Reservoir project reaching final stages

  MINERAL COUNTY — The San Luis Valley Irrigation District (SLVID) is anticipating moving its Rio Grande Reservoir expansion project into the final design stage by “late fall or early 2010,” according to SLVID Supervisor Travis Smith. The district is currently consulting with the Colorado Division of Water Resources, the District 20 Water Commissioners, the Rio Grande Water Users Association, the Nature Conservancy and Trout Unlimited on the expansion project.

http://www.mineralcountyminer.com/V2_news_articles.php?heading=0&page=72&story_id=779

Colorado & Western Water Project Staff Notes

May 2009 We are working with several other conservation groups on an analysis of the gap between water supply and demand on Colorado’s Front Range. We hope to offer an alternative to a future, additional diversion of water from Colorado’s Western Slope.

The Colorado Water Project (CWP) continues to evaluate and or monitor the progress of several Environmental Impact Statements for various water development projects around the state such as the Windy Gap Firming, Denver Moffat Expansion, and Northern Integrated Supply Project.

The CWP staff continues to provide environmental perspective on several large cooperative endeavors including the Halligan Seaman Shared Vision Plan and the Colorado River Wild and Scenic Management Plan Alternative. The CWP staff has been working with state and local governments, water providers and other environmental groups to draft an Upper Colorado River Wild and Scenic Management Plan Alternative (MPA). Most recently, the east slope water users unilaterally developed a proposal for flow guides on the Colorado River between Kremmling and State Bridge, Colorado. CWP staff and west slope water users are in the process of evaluating the east slope water user’s proposal.

On May 7, U.S. Bureau of Reclamation operators made the first release in a new flow regime that is expected to help restore the Gunnison River canyon ecosystem and return it to a more natural state. Water releases from the Aspinall Unit will increase each day until reaching a peak flow of about 6,000 cfs in the Black Canyon on May 13, after which the releases will begin to drop until leveling off at approximately 1,900 cfs in the Black Canyon and Gunnison Gorge on May 21. Among other benefits, the higher flows will help flush out sediment deposits that have caused whirling disease and other problems for trout, clear out encroaching vegetation and woody debris, and help maintain the river channel.

Heavy spring snows delayed the start of the field season in Colorado. CWP staff had hoped to get out prior to the start of runoff to work with Colorado Division of Wildlife and Colorado Water Conservation Board staffs installing several pressure transducers in West Prong Slater Creek to monitor flows above and below diversion structures. This field work is now scheduled for mid-June. The results of this effort will be used to help establish the instream flow requirements of this Colorado River cutthroat trout stream. The results will also be used to evaluate the potential value of an instream flow donation and/or acquisition on this stream.

CWP staff plans to perform an analysis of barriers to Colorado River cutthroat trout in the Yampa basin. The analysis will provide a roadmap for future barrier removal work in the basin to reconnect cutthroat habitat.

Black Canyon awash in water-rights victory

By Mark JaffeThe Denver Post

MONTROSE — A roaring white arc of water cascading over the Crystal Dam and into Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park on Wednesday was a sign of victory.

The National Park Service has been fighting for water rights for parks across the West for nearly 40 years.

"Whether it is a geyser at Yellowstone or the water that shapes and stabilizes Colorado's Great Sand Dunes, water is vital for the parks," said Bart Miller, an attorney with Western Resource Advocates in Boulder.

The Park Service already has won water rights for 25 parks in nine Western states, the last two for Colorado's Black Canyon and Great Sand Dunes. Eight more agreements are being negotiated.

It took 36 years and Colorado's biggest water-rights battle — with two court cases, more than 300 letters of opposition and 45 different parties in the final negotiations — for the canyon to get its water.

Hydropower agencies, ranchers, a Front Range suburban water supplier, conservation groups and federal agencies all were at the table.

"In the end we struck a balance," said Trout Unlimited attorney Drew Peternell. "Nobody got everything, but everybody got something."

http://www.denverpost.com/news/ci_12373597

Black Canyon gets a scouring

By Mark JaffeThe Denver Post

MONTROSE — A whitewater torrent rushed over the Crystal Dam on Wednesday and coursed into Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park.

The release marked the end of a 36-year battle by the National Park Service to win an annual spring discharge from a series of dams upstream to cleanse and scour the river through the canyon.

"This has been one of the longest, most complex water-right battles in Colorado," said Drew Peternell, an attorney for the sportsmen's group Trout Unlimited.

http://www.denverpost.com/news/ci_12365194

Black Canyon river flows swell after 36-year fight

By Mark JaffeThe Denver Post

After one of the biggest water battles in Colorado history, extra water began flowing out of the Crystal Reservoir on Thursday to restore Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park.

