Western & Colorado Water Project Staff Notes

January 2008   The Clean Water Restoration Act is legislation that TU would like Congress to pass. Over the last year, Colorado's delegation has been lobbied heavily by the Farm Bureau and developer interests who are staunchly opposed to ensuring that there will be Clean Water Act permitting requirements in the small streams of the West. We've been spending some time trying to figure out whether the bill's opponents are simply against it, period, or whether there might be room for compromise. We have two public speaking engagements on this topic (both point-counterpoints) later this month. 

The Nature Conservancy is pitching a big Colorado River restoration project. So, with TU Conservation Success Index maps in hand, we sat down with TNC staff to see about how we might be able to collaborate on an Upper Colorado River restoration effort that would focus on Colorado River cutts as well as terrestrial and plant species of concern for TNC. 

We spent a day in meetings trying to move the ball forward on Colorado's effort to map, prioritize and quantify flows for environmental needs. Consultants discussed the methodologies available to do both reach specific and stream type quantifications. There was supposed to be an additional meeting with the whole Inter-Basin Compact Committee on this topic, but that meeting was cancelled because of snow, so what isn't clear is what folks think about the process. Meanwhile, we are working with CTU and others on an effort to map the priority reaches where water acquisition will be necessary to protect instream values. 

The fact that the regulation of water development is entirely separate from the regulation of land development is becoming a more and more obvious problem in the West. Interestingly, it isn't mostly the conservation community that's voicing concerns over the lack of coordination in the two. A Colorado legislator will be running a bill this session to increase integration a tiny bit. 

We welcomed John Gerstle to the Boulder office. John has spent the bulk of his career working as a water consultant in the private sector, and recently he has consulted for TU on coal bed methane water quality regulations in Wyoming and two of our successful water rights oppositions in water court. He will continue to work on produced water issues for TU. In addition, he will work with water project staff in Colorado, Idaho and Wyoming on a variety of water matters. We're excited to have him here. 

The water court judge in the Dry Gulch remand has ordered the parties to submit briefs outlining positions on how the case should be decided. 

TU and the other parties to the Colorado water court proceedings to quantify the Black Canyon reserved water right are engaged in mediation. The court has stayed proceedings to allow negotiations to continue. 

At the request of the Evergreen Metro chapter, we have been working to determine how best to respond to the Colorado Water Quality Control Division’s decision to remove Bear Creek from the 303(d) list. An analysis of the fishery data indicates that the stream has substantially recovered. This analysis was substantially similar to the conclusions reached by the Colorado Division of Wildlife. Based on it we chose not to oppose delisting the stream but are nonetheless voicing our continuing belief that the stream is precariously perched and that temperature remains a serious threat to the continued health of the fishery. 

We are conversing with The Nature Conservancy and providing input on their efforts to develop flow regime for the North Fork of the Poudre. This regime is being proposed as part of the shared vision process for the Halligan-Seaman expansion. Because TNC has land on the stretch of river between the two reservoirs, they have taken the lead on developing the flow regime target. We are reviewing their work and providing comments in the hope that we can speak with one voice when their vision of what a flow regime should like is presented. 

We are also working to advance the instream flow recommendations TU brought forward last year with the Division of Wildlife and which will be voted on later this month. In addition, we are working to prepare some new recommendations with the Division of Wildlife and with the Bureau of Land Management. 

We are analyzing existing temperature data to help the Colorado Water Quality Control Division improve their map of summer stream temperatures. This map is used to help predict what species are expected to occur in the various streams of Colorado and thus what water quality standards are applicable. 

We continue to prepare for the upcoming basin-wide temperature hearings. Although state-wide standards were developed last year, they are being applied in a basin by basin process that begins with the Colorado River Basin.

Salazars offer compromise on Roan Plateau drilling

http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2008/jan/09/salazars-offer-compromise-on-roan-plateau/

U.S. Sen. Ken Salazar and his brother, U.S. Rep. John Salazar, both Colorado Democrats, said Tuesday they will drop their opposition to natural gas drilling atop the state's majestic Roan Plateau, while they work to minimize environmental impacts.

