Cleaning up a mine field

Pueblo Chieftain

By CHRIS WOODKA

Cleaning up old mining districts in Leadville has been a contentious issue in the community.An Environmental Protection Agency Superfund site was set up in California Gulch more than 20 years ago following releases of toxic metals that killed fish in an 18-mile reach of the Arkansas River. Issues with blockage in the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation’s Leadville Tunnel erupted two years ago, leading to a major drilling project to relieve pressure from water backed up in drain tunnels.

The goal of the Lake Fork group is to avoid the same sort of controversy over cleanup efforts by bringing agencies, landowners and environmental groups together, said Melissa Wolfe, another faculty member who works with the team.

“The outreach has been a challenge, but we’ve had good participation from the agencies that are involved,” Wolfe said.

 A core of landowners who helped form the working group are still active but do not attend meetings as often as in the past, said Cathy Patti, CMC contract administrator.

Federal agencies include the Bureau of Land Management, U.S. Geological Survey, EPA, Reclamation, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the U.S. Forest Service.

State agencies include the Department of Public Health and Environment, Division of Wildlife and the Division of Reclamation and Mining Safety.

 Local government, landowners and Trout Unlimited are also connected to the process.

http://www.chieftain.com/article_cd1cc392-dfef-11df-83de-001cc4c002e0.html

Lightner Creek runoff fouling Animas River

Durango Herald Lightner Creek is at it again. It would be hard to be a resident of the area, or even a visitor, and not notice the "stain" of gray-brown water that Lightner Creek is introducing into the Animas. While it is normal to see Lightner run turbid, or "off-color," during the spring runoff season, this level of turbidity and general nastiness at this time of year is not normal and is a cause of concern.

Why is this sort of turbidity - what I choose to call the Lightner Creek problem - happening at this time of year? One possible cause of the current problem is a substantial rain event back on Sept. 13 that dumped upwards of an inch of water on Durango and the Perin's Peak area.

Opinion piece from Buck Skillen, past president and current board member of Five Rivers Trout Unlimited and a local volunteer with River Watch.

http://durangoherald.com/sections/Opinion/2010/10/24/Lightner_Creek_runoff_fouling_Animas_River/

Division of Wildlife considers impacts of Windy Gap project

By Laura Snider

Camera Staff Writer

According to Colorado Trout Unlimited, if both the Windy Gap Firming Project and a proposed expansion of the Gross Reservoir -- which feeds Denver residents with water from the Colorado watershed -- are approved, as much as 70 percent of the upper Colorado River's native water flow will be removed on average.

"It's not happening in isolation," said Erica Stock, outreach director for Colorado Trout Unlimited.

In particular, Stock said her organization wants to make sure that Northern Water uses an accurate historical baseline of the Colorado River's flow to determine impacts and that it uses an "adaptive management" strategy, which would allow the mitigation measures to be changed if ecological effects are worse than anticipated.

http://www.dailycamera.com/boulder-county-news/ci_16390616

Colorado Water Diversion Proposal Brings More Controversy

Kirk Siegler (2010-10-21)

GRANBY, CO (KUNC) - A proposal to divert more western Colorado water to the thirsty Front Range is bringing renewed debate over the health of the Colorado River basin. State wildlife commissioners will take public comment Thursday night in Granby on a plan by Northern Water to build a new storage reservoir on the Front Range.

The plan would require more water to be diverted from tributaries feeding Lake Granby and other reservoirs in Grand County.

Erica Stock of Colorado Trout Unlimited says anglers and wildlife advocates are already worried about existing water diversions near the headwaters of the Colorado River, "Which currently remove over half of the Colorado River,."

"And what's going to happen if we take 20% more of the river, how is that going to affect the ecosystem health if we don't address the current ecosystem impacts that we're observing every day today," Stock says.

Stock says taking more water out of the river system could lead to even higher water temperatures and more algae; seen as a detriment to fish.

Wildlife commissioners will hold a public meeting tonight at 6 the Inn at Silver Creek, 62927 US Highway 40, in Granby. © Copyright 2010, KUNC

http://www.publicbroadcasting.net/kunc/news.newsmain/article/1/0/1715774/Regional/Colorado.Water.Diversion.Proposal.Brings.More.Controversy

Salazar vows to protect habitat

by Emery CowanHerald Staff Writer

U.S. Rep. John Salazar on Friday announced plans to protect two areas of important wildlife habitat near Durango that have been considered recently for gas and oil development.

Under proposed legislation, Animas Mountain and Perins Peak wildlife areas would be protected from development for mineral extraction, Salazar, D-Manassa, said during a stop in Durango.

He also announced that he will draft legislation to protect the 155,000-acre Hermosa Creek watershed.

Trout Unlimited, in a news release Friday, lauded Salazar's announcement on protecting the Hermosa Creek watershed. The Five Rivers Chapter, based in Durango, said it has worked to balance local water and recreation concerns in the watershed and passed its recommendations on to Salazar.

http://durangoherald.com/sections/2010_Election/2010/10/09/Salazar_vows_to_protect_habitat/

State scrambles to find flows for fish

By CHRIS WOODKA

Pueblo Chieftain

Some of the raceways at the state fish hatchery have been shut down and thousands of fish stocked early in response to low flows in the Arkansas River. The Division of Wildlife scrambled this week to come up with a plan to keep a minimal amount of water in the Arkansas River below Pueblo Dam in order to save fish. Wildlife officials say cooperation helped, but a better solution is needed.

