Colorado TU Honors Save the Colorado

Colorado TU has honored Save the Colorado with its River Stewardship Award for the consortium’s efforts to protect and restore the Colorado River from its source to the sea.

The award was presented at the 2012 Colorado TU Auction & Gala on Friday evening, March 16. Save the Colorado is a collation of businesses and foundations, spearheaded by the New Belgium Brewing Company with supporting sponsors that include Teva, Patagonia, the Clean Water Fund, National Geographic, Clif Bar, the Environment Foundation, Environment Now and the Kenney Brothers Foundation.

New Belgium CEO Kim Jordan (2nd from left) accepted the award from Colorado TU President Sinjin Eberle (at left). The award is a large scale photograph of blue sky and canyon walls reflecting off the Colorado River by photographer Peter McBride, co-author with Jonathan Waterman of the book, The Colorado River: Flowing through Conflict.

The companies and foundations that created Save the Colorado initially committed nearly $500,000 in funding. “We’re very pleased to honor Save the Colorado and proud of our association with them, said Colorado TU president Sinjin Eberle. “Save the Colorado is a wonderful example of businesses working with non-profit organizations to protect a vital American resource.”

Save the Colorado has been a catalyst for efforts to create broad public awareness of the threats facing the Colorado as well as a financial resource for groups working on-the-ground to protect and restore the river, which runds more than 1,400 miles from its source in the Rocky Mountains to the Sea of Cortez.

More than 30 million people in seven states rely on the Colorado River system for their drinking water. Many more count on the river as a source of water for agriculture, hydro-electric power, recreation and industry. But the Colorado is an overburdened resource, and its waters and wildlife are threatened by an increasing number of dams and diversions, mineral extraction, population growth, invasive species  and the potential impacts of climate change.

Nearly 300 people attended the 2012 Colorado TU Gala and Auction. An outstanding slate of items donated by our loyal and generous supporters were responsible for making it a very successful event. Each year, proceeds from the Gala play a substantial role in funding Colorado TU’s efforts toward river conservation, youth education and on-the-ground restoration projects.

Thank you to all who attended, to all who donated to our auction and to Save the Colorado!

TU Kicks Off Green with Envy Tour

TU's Green with Envy roadshow is an effort to protect the Green River and Flaming Gorge from the effects of a massive pipeline project. Here's an excerpt from a report in the Wyoming Business Report.

Presenter Walt Gasson, Trout Unlimited's endorsed business director, briefly invoked Dr. Seuss's Lorax in his impassioned plea to save the Green River.

"This is not a problem for people in Colorado or Thneedville who just want to wash their car or water their lawn," Gasson said. Instead, he said it is Wyoming and its $118 million local outdoor economy that will suffer the consequences of exporting 250,000 acre-feet of water annually. Of that water, 85,000 acre-feet would come from the Green River above Flaming Gorge while the rest would come from the reservoir itself. Read the full story by Mark Wilcox.

Green with Envy scheduled dates:

Steamboat Springs: May 15, 8 p.m., Community Center 1605 Lincoln Ave.

Grand Junction, Colorado: May 17, 7 p.m., Roper Music Ballroom, 130 N. 5th St.

Kerber Creek Gets 50K Grant

Trout Unlimited's Kerber Creek restoration project received a $50,000 grant from the Commission for Environmental Cooperation to help fund the next phase of restoration work on Kerber Creek, near the town of Salida in southwest Colorado.

Trout Unlimited has worked for six years to restore Kerber Creek from the impacts associated with the effects of mining. In the last three years, Trout Unlimited has spent $1.3 million to improve the stream.

"This grant will allow us to take the next critical step in a project that holds vital importance to the area," said Elizabeth Russell, Trout Unlimited's mine restoration project manager.

The Kerber Creek Restoration Project is a joint partnership between Trout Unlimited, Bureau of Land Management (BLM), Colorado Division of Reclamation Mining and Safety (DRMS), Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), the Bonanza Stakeholders Group (BSG), U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), U.S. Forest Service (USFS), local landowners and other partners.

Historic mine tailings from mining that occurred decades ago have washed down through Kerber Creek and are contributing metals and acid drainage into the waterway. The project will work to treat the mine tailings and will install fish habitat and stream bank stabilization structures. (The Collegiate Peaks Chapter has been a key player in the Kerber Creek restoration. Read an October 2011 article by Salida Mountain Mail's Joe Stone on the Kerber cleanup.)

Trout Unlimited and its partners are working to increase understanding of the environmental issues associated with legacy mining and public awareness of restoration projects.

03/09/2012 Contact: Erin Mooney, Trout Unlimited, (215) 557-2845, emooney@tu.org

Trout Unlimited is a non-profit organization with more than 147,000 members dedicated to conserving, protecting and restoring North America's trout and salmon fisheries and their watersheds. Follow TU on Facebook on Twitter via @TroutUnlimited.

The Upper Colorado: "a collapsing eco-system?"

Is the Colorado River Cooperative Agreement a good deal? While some praise the pact between Denver Water and west slope interests, others question whether the best interests of the Colorado are at the forefront.

"Studies conducted by the Colorado Division of Wildlife clearly show that the upper Colorado River is a collapsing ecosystem. Most of this is due to the fact that well more than 65 percent of the upper Colorado is drained by diversions to the Front Range."

On the Vail Valley Voices page of the Vail Daily's website, CTU Past-president Ken Neubecker questions just how good the CRCA is for the river when all things are considered. Read Ken Neubecker's letter.

Support the Hunt & Fish License Plate

We're still working toward a Protect Our Rivers license plate to raise money for river and habitat protection, but in the meantime you can support efforts to create a plate for hungers and anglers.