The Salazars said their new stance is in the spirit of compromise, after they previously sought a one-year moratorium or even an outright ban on drilling on the Western Slope landmark.

Those efforts were killed in the Senate version of the energy bill.

"We may not get everything we want, but this is a pretty good compromise," Rep. Salazar said Tuesday in a news conference at the state Capitol.

The Salazars' approach aligns them with Gov. Bill Ritter, who last month said he would work with the U.S. Bureau of Land Management to minimize the impact of gas drilling atop the plateau.

In recent years, the Roan - which includes 74,000 acres of federally owned land about 180 miles west of Denver - has become a battleground between the energy industry and conservationists.

The plateau contains an estimated 8.9 trillion cubic feet of recoverable gas, according to the Interior Department, enough to heat 4 million homes for 20 years. It also is touted by hunters, outdoors enthusiasts and environmental activists for its wildlife, trout streams and topography.

The BLM last summer issued its first "record of decision," or a plan covering 53,000 acres of the Roan's top and sides, that Ritter reviewed over 120 days, ending in December. In the spring, the federal agency will finalize its second plan to cover the remaining 21,000 acres, categorized as environmentally critical areas.

Ritter has proposed increasing the environmentally critical areas to 36,000 acres, which he said would allow for greater protection of wildlife habitats and still allow narrow corridors of accessibility to drillers.

The Salazars said they would work that proposal into new legislation, with the support of Rep. Mark Udall, D-Eldorado Springs.

Sen. Salazar said he'd propose a phased leasing of the plateau, beginning with the gas-rich zones in the initial years and graduating to marginal zones. He also proposed a minimum lease bonus payment of $28,000 per acre by energy companies.

The Salazars' shift in position was hailed in some industry quarters but greeted with disappointment elsewhere.

"In the end, the winners will be Colorado taxpayers and local governments who will benefit from a huge potential revenue windfall, which our state badly needs," said Greg Schnacke, president and CEO of Americans For American Energy - a Golden-based interest group that has pushed for drilling atop the Roan.

Trout Unlimited, an environmental group that opposes drilling atop the Roan, said sportsmen in Colorado still think natural gas can be attained from beneath the Roan without drilling on public lands on the plateau's top.

"The gas isn't going anywhere, and with some patience, we can wait for technology to move along and allow us to get at the gas without sacrificing habitat and hunting and fishing opportunity," said Corey Fisher, a TU field coordinator on oil and gas issues.

Meanwhile, it's not clear how Ritter's proposal or new legislation by the Salazars and Udall would impact the BLM's first record of decision.

"As with any legislation, we follow any new rule that Congress approves and the president signs," BLM spokeswoman Jamie Gardner said.

chakrabartyg@RockyMountainNews.com or 303-954-2976

Change in direction

Sen. Ken Salazar and Rep. John Salazar say they will, along with Rep. Mark Udall, all Colorado Democrats, propose legislation to:

* Allow oil and gas drilling atop the Roan Plateau, as per a federal decision last year, but lease those acres in a phased manner.

* Require a minimum lease bonus payment of $28,000 per acre. The federal government owns about 74,000 acres on the Roan, with the first decision covering more than 53,000 acres. A second decision expected this spring will cover the remaining "environmentally critical" areas.

* Increase the environmentally critical areas from 21,000 acres to more than 36,000 acres, with narrow corridors through those lands being accessible to drillers.

* Increase and restore the state's share of mineral-leasing revenues to 50 percent from 48 percent in the Omnibus Appropriations bill that was approved by Congress and signed into law by President Bush.

* Transfer excess funds from the Anvil Points oil shale trust fund back to the Western Slope communities to invest in land and water protection and on roads affected by oil and gas development.