“There were some concerns from fishermen and Trout Unlimited about water temperature around Labor Day,” said Dan Prenzlow, southeastern regional manager for the DOW. “Here we are in a relatively good water year, seeing a drop in river levels.”

DOW purchased 1,000 acre-feet of water for $25,000 from Colorado Springs Utilities, but won’t begin releasing it until Saturday. In the meantime, State Parks continues to release water to keep flows up.

http://www.chieftain.com/news/local/article_d7fb9198-c7a9-11df-8bac-001cc4c002e0.html

Long Draw fight becoming more long, drawn-out

BY KEVIN DUGGAN

Coloradoan

A long-running battle over the management of Long Draw Reservoir and efforts to restore a native trout species to its waters appears likely to run even longer. Fort Collins-based Water Supply & Storage Co. plans to appeal a U.S. Forest Service decision released Sept. 3 that would make it fully responsible for implementing a 15-year plan to restore the greenback cutthroat trout in the reservoir and surrounding streams.

The mitigation program's cost could be considerably higher than the approximately $800,000 projected by the Forest Service in an environmental impact statement, said Dennis Harmon, general manager of the irrigation company.

But even that figure would be more than the company should have to pay in order to keep its permit to operate the reservoir, which was built in 1929 and expanded in 1974.

"We just think this is way out of line for something that is already permitted," he said. "We haven't changed how this facility operates since the '70s.

"We think this mitigation is more appropriate for a new reservoir in the wilderness than on 53 acres of existing reservoir."

Long Draw Reservoir sits below the east side of the Continental Divide, about 35 miles west of Fort Collins in the Roosevelt National Forest. Its water comes from the Grand River Ditch, which traverses a section of Rocky Mountain National Park, and tributary streams.

Water from the reservoir is released into La Poudre Pass Creek, a tributary to the Poudre River.

An effort to renew a Forest Service permit for the expanded portion of the reservoir turned into a decade-long fight when Colorado Trout Unlimited sued in 1994 over a plan that would keep La Poudre Pass Creek dry during the winter. In 2004, a U.S. District Court threw out the permit, forcing the Forest Service to start the permitting process over and to come up with a plan that would protect trout habitat.

http://www.coloradoan.com/article/20100912/NEWS01/9120334/Long-Draw-fight-becoming-more-long-drawn-out

EPA OKs mine cleanup in San Luis Valley

Summit County Citizens Voice

by Bob Berwyn

“This is great news—we have been working on this project for  years and are glad that the (EPA has provided TU with this additional protection,” said Elizabeth Russell, project manager. “The risk of a release of hazardous waste from the tailings was very minimal, but we are grateful for the agency’s faith in TU to achieve results,” Russell said. The Kerber Creek project is located at the north end of the San Luis Valley in Colorado. Historic mining along Kerber Creek led to metals pollution and a degraded stream channel, requiring it to be places on the list of Colorado’s most impaired waterways.

Since 2008, Trout Unlimited and its partners have spent more than $1.3 million on restoration efforts along Kerber Creek. Working with the Bureau of Land Management, Colorado’s Nonpoint Source Program, the Natural Resource Conservation Service, and local landowners, the goal is to treat 60 acres of mine tailings using lime, limestone and compost, and to restore the stream for fish and wildlife habitat.

http://summitcountyvoice.com/2010/08/25/epa-oks-mine-cleanup-in-san-luis-valley/

Trout Unlimited, EPA agree on creek cleanup

Pueblo Chieftain

By MATT HILDNER

Elizabeth Russell, who manages Trout Unlimited's efforts on Kerber Creek, said the mine tailings the group encountered on private lands were hazardous enough that it wanted protection from liability. That led to a year of negotiations that resulted in the draft, she said. If finalized, the agreement would cover Trout Unlimited's past actions. The  agreement is only the second of its kind, following on the heels of one the agency and Trout Unlimited signed to clean up the American Fork River in Utah.

http://www.chieftain.com/news/local/article_4a870758-acf0-11df-b597-001cc4c03286.html

Best Wild Places: Exploring the Alpine Triangle (Day Three)

Field & Stream I learned a very important lesson at the start of our third day in the Alpine Triangle:  We don’t have to move mountains to help trout streams recover from the effects of hard rock mining.

Moving west from Lake City toward the town of Ouray, we stopped along Henson Creek, where Tara Tafi, project manager and reclamation specialist for the Colorado Department of Natural Resources Division of Reclamation, Mining and Safety, showed us around the Henson Creek Repository project.

Here’s a little “mine influence on trout water” primer:  Many of the mines left behind tailing piles. Those tailing piles contain a number of things that are harmful to the river (acids, heavy metals, etc.)  As the rains and snows fall over the tailings, the runoff mixes into the river, lowering pH levels (2-4).  In low pH, metals are easily mobilized.  When this happens, trout and the bugs they eat can’t survive in an essentially sterile environment.  And this can last for generations.

http://www.fieldandstream.com/blogs/where-fish-trout/2010/08/best-wild-places-exploring-alpine-triangle-day-three