Surmounting the snow pile

Durango Telegraph by Missy Votel

As the giant mound at the city of Durango’s snow-storage site at Cundiff Park begins to melt, it also gives rise to worries over water quality. The 17-acre snow storage site just south of town, which the city has been using for the last eight years, sits adjacent to the Animas River. And come springtime, Mount Durango, as some locals have taken to calling it, creates a steady stream of murky brown run-off that concerns residents and river advocacy groups alike.

“I applaud the City’s snow removal team and recognize they do a great job during large snow events. However, there are certainly water-quality issues related to the current snow storage location(s),” said Ty Churchwell, former president of the Five Rivers Chapter of Trout Unlimited and member of the Animas River Task Force.

http://www.durangotelegraph.com/telegraph.php?inc=/10-03-04/coverstory.htm

Land preservation

By DP Opinion The Obama administration has proposed increasing the amount of funding available for the Land and Water Conservation Fund, a 45-year-old program that has protected wildlife habitat and provided recreational opportunities in national parks, national forests, and national wildlife refuges across the country.

Instead of using taxpayers’ money, LWCF protects federal lands and provides grants to communities for local parks and trails using a small portion of royalties paid by companies conducting offshore drilling. This common-sense approach to land conservation benefits anglers and hunters because conservation creates opportunity. The opportunity to hunt, fish, hike, bike and ski in these wild places is increasingly at risk from an array of land-use threats, and must be protected as a part of our national heritage.

It simply makes sense to use funds generated from natural resources extraction to invest back in America’s natural places — protecting and promoting another kind of resource, open space and clean water, that benefits each of us.

Interior Secretary Ken Salazar, Sen. Mark Udall, and other advocates for LWCF in Congress and the administration are on the right track to see that we meet our responsibility to protect America’s great outdoors for future generations.

Sinjin Eberle, Vice President, Colorado Trout Unlimited, Denver

Building a better habitat

Eagle Valley Enterprise

Derek Franz

That is the kind of support that has been snowballing for the watershed council. That is also why the river restoration project, which is divided into five reaches, has expanded since it began in the fall of 2008. Local, state and national entities including Edwards Metropolitan District, Eagle River Foundation, Eagle County, Colorado Department of Health and Environment, Trout Unlimited and others have contributed grant money to the efforts. http://www.eaglevalleyenterprise.com/article/20100127/NEWS/100129974/1054&ParentProfile=1001

Environmentalists oppose Denver project to divert more water from Western Slope

By Bruce Finley The Denver Post

Denver has not managed to push through a project on this scale since construction of Dillon Reservoir in 1963. The Environmental Protection Agency's 1990 veto of Denver's proposed $1 billion Two Forks Dam still looms in water-authority boardrooms. That project, backed by developers and opposed by environmentalists, also was aimed at preventing shortages.

The $225 million cost is already covered by a recently approved rate hike for Denver Water customers, which will raise typical water bills by about $40 a year.

Denver already owns rights to the water it would divert from the upper Colorado River basin — from the Blue River in Summit County and from the Fraser and Williams Fork rivers and dozens of streams in Grand County.

But Trout Unlimited sportsmen's advocates said that stream flows there already are dangerously low, threatening aquatic life, with algae increasing and once-clear Grand Lake turning cloudy. Boulder-area residents warned of harm to wildlife and lifestyle disruptions during construction to raise the dam and clear trees in expanding Gross Reservoir.

http://www.denverpost.com/ci_13956553

Trout habitat now on the line

BY BOBBY MAGILL The new plan requires a compromise: Keep La Poudre Pass Creek dry during the winter, but restore more than 43 miles of trout habitat in the Poudre River Watershed, mostly in Rocky Mountain National Park.

"It's something scientists have been pushing for, for a long time," said David Nickum, director of Colorado Trout Unlimited. "The chance to try to put that science in action and do what would be the largest native cutthroat trout restoration project ever in Colorado - we're excited about that prospect."

http://www.coloradoan.com/article/20091207/NEWS01/912070310/1002/CUSTOMERSERVICE02/Trout-habitat-now-on-the-line

Public input sought on Gross Reservoir expansion

By Laura Snider Camera Staff Writer Denver Water plans to make up almost half of its projected water shortfall in 2030 with water conservation methods, which is laudable, according to Drew Peternell, director of Trout Unlimited's Colorado Water Project.