Salazars offer compromise on Roan Plateau drilling

http://www.postindependent.com/article/20080108/VALLEYNEWS/922694956

By Phillip Yates Glenwood Springs CO Colorado January 8, 2008

GLENWOOD SPRINGS — U.S. Sen. Ken Salazar, D-Colo., and Rep. John Salazar, D-Manassa, are backing away from attempts to prevent gas leasing on the top of the Roan Plateau, and instead plan to introduce legislation partly based on recommendations by Colorado Gov. Bill Ritter.The Salazars’ proposed legislation, which was crafted with the help of U.S. Rep. Mark Udall, D-Eldorado Springs, would direct the federal government to implement two of Ritter’s proposals for boosting environmental protections during energy development on the Roan. Ritter announced the proposals in late December.

“The Roan Plateau is a very special place for us here in Colorado. It is one of the most diverse wildlife habitats we have in our state. It is one of those places we absolutely have to protect,” Ken Salazar said Tuesday during a conference call with reporters. “I will not allow the Western Slope or any part of our state to become the sacrificial zone for oil and gas development.”

The Salazars, who are brothers, plan to submit their legislation in both the House of Representatives and the Senate when they return to Washington on Jan. 15.

The proposed legislation also would transfer an estimated $80 million in the Anvil Points oil shale trust fund back to Colorado and the Western Slope. About $20 million is needed to clean up the Anvil Points Superfund site north of Rulison. The proposed legislation would direct $40 million in “spillover funds” to water and land conservation efforts and roads impacted by oil and gas development in Garfield and Rio Blanco counties, according to the Salazars.

The Anvil Points issue was a point of contention between Ken Salazar and Sen. Wayne Allard, R-Colo., in late December, as Congress was rushing to approve several bills. Allard accused Salazar of refusing to co-sponsor his Anvil Points provision to return revenues to Colorado unless Allard supported moratoriums on gas leasing on the Roan Plateau and on the process leading to commercial oil shale leasing in the region. The moratorium effort regarding gas leasing on the Roan Plateau failed.

Attempts to contact Sen. Wayne Allard’s office were not successful late Tuesday.

Following the governor’s lead Included in the Salazars’ proposed legislation is a requirement to increase the designated areas of critical environmental concern in the current Bureau of Land Management plan for drilling on the Roan from its current 21,034 acres to about 36,000 acres. Ritter had requested the increase in December.Ritter also called for phased leasing rather than leasing all the federal lands at once. The Salazars’ legislation would require phased leasing.

Jon Bargas, manager of communications for the Independent Petroleum Association of Mountain States, said he applauded the Salazars’ goal of striking a balance between energy development and preserving public lands in the Roan.

“At a time when the country is suffering from rising energy costs, unemployment, and fears of a recession, we are glad to see the Salazar brothers and Rep. Udall are beginning to recognize the importance of this important domestic energy resource,” Bargas said.

Ken Neubecker, vice president of Colorado Trout Unlimited, said any legislation to increase the size of the ACECs is a positive step.

But he added, “It is still not as good, in my mind, as not allowing drilling at all (on top of the plateau). That is the only way to guarantee protection of the wildlife and aquatic resources.”

The Salazars’ legislation would also target language slipped into a $555 billion spending bill that would reduce the states’ 50 percent share from federal mineral leasing — derived from energy and mineral extraction on federal lands — by 2 percent. The reduction means states would get 48 percent of the proceeds, and the federal government 52 percent.

“The legislation would repeal the provisions and restore Colorado’s federal mineral leasing share to 50 percent,” said Salazar, adding that the legislation would apply only to Colorado.

Allard staff members have indicated the 52-48 split would apply only to the 2008 fiscal year. Allard also opposes changing the 50-50 split, even for a year.

