Harvesting rainwater has an effect downstream

by DP Opinion on February 19, 2009

Re: “Water bills back saving on rainy days,” Feb. 10 news story.

The Colorado General Assembly is considering two pieces of legislation that would allow homeowners to install systems to capture rainwater for residential uses. Harvesting rainwater off the roof can be an eco-friendly practice, reducing the need to deliver water to the home from other sources, a process which can damage streams and aquifers and require use of significant energy.

But Coloradans should recognize that, in some cases, precipitation captured in a cistern would otherwise seep through the ground to a nearby stream for the benefit of fish and wildlife habitat and senior water rights. A large residential development with home rainwater cisterns might appear “green,” but could actually further stress an already depleted stream.

Recognizing the impact rainwater cisterns can have on streams, House Bill 1129 requires the proponents of rainwater harvesting projects to replace the water they remove from the system. In this respect, the bill provides a measure of protection to other water users and the state’s streams. The bill also favors cistern projects that include other water conservation measures, a smart provision in a semi-arid state with growing water demands.

Drew Peternell, Boulder

The writer is director of Trout Unlimited’s Colorado Water Project.

http://blogs.denverpost.com/eletters/2009/02/19/harvesting-rainwater-has-an-effect-downstream/

Conservation groups give Salazar mixed welcome

Dec 17, 2008 4:00 PM (1 day ago) By JUDITH KOHLER, AP "On the whole, we're really optimistic that his appointment will translate into commonsense changes in the ways federal land is maintained in relation to fish and wildlife habitat," said Chris Hunt of Trout Unlimited's public lands initiative.

http://www.examiner.com/a-1750211~Conservation_groups_give_Salazar_mixed_welcome.html

52: Perpetual pork

Aspen Times Letter to the editor from CTU President Ken Neubecker.

http://www.aspentimes.com/article/20081030/LETTER/810299947/1020&title=52:%20Perpetual%20pork

Diversions

The Windy Gap water diversion project would deal a major blow to a portion of the Colorado River that is already struggling to survive.

Denver Post

By Gretchen Bergen

Article Last Updated: 10/26/2008

The Northern Colorado Water Conservancy District hopes to divert as much of its 30,000 acre-feet of water as possible from the Colorado River every year to the East Slope. Northern proposes building a reservoir near Carter Lake for storing Windy Gap water to serve cities like Loveland, Greeley, Fort Lupton, Broomfield and Longmont.

With about 60 percent of the upper Colorado already being diverted by Northern and Denver Water, this project would take another 20 percent of a river struggling to survive. When you dry up the rivers, you dry up a majority of our tourism industry and our economy. You dry up the reason anglers, rafters, kayakers, birders and picnickers spend their vacations in Colorado. You dry up critical riparian habitat, which makes up 2 percent of Colorado land yet supports 98 percent of its wildlife.

http://www.denverpost.com/opinion/ci_10799046

Pitkin County ballot: water, roads and land

John ColsonThe Aspen Times Aspen CO, Colorado

Referendum 1A

PITKIN COUNTY — The financial impact of a proposed sales tax hike in Pitkin County, to pay for a special healthy rivers and streams fund, is akin to “a very small tip for Mother Nature, part of keeping our economy in place, our resort economy,” County Commissioner Rachel Richards said.

Referendum 1A has been endorsed by numerous groups and individuals, from the Colorado chapter of Trout Unlimited to the Aspen Skiing Co., she said. Colorado Sen. Gail Schwartz (D-Snowmass Village) and Rep. Kathleen Curry (D-Gunnison) also have endorsed the measure.

http://www.aspentimes.com/article/20081020/NEWS/810209989/1077&ParentProfile=1058&title=Pitkin%20County%20ballot:%20water,%20roads%20and%20land

Save the Colorado water buffalo!

Denver Post Opinion

Article Last Updated: 10/17/2008 08:57:54 PM MDT

By Bob Ewegen

Colorado's most endangered species may be the water buffalo.

If Amendment 52 passes Nov. 4, that noble beast will be close to extinction. And thousands of jobs and much of the Western lifestyle that lured so many of us to Colorado in the first place will vanish with it.