Releases will increase over the next few days until the Gunnison River in the canyon rises to six times its current flow — aiming to simulate natural spring runoff and help restore the park's river ecosystem.

The National Park Service fought in state and federal courts for 36 years to obtain a water right for the park.

"This was bitterly fought and had more opposition than any other water right," said Drew Peternell, an attorney for Trout Unlimited.

http://www.denverpost.com/news/ci_12321529

In Black Canyon, a New Era of Water Management Begins

Fly Rod & Reel The rebirth of a Colorado river begins this month, as water officials start to put the landmark 2008 Black Canyon of the Gunnison settlement into effect.

On May 7, U.S. Bureau of Reclamation (BOR) operators made the first release in a new flow regime that is expected to help restore the Gunnison River canyon ecosystem and return it to a more natural state.

“After years of hard work by Trout Unlimited and other conservation groups, this is the payoff,” said Drew Peternell, director of Trout Unlimited’s Colorado Water Project. “With these renewed flows, the Gunnison River through the Black Canyon will experience a rebirth, and its priceless natural resources will be safeguarded for generations to come.”

http://www.flyrodreel.com/node/12228

Water deal still a work in progress

Summit Daily News by Mely Whiting

A recent Denver Post article about the conflict over proposed Colorado Basin water diversions to the Front Range proclaimed that “Water war ends in deal.” As appealing as the headline may be, it is inaccurate.

No deal has been struck. No agreement reached. Denver Water and Northern Colorado Water Conservancy District did unveil last week a joint proposal to mitigate the impacts of their respective proposed transmountain diversion projects on the Fraser and Colorado headwaters. The proposal is promising, as is Denver and Northern’s good-faith effort to respond to concerns raised by many. But, far from a done deal, the proposal signals only the beginning of serious discussions.

Denver and Northern have an opportunity here to make history — to create transmountain water diversion projects that serve the needs of the Front Range, while protecting and even improving the rivers, their outstanding fisheries, and a quality of life for both county residents and visitors. Whether the Post’s optimistic headline comes true depends on the outcome of discussions slated to take place over the next several weeks. For those talks to succeed, anglers and other key stakeholders must be at the table. We urge Denver Water and Northern to extend an invitation to these stakeholders and make this a truly historic agreement.

Mely Whiting is an attorney for Trout Unlimited’s Colorado Water Project.

http://www.summitdaily.com/article/20090506/LETTER/905059987/1025

Colorado water war ends in deal

By Mark JaffeThe Denver Post

A peace treaty in a decade-long water war between between Grand County and the Front Range has been struck.

The agreement among Grand County, Denver Water and the Northern Colorado Water Conservancy District aims to balance Front Range demands with more flow for the Upper Colorado River basin.

The deal also is expected to smooth the progress of plans for two new water projects to bring 16 billion gallons of water from Grand County to the Front Range.

"We are at a historic place," said Grand County Commissioner James Newberry. "Maybe West Slope and East Slope can work together for the good of Colorado."

"It's all a more comprehensive approach to managing the river," said Mely Whiting, an attorney with Trout Unlimited. "Just getting Denver Water and Northern to coordinate is a big step."

http://www.denverpost.com/ci_12267401

Gas drillers must meet water law

By CHRIS WOODKA THE PUEBLO CHIEFTAIN

The state is already taking steps to comply with a state Supreme Court decision that requires gas drillers to apply for a water right or replace stream flows for their coalbed methane wells.

The decision will have implications for the Arkansas Valley, since coalbed methane wells are operating in Las Animas and Huerfano counties.

The Supreme Court ruled unanimously Monday to uphold a decision by Durango Water Court Judge Gregory Lyman. In 2007, Lyman found that the water rights of Bayfield ranchers William and Elizabeth Vance and Jim and Mary Fitzgerald were adversely affected by coalbed methane wells operated by BP Petroleum near their ranches.

Prior to the ruling, the state considered the water produced in coalbed methane or other mining operations to be wastewater, which excluded it from administration under the state’s water-rights priority system.

http://www.chieftain.com/articles/2009/04/22/business/local/doc49ee91b486b00896884087.txt

New Ruling Sets Limits on Coal Bed Methane Water Use

Randy Scholfield | 4/21/09

Pagosa Daily Post

Yesterday, Monday, April 20 — in a first of its kind decision in Colorado — the Colorado Supreme Court ruled in Vance v. Wolfe that coal bed methane producers have to adhere to the same water rules and regulations as other state water users.

http://www.pagosadailypost.com/news/11893/New_Ruling_Sets_Limits_on_Coal_Bed_Methane_Water_Use/