Salazar Brothers, Udall Offer Hope for Roan

But sportsmen continue to call for full protection of plateau’s public lands

Jan. 8, 2008 / Contact:  Corey Fisher, Trout Unlimited (970) 589-9196

DENVER—Trout Unlimited applauded U.S. Sen. Ken Salazar and U.S. Reps. Mark Udall and John Salazar on Tuesday, after the lawmakers announced their intent to increase protections for critical fish and game habitat atop the Roan Plateau. However, the organization said, sportsmen in Colorado still believe natural gas can be attained from beneath the Roan without drilling on public lands on the plateau’s top. “Expanding the number of protected acres on the Roan is certainly good for fish and wildlife,” said Corey Fisher, a TU field coordinator who works on oil and gas issues in Colorado and around the West. “But sportsmen have sacrificed so much already—the Piceance Basin is a huge natural gas field that is being aggressively developed to the detriment of fish and game and hunting and fishing. The top the Roan is a last, best refuge for wildlife and for hunters and anglers, in the region.” Reps. Salazar and Udall and Sen. Salazar said they will introduce a bill in Congress later this month that will increase the size of the protected acreage on the Roan by 16,000 acres, all of which would be included in the Roan’s Areas of Critical Environmental Concern (ACEC). In a press conference on Tuesday, however, the three said they wouldn’t stand in the way of leasing the top the Roan, albeit via a phased-in and orderly process. “That’s encouraging, but I don’t understand the rush to go after this last, unspoiled place,” said Fisher.  “The gas isn’t going anywhere, and with some patience, we can wait for technology to move along and allow us to get at the gas without sacrificing habitat and hunting and fishing opportunity.” TU and other sportsmen’s organizations in Colorado have long advocated for directional drilling to access the natural gas beneath the Roan.  “It’s possible to get at the bulk of the gas today with existing technology,” Fisher said. “With the energy boom in full swing across the West, technology will only improve, and more of the gas will be accessible if we only show some restraint in places like the Roan, that are simply too valuable to drill.”

Oil shale report angers Western Slope officials

“It would be devastating to above-ground trout fisheries,” Trout Unlimited spokesman Chris Hunt said. “They could be lost forever with this type of development.”

http://www.gjsentinel.com/news/content/news/stories/2008/01/04/010508_1a_Oil_Shale.html

By BOBBY MAGILL The Daily Sentinel

Friday, January 04, 2008

Unrealistic and there is too little time to respond.

Those are just two of the complaints some local government officials are leveling at the Bureau of Land Management regarding its draft report on the possible impacts of a commercial oil shale industry.

“If we’re worried about global warming, what’s this whole thought that we’re going to have to build a whole bevy of coal-fired power plants to extract oil shale resources?” Rio Blanco County Commissioner Ken Parsons said, adding the BLM created the report using unrealistic assumptions about oil shale companies’ technology and how it might impact the Western Slope.

The BLM’s draft Oil Shale and Tar Sands Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement, issued in late December, paints a scenario of a radically changed Western Slope in the face of widespread commercial oil shale development in the Piceance Basin. However, the effects are possibly still decades away.

The report says oil shale would supplant all other uses of public land, have a dramatic impact on air and water quality and urbanize small towns, while bringing many thousands of new workers to the region.

The report says little about using other energy sources, such as natural gas, to power oil shale development, Parsons said.

The county hopes greater environmental awareness in the United States will be enough to encourage Congress to scrap the commercial oil shale program until energy companies can prove their technology works and the BLM’s oil shale research leasing program has run its course, he said.

Grand Junction Utilities Manager Greg Trainor said the scenarios outlined in the report don’t make sense because companies researching oil shale don’t know how or if they’ll extract it commercially.

The BLM’s public-comment period, which expires in March, isn’t enough time for cities with limited resources to respond to the 1,400-page report, he said.

Considering the report’s impact, “why are we being given only 90 days to comment on it?” Trainor said, calling the report “imposing.”

“It’s just going to take us a while to dig through this thing,” he said.

The report is proving tough to wade through for others, too. Royal Dutch Shell spokesman Tracy Boyd, state Sen. Josh Penry, R-Grand Junction, and Club 20 Executive Director Reeves Brown all declined to comment on the report because they had not finished reading it.

Environmental groups praised the BLM for being thorough in its account of how oil shale will “devastate” the region.

“It would be devastating to above-ground trout fisheries,” Trout Unlimited spokesman Chris Hunt said. “They could be lost forever with this type of development.”

He said the report shows oil shale development will create an industrial zone out of northwest Colorado and defy the BLM’s mandate for allowing multiple uses of public land.

