFO should be developed.

Comments can be sent to: Colorado_WROGEIS@blm.gov

Or

Heather Sauls Planning and Environmental Coordinator White River BLM Field Office 220 East Market Street Meeker, CO   81641

Please contact Aaron Kindle at akindle@tu.org or 303 868 2859 for more information.

Support the Sportsmen's Act

Ask your member of Congress:  please step up and vote for sportspeople! The Sportsmen's Act of 2012 will make a difference for habitat and for hunting and angling.

The Sportsmen's Act of 2012 is made up of many previously-proposed bills that would improve access and opportunity for hunting and angling, promote habitat conservation, and reauthorize key programs like Partners for Fish and Wildlife and the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation.

You can help!  Visit our online action center now to learn more and contact your Representative along with Senators Bennet and Udall, urging them to support The Sportsmen's Act!  Your email can make a difference.

Help Defend the Upper Colorado

Soon, up to 80% of the Upper Colorado could be diverted to the Front Range. Take action today!

Problem

The Upper Colorado River is one of the west’s most iconic - and most at-risk - rivers. Today, over 60% of the Colorado River's native flows are permanently removed at its headwaters and diverted to cities and suburbs across the Front Range, leaving behind a trickle for fish and wildlife, recreation, agriculture, and the local communities that depend on the Colorado River and its tributaries.

And now, despite severe impacts to fish and recreation and public outcry, water providers want to take more through the Windy Gap Firming Project and Moffat Tunnel expansion, putting the Upper Colorado River and key tributaries like the Fraser River at risk for a system-wide collapse.

Solution

The Upper Colorado River and its major tributaries like the Fraser River can be saved for future generations if and only if water providers commit to doing the right thing - developing water projects in a way that keeps the river flowing and cool. The following must be included in each project:

• Intensive monitoring of fish populations, water temperature, water quality, and flows on creeks and tributaries that supply water to both projects to determine if and when rivers and streams decline.
• A commitment to change when and how much water is diverted if the river shows signs of collapse. Warm water temperatures, water quality problems, and fish population or macroinvertebrate declines are all conditions that warrant changes in the amount and timing of water diversions.
• Funding set aside to restore and repair the river. In cases where the river becomes too shallow to support fish and/or meet the state's water quality standards, funds should be invested in an Endowment to cover the costs of necessary restoration. This could include deepening the channel or adding willows and other plants to create shade and keep water temperatures within an acceptable range for fish.

Take Action

If you care about the Colorado River, please consider taking the following actions to keep the river and its fish and wildlife alive:

• Join our network. Thousands of Coloradans - kayakers, anglers, rafters, skiers, bikers and hunters - have already signed on to express their support for the Colorado River. In addition, businesses that depend on healthy rivers are standing up to make their voices heard on this issue. Join this network of concerned individuals and responsible businesses by signing the petition.
• Call your elected officials. Elected officials at all levels, from city council and county commissioners, to Senators and Representatives, are faced with decisions about managing our state's water future. To ensure they make the decisions that keep rivers and recreation alive, please call or email to let them know this issue is important to you. For a list of your local officials, click here and enter your zip code. To contact your members of congress call the capitol switchboard (202) 224-3121.
• Learn more. Click the links to learn more about the Moffat Expansion and Windy Gap Firming Project.
• Stay up to date. For the latest campaign updates and calls to action, join the Defend the Colorado Facebook Page.

About the Moffat + Windy Gap Firming Project

The following is intended to provide a brief overview of both water projects that threaten the healthy of the Upper Colorado River and its tributaries like the Fraser River:

• Windy Gap Firming Project. Water provider Northern Colorado Water Conservancy District has proposed to increase the amount of water they currently pump from Windy Gap Reservoir to the Front Range from 50% to 80% of the river's native flows and storing it across the continental divide in a new reservoir (Chimney Hallow). The river below Windy Gap is already in serious decline with documented losses in trout, stoneflies, sculpin, and water quality. Colorado TU is calling for a comprehensive mitigation package including protections for water temperature and flushing flows, a “bypass” to help reconnect the Colorado River where Windy Gap’s dam has severed it, and funding for river restoration.
• Moffat Expansion Project. Water provider Denver Water has proposed to significantly increase its diversions from the Fraser and Williams Fork Rivers to provide additional supply its Denver-metro customer base. While Denver’s recent west slope agreement promises some help in addressing existing river problems, it does not address the impacts of the new project on fish and river health. TU is advocating for a responsible mitigation package including protections for flushing flows and stream temperature, as well as funding for river restoration as an “insurance policy” to ensure healthy flows and fish continue to exists within the Colorado, the Fraser, and key tributaries like Ranch Creek.

Questions? Contact Erica Stock, Colorado TU Outreach Director.

76,000 miles of Colorado rivers and streams at risk

Take action before July 31st to restore protections for Colorado's most important resource.

[button_small link="http://www.regulations.gov/#!submitComment;D=EPA-HQ-OW-2011-0409-0001"]Click Here to Write a Letter[/button_small]

Problem

Today, more than 76,000 miles (or 76%) of Colorado's rivers and streams are currently under threat - lacking adequate protection previously provided under the Clean Water Act. Fortunately, in April 2011, the Obama administration took an important step toward restoring Clean Water Act protections to critical wetlands and waters with new administrative guidance on the definition of “waters of the United States.” The proposed guidance would clarify which waters and wetlands are covered under the Clean Water Act, adding certainty to the regulatory process and restoring protections to tributaries, headwaters and wetlands that have been in limbo for a decade.

To ensure Colorado's rivers receive the protection they deserve and remain healthy enough to support fish, families, and recreation opportunities, please take a moment to write a letter to the EPA in support of the revised guidelines.

About the Clean Water Act

Passed into law in 1972, the Clean Water Act was intended to keep our nation's water supply clean by preventing the unregulated discharge of harmful toxins and pollutants like Arsenic, Chloroform , Lead, Mercury and Cyanide into our nations lakes, rivers and streams - the very places that provide drinking water to our families, sustain our nation's farmers and food supply, and support bountiful recreation opportunities like hunting, fishing and boating.

Two recent Supreme Court cases (Solid Waste Agency of Northern Cook County vs. United States Army Corps of Engineers and Rapanos vs. United States) changed all that - by deciding that the Clean Water Act was only applicable to 'navigable' streams, rivers, and lakes.  Nationwide, these Supreme Court decisions removed protections for over 20 million acres of wetlands and 2 million stream miles.

Take Action

The EPA is collecting comments on the revised Clean Water Act guidance until July 31st, 2011. As sportmen and women who care about keeping our state and our nation's rivers streams clean, the EPA needs to hear from you.

>>Click here to submit your comments<< to the EPA before their July 31st deadline!

>>Click here to read the fact sheet<< on the Clean Water Act Guidance here!