HB 1275 in the Colorado House of Representatives would establish a specialty license plate program for Colorado’s hunters and anglers. Revenue would support youth hunting and fishing programs within the Colorado Department of Parks and Wildlife.

Recently the bill passed the House Finance Committee, but to make this license plate a reality 3,000 Coloradans have to sign a petition indicating their support.

Click this link to sign the petition right now. http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/support-the-colorado-wildlife-sporting-license/

Farmers, Conservationists Partner Along the Colorado

"Now, as Colorado River Basin stakeholders contemplate possible solutions to long-term shortfalls in the balance between water supply and demand, a group of agricultural and conservation organizations have joined efforts in a ground-breaking new coalition."

As you'd imagine, Trout Unlimited is part of this coalition featured in a piece on Natonal Geographic online by Jennifer Pitt. Read the article at nationalgeographic.com

Oil & Gas Ad Doesn't Add Up

A controversial radio "Public Service Announcement" produced by the Colorado Oil and Gas Association includes a sound bite by Governor Hickenlooper to the effect that there hasn't been any groundwater contamination associated with drilling or fracking in Colorado since 2008.

There are those who differ:

“There are spills on a weekly basis that affect groundwater,” said Earthjustice attorney Mike Freeman, adding that state records show there were 58 spills from oil and gas operations in 2011."

That quote is one of several in a piece written by Bob Berwyn for the Summit County Citizen's Voice.

Read Bob Berwyn's article

River Rally II Rocks Capitol

Hear Case Philip sing "Don't Suck the Uppper Colorado Dry" on YouTube.

A group of more than 70 boisterous Defend the Colorado advocates gathered at the state capitol to hand-deliver a giant post card to governor Hickenlooper's office. Why a giant post card? Because it had to have enough room for the 2,000 people who wanted to sign it and comment. Their message?  'Don't Suck the Upper Colorado River Dry.'

"Can you hear us now?"

Since the rally happened right outside his office window, the governor - or at least his staff - probably heard it loud and clear. A group of about 70 river advocates turned out to hear several speakers, including Drew Peternell, director of TU's Colorado Water Project, who told the crowd that the recreation opportunities many Coloradans take for granted "will no longer exist" on the Upper Colorado if the river is not protected.

Fraser Valley TU Headwaters chapter president Kirk Klancke emotionally recounted how his children had worried about the health of the Upper Colorado and wondered if it would be there for them.

And Field and Stream columnist Kirk Deeter offered an analogy to plans to take two-thirds of the Upper Colorado flows -- would it be acceptable, he asked, if the state decided to take two-thirds of Pikes Peak, another Colorado icon?

Read Deeter's terrific blog post on that theme here.

The governor certainly won't be "the decider" when it comes to water projects on the upper Colorado River, but we believe he should weigh-in and try to influence the final decision. Here's what we think water-project developers need to do:

• Manage the water supply to keep the rivers cool, clear and healthy.
• Ensure healthy flushing flows to prevent river habitat from filling in with silt.
• Monitor the rivers’ health and a commitment to take action if needed to protect them.
• Bypass the Windy Gap dam to reconnect Colorado River and restore river quality.

The Defend the Colorado coalition includes Colorado Trout Unlimited and a range of stakeholders, including conservation and wildlife groups, landowners, and outdoor recreationists. More than 400 western slope businesses have signed a petition asking state leaders to protect the Upper Colorado.

The event received some good media coverage, including a report on Colorado Public Radio and a great column in the Denver Post by outdoor writer Scott Willoughby. http://www.denverpost.com/willoughby/ci_20014054

For more information, go to www.DefendTheColorado.org.

FERC Rejects Million Permit

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) has dismissed a hydropower permit application for a proposed 500-mile water pipeline from the Green River to Colorado’s Front Range.

Developer Aaron Million’s idea was to use the water flowing downhill from the top of the Continental Divide to generate power to - at least partially - offset the enormous cost of pumping it up there in the first place. But FERC may have viewed the application by Wyco Power and Water as an attempt to short cut the federal review process for the entire pipeline project. It’s clear that this is a massive water supply project and that hydropower would have played a small part. “We are pleased that the FERC recognized that Aaron’s proposal is premature,” says Drew Peternell, Director of TU’s Colorado Water Project. “In our view, the time will never come when this project is deserving of a permit.” While this doesn’t kill Million’s dream, it highlights how much work is yet to be done, least of which is to determine the pipeline’s precise route. FERC emphasizes that uncertainty in its Order of Dismissal:

Until some certainty regarding the authorization of the pipeline is presented, Wyco will not be able to gather and obtain the information required to prepare a license application for a proposed hydropower project.  Therefore, there is no purpose under the FPA for issuing a permit to Wyco for its proposed hydropower project at this time.  For this reason, Wyco’s preliminary permit application is dismissed as premature.

Read the full Order of Dismissal: http://elibrary.FERC.gov/idmw/file_list.asp?accession_num=20120223-30

Read the Denver Post article by Bruce Finley.

EPA: Study downplays Windy Gap impacts

The EPA says Northern Water's analysis "downplays critical adverse impacts of already deteriorating ecosystems."

An EPA document, sent to federal permitting authorities last week, recommends further analysis of the Northern Water Conservancy District's Windy Gap Firming Project to prevent new violations of state water-quality standards and "a more robust monitoring and mitigation plan" to protect the river. Read the full story by Bruce Finley on Denver Post.com

Don't forget next Wednesday's (2/22) Rally for the River on the steps of the state capitol at 11:00am. Learn more.