Wilderness Society Assistant Regional Director Steve Smith called oil shale’s potential impacts outlined in the report “overwhelming” and harmful to the region’s water and energy supply and air quality.

“We are not enhancing our energy security if we are burning up energy resources of one type to produce energy resources of another type,” Smith said. “It would not make us more secure. It would make our whole energy mix much more brittle than it is.”

Enviros To Focus On Solar Energy, Healthy Rivers

This legislative preview by Charles Ashby of the Pueblo Chieftain features quotes from CTU's David Nickum. http://cbs4denver.com/local/solar.energy.rivers.2.624271.html

Water, Energy Enjoy Symbiotic Relationship

This Durango Herald story, by Joe Hanel, discusses water use and energy production and features Melinda Kassen of TU's Western Water Project. http://durangoherald.com/asp-bin/article_generation.asp?article_type=news&article_path=/news/news080106_9.htm

Green activists unite at Capitol

By Howard PankratzThe Denver Post

Article Last Updated: 01/04/2008 02:09:48 AM MST

A coalition of Colorado environmental groups said Thursday that it will concentrate in the upcoming legislative session on passing bills designed to promote healthy rivers, solar energy and smart growth.

Elsie Jones, executive director of the Colorado Environmental Coalition, which represents more than 100 organizations, said the group wants to ensure "smart growth" by making sure state transportation dollars are used more effectively to reduce traffic and to assure there are sustainable water supplies.

David Nickum, executive director of Colorado Trout Unlimited, said the effort to promote healthy rivers and streams will be done by "providing more freedom for water-right holders to be able to put water back into rivers."

Nickum said healthy rivers are among the state's most valuable assets, preserving water quality for a variety of uses, providing a healthy habitat for fish and wildlife and helping the economy by promoting recreation and tourism.

"There are rivers that, because of the growing demand associated with Colorado's rapid growth over recent years, are de-watered and some that are completely dried up at certain times," he said.

Nickum said a fair way to help get water back into the streams and rivers and to keep them flowing is to work with "willing water-right holders to help them put water back in the streams and compensate them for that." Under current law, he said, water-right holders don't have incentive to do that and "actually face potential penalties for doing so."

Pam Kiely, legislative program director for Environment Colorado, said an ambitious "Go Solar" package of legislation calls for a standard rebate for the installation of a home solar system and a state tax credit for new construction and retrofits to existing homes that meet efficiency levels.

The coalition also is proposing legislation that would require municipal utilities and rural electric co-ops to invest 2 percent of their retail receipts on cost-effective energy programs for their customers starting in 2010.

"The bottom line is that it is time for Colorado to go solar by continuing to be smart about how we use our current energy resources and use them more efficiently," said Kiely.

House Minority Leader Mike May, R-Parker, said he considered the broad proposals "wonderful" as long as they don't get into mandates and taxes.

"We want to be as green as anyone, but we also need to measure the costs and impact on individual liberty," he said.

Rep. Cory Gardner, R-Yuma, said he was concerned about the term "smart growth."

"When you say smart growth, that is telling people how to live," said Gardner. "I don't think that is appropriate."

Howard Pankratz: 303-954-1939 or hpankratz@denverpost.com

What's that sludge?

DAILY NEWS STAFF REPORTSsummit daily news Summit County, CO Colorado December 30, 2007

Boo. Our history is still coming back to haunt. A surge of toxic metals washing out of Peru Creek into the Snake River killed hundreds of trout in August, showing why local officials are putting a focus on cleaning up abandoned mines.With some new initiatives from the federal government and the involvement of Trout Unlimited, there was some progress in tackling the Pennsylvania Mine in Peru Creek, one of the worst sites in the county. A model agreement covering volunteer cleanups could help speed a remediation project at the Pennsylvania Mine.

In the Blue River drainage, Breckenridge and Summit County have started construction of a water treatment facility at the site of the Wellington-Oro mine. When it's finished, the plant will remove zinc from French Gulch and improve water quality downstream in the Blue River.