"I think Denver deserves credit for good conservation," he said. "But more can be done."

Peternell said Denver Water should look at other ways to meet its growing demand -- including more water-reuse projects and agriculture water-sharing arrangements -- before sucking more water out of tributaries to the Colorado Rivers, including the Fraser.

"The Fraser River is the river in Colorado that is the most heavily depleted," Peternell said. "It's just really beat up."

http://www.dailycamera.com/boulder-county-news/ci_13885451

Citizens urged to weigh in on Denver proposal to divert more water from Fraser River

By Tonya BinaSky-Hi Daily News Grand County, CO Colorado

“Multiple water diversions have pushed the Fraser River to the brink of collapse,” said Kirk Klancke, president of the Colorado Headwaters Chapter of Trout Unlimited.

TU, the Colorado Environmental Coalition and a broad group of conservation organizations warn that a proposal to divert more water from the Fraser, a tributary to the Colorado River, poses a serious risk to the ecological health of the river system.

http://www.skyhidailynews.com/article/20091129/NEWS/911299983/1079&ParentProfile=1067

Denver Water looks for more mountain water

By Bob Berwynsummit daily news

“Front Range residents must recognize the connection between our water use and the health of our rivers and streams, fisheries and wildlife habitat,” said Colorado Trout Unlimited director Dave Nickum. “We can't continue to take and take from these rivers without accounting for our impacts. The glass is not even half full. It's almost drained dry.”

http://www.summitdaily.com/article/20091128/NEWS/911279987/1078&ParentProfile=1055

Animas Restoration Project Complete

From our man on the scene, Ty Churchwell:

After three years of raising money, advocating and planning, the largest and most ambitious 5 Rivers TU project to date is complete.  The entire chapter should be proud of our accomplishment.  This was truly a community project and our most valuable resource has been improved.

This project was born of our involvement with the Animas River Task Force, a citizen advisory council with representation by the chapter.  A City of Durango ordered river corridor assessment identified nine locations within city limits where sever riverbank degradation was occurring.  TU and Animas Riverkeeper representatives recognized the opportunity for a project and jumped at the chance.  A partnership was formed and planning began.

The section of the Animas below 9^th street, along Roosa Ave., was determined to be the highest priority, this due to its visibility and proximity to the downtown corridor and the tree assets in peril.  Additionally, trout habitat in this section was minimal and in need of improvement.  Many of our visiting anglers find this water to be the most convenient for their quick afternoon outings while the family shops.

Five Rivers and Riverkeeper began raising money in 2006.  An initial plan was designed and the City of Durango was approached for permission and potential partnership.  Our partners with the city were thrilled that a grassroots effort was forming and they signed on in support.  Financial assistance was offered and they acted as the contractor for grant requests and permitting.  The partners applied for and were awarded a DOW “Fishing is Fun” grant representing roughly 75% of the project costs.  Via the annual fundraising banquet, the chapter raised our commitment of $7000.  Once the 2009 city budget was approved, we were fully funded.

Numerous contractors were interviewed and we had a say in who was hired.  In Western Stream Works from Ridgeway, we found a passionate restorator who embraced our beliefs and vision for the project.  Contrived and man-made was not the look we were going for.  Quality habitat and long-term riverbank protection was the goal.  Thank you Bill!

Trout Unlimited: Upper Colorado ‘on the brink'

By Bob Berwynsummit daily news

SUMMIT COUNTY — Increased diversions from the Fraser River, in Grand County, could put the entire Upper Colorado ecosystem at risk, a coalition of environmental groups warned Friday.

“We're really nervous. The rivers are only so resilient,” said David Nickum, director of Colorado Trout Unlimited. “You can't talk about these systems in isolation,” he said, referring to a Denver Water proposal to take more water out of the Fraser River and across the Continental Divide.

“Multiple water diversions have pushed the Fraser River to the brink of collapse,” said Kirk Klancke, president of the Colorado Headwaters Chapter of TU, based in Grand County. “This is a river on life support.”

Nickum and Klancke were referring to a draft environmental study on the Fraser River project. The conservation groups said they've already been talking with Denver Water, and that the utility is open to discussing the issues. The draft study was released by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Friday.

http://www.summitdaily.com/article/20091102/NEWS/911019987/1078&ParentProfile=1055