Environmental groups have joined ranks with the water buffaloes to fight against drying up Colorado's farms and ranches and the open space and wildlife habitat they provide. Ducks Unlimited, Audubon Colorado, the Colorado Wildlife Federation, Trout Unlimited and other green groups have entered the fray.

Yet, the outcome remains in doubt. There are so many issues on this year's ballot that the water and environmental communities fear Amendment 52 could slip through.

http://www.denverpost.com/headlines/ci_10748774

Big rewards or big impact?

By Douglas CrowlLoveland Connection

Loveland officials say the proposed Chimney Hollow Reservoir could add enough to the city’s water supplies to guarantee coverage during a 100-year-drought at least until 2030.

But detractors wonder at what cost a 90,000-acre-foot reservoir filled with Windy Gap water will have on the already struggling Colorado River.

“We feel that Windy Gap is digging this hole deeper and not helping figure out the problem,” David Nickum, executive director of Colorado Trout Unlimited, said before a recent public hearing on the project.

Many people concerned about the proposed reservoir wanted to extend the public comment period for the Windy Gap Firming Project Draft Environmental Impact Statement, so they could review the 600-page document to see if it addresses Western Slope water concerns.

http://www.coloradoan.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20081017/LOVELAND01/81016038

New drilling technology aims to dodge pollution

9News Colorado Trout Unlimited's Executive Director David Nickum sums up the danger posed by energy development on the Roan: "You have an industry that, unfortunately, is chemical dependent and it's accident prone as we've seen by numerous spills in the area."

If inspections are the best defense, the odds don't seem to favor the environment.

http://www.9news.com/seenon9news/article.aspx?storyid=101835&catid=509

Fishers, hunters worry development could spoil Roan Plateau

9News.com Accidental spills are just one of the threats that wildlife on top of western Colorado's Roan Plateau might face, now that the federal government has opened the door to drilling there.

One of the species that could wind up living in the shadow of drilling is believed by many to be a state genetic treasure.

Fly fisherman Ken Neubecker describes catching Colorado River Cutthroat trout as "combat fishing."

"They like to stay undercover. It's a short cast. They're only a few feet away," he said.

The trout love to hide out under a line-snaring tangle of overhanging willow.

Neubecker talked to 9NEWS as he stood beside a 15 foot wide, 8 inch deep strip of clear stream, meandering at the base of a ridge. It's a dauntingly steep mile down from the top of the ridge, which like scores of others, forms the undulating top of the Roan Plateau.

http://www.9news.com/seenon9news/article.aspx?storyid=101766&catid=509

Feds defend BLM’s Roan Plateau drilling plan

By Phillip YatesGlenwood Springs, CO Colorado

GLENWOOD SPRINGS, Colorado — The Bureau of Land Management’s drilling plan for the Roan Plateau Planning Area does not violate federal environmental law, U.S. Department of Justice attorneys argued in court documents filed earlier this week.

The government, in response to a lawsuit filed by a coalition of 10 environmental groups in July, denied allegations that the BLM’s plan for natural gas development on the Roan Plateau violated the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), court documents show.

The groups’ lawsuit argues that the BLM’s plan should be invalidated and that the issuance of any leases should be blocked because it “relies on the (agency’s) illegal plan and its inadequate environmental analysis.”

The environmental groups’ lawsuit argues the agency did not analyze the long-term environmental impacts of its actions nor did it consider a reasonable range of alternative approaches.

They argue that the BLM’s environmental impact statement for drilling “ignores the vast majority of the oil and gas development that eventually will result from the (BLM’s) leasing decision” and also ignores the possible ozone pollution that may result from natural gas development in the area.

The government, in a response filed Monday, denied those allegations.

The coalition of environmentalists — which include the Wilderness Society, Colorado Trout Unlimited, Colorado Mountain Club and the Wilderness Workshop — filed its lawsuit in July about a month before the BLM auctioned off 31 parcels that encompassed about 54,600 acres of the Roan Plateau Planning Area.

http://www.postindependent.com/article/20080919/VALLEYNEWS/809189973/1083&ParentProfile=1074&title=Feds%20defend%20BLM%E2%80%99s%20Roan%20Plateau%20drilling%20plan