And in another cleanup project, the EPA and the Forest Service removed tons of rock tainted with high levels of lead from the federal Claimjumper Parcel along Airport Road. The material was moved to a repository in French Gulch, where it will remain indefinitely.

The project stirred local opposition, as residents of the French Gulch area questioned why they should have to live with new mine waste in addition to the large piles of tainted rock already present near their neighborhood.

But federal officials touted the Claimjumper cleanup as a win-win, citing improved environmental conditions in both locations.

DENTRY: Hunters and fishers fight for public land

By Ed Dentry, Rocky Mountain News

Tuesday, December 25, 2007

To the hunters and anglers whose hackles are up, may you enjoy even more successes in 2008 sticking up for America: the place, the land and our descendants' heritage.

While mega- corporations have ravaged public lands in the West with hurricane force and the blessing of big government, many sportsmen have rallied to the defense.

Hunters, fishermen, ranchers and other guardians of the scraps of America's wild lands and hunting and fishing heritage have lost much in the past seven years.

But they also have formed coalitions that have won battles recently against public lands abuse.

Some examples:

* The Valle Vidal, New Mexico. A coalition of more than 400 organizations, including sportsmen and outfitters, protected the 100,000-acre basin in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains from coal bed methane drilling. Congress passed the Valle Vidal Protection Act in December 2006.

The coalition (ValleVidal.org) also saw to it that the wildlife- rich valley was added to Gov. Bill Richardson's 2006 petition seeking federal roadless protection.

* The Wyoming Range. The coalition Sportsmen for the Wyoming Range is gaining ground in the fight to keep the 100-mile-long mountain range in western Wyoming in its natural state.

In October, U.S. Sen. John Barrasso, R-Wyo., introduced the Wyoming Range Legacy Act. It would withdraw 1.2 million acres from energy development.

Coalition members include The Mule Deer Foundation, Backcountry Hunters and Anglers, Wyoming Backcountry Horsemen of America, Wyoming Wildlife Federation, Trout Unlimited and the Wyoming Game Wardens Association. See WyomingRangeSportsmen.org.

* Rocky Mountain Front, Montana. Conservation groups including sportsmen and ranchers won a congressional ban on future leasing on the treasured Front, where the shortgrass prairie meets the Rockies. See SavetheFront.org.

* North Platte River, Colorado and Wyoming. This autumn, the Bureau of Land Management withdrew thousands of acres proposed for headwaters energy leasing after protests from sportsmen's groups, rural residents, wildlife officials and Wyo. Gov. Dave Freudenthal.

* Roan Plateau, Colorado. The above victories against unbridled industrial invasion of public lands should serve as inspiration to a new Colorado coalition.

Sportsmen for the Roan Plateau announced its formation this month. Composed of more than 20 groups, it calls for no new leases on public lands on the Roan until a plan is developed allowing "continued, responsible drilling on existing leases and private industry lands," including wildlife winter range at the base of the Plateau.

'ABSOLUTELY' ROAN: Mike Gould says he's not an activist, but he sings like one. The third-generation western Colorado native and hunting guide has written a song about greed destroying western Colorado.

Gould, a songwriter and performer, guided grouse hunters on the Roan until an energy company broke his lease in the early 1990s, sending him packing to Idaho, where he famously trains Labradors and writes books.

The song, Absolutely, introduces an overheard conversation between a congressman and an energy developer who make much of their fortunes and little of the "common country people."

"I would love it if every single ranching family in Colorado could hear this song," Gould said in a telephone interview Sunday.

"Nowadays, when I cruise through (the Grand Valley) . . . I just see greed," he said. "I see the amazing natural intricacies of what used to be western Colorado are being sold out. And it's permanent. It's forever and it's gone."

Gould dedicated the song to Keith Goddard, the Rifle-based big-game hunting guide who has been very much an activist on behalf of sparing the Roan.

Absolutely is on Gould's DVD, Look In My Eyes, $12, available from him by e-mail at GrandRiverWebster@comcast.net.

To people like these - with roots in the land, wildlife, hunting and fishing - Happy New Year.

Stick to your guns.