CU study: Reservoirs partly responsible for invasive lake species

Boulder Daily Camera By Brittany Anas

A growing number of dams and man-made reservoirs is leading to a surge in unwelcome lake-water lurkers, such as zebra mussels and spiny water fleas, according to a new study led by the University of Colorado.

Impoundments create “stepping-stone habitats” for invasive species to sneak into natural lakes, ponds and waterways, where they disrupt the natural habitat.

The research team combined data on water chemistry, the distribution of five “nuisance invaders” and boating activity from the Great Lakes region for the study, according to Pieter Johnson, an assistant professor at CU and one of the lead authors.

Zebra mussels recently jumped to reservoirs in the West, including Colorado, Johnson said, leading to mandatory boat inspections at some landings. Other invaders are either already in Colorado — the rainbow smelt and water milfoil — or have a high probability of being introduced, such as the spiny water flea and rusty crayfish, Johnson said.

In Boulder, officials are looking to hire two inspectors this month to make sure zebra mussels don’t hitchhike on visitors’ boats and make their way into the Boulder Reservoir, disrupting the biodiversity, said reservoir manager Stacy Cole.

http://www.dailycamera.com/news/2008/sep/03/cu-study-reservoirs-partly-responsible-invasive-la/

Dealing with river trash

Durango Telegraph by Missy Votel

Summer flows on the Animas have receded, but the trashed remains from one of the busiest river seasons in memory have hit an all-time high. At least that’s the feeling among several local river users who say unprecedented recreational use of the river this summer has taken its toll, and they are asking the city to step in.

“This was the busiest year I can remember in terms of boaters, and more importantly, tubers,” said Ty Churchwell, president of the Five Rivers Branch of Trout Unlimited. “And the trash along the river shows it.”

A member of the city’s Animas River Task Force, an advisory committee to the Durango City Council, Churchwell and other members of the Task Force met with the city this week to discuss options for alleviating the trash problem, most notably beer cans, bottles, orphaned flip flips, Styrofoam coolers, and popped tubes and other miscellaneous discarded river craft

“It’s on the minds of everyone on the task force, and we want to ask the city about what can be done,” he said.

http://www.durangotelegraph.com/telegraph.php?inc=/08-09-04/localnews.htm

Environmental report for Chimney Hollow shows possible effects of reservoir southwest of Loveland

By Pamela DickmanLoveland Reporter-Herald

http://reporterherald.com/news_story.asp?ID=18920

Felicia Muftic: This week, it’s the Republican’s turn

Sky High Daily News - 08/31/08  [note: this isn't a partisan piece] By Felicia Muftic My View

"...a large group of Fraser Valley Lions members, some Rotary members, members of Trout Unlimited, public officials and interested citizens gathered in the Fraser Park to unveil a bronze statue of Dwight Eisenhower fly fishing in the Fraser....."

http://www.skyhidailynews.com/article/20080831/COLUMNISTS/808319992/1079&ParentProfile=1067

'New frontier' of water choices awaits state

By CHRIS WOODKATHE PUEBLO CHIEFTAIN

"The era of water development in Colorado is over, and the state’s new task will be to manage the water resources it has...... "

http://www.chieftain.com/articles/2008/08/25/news/local/doc48b23fb8db5c2809428422.txt

It's not too late to save valued parts of Grand County

Thursday, August 21, 2008

Sky-Hi Daily News

There are organizations at work to preserve our natural and cultural resources.

Among them are the Middle Park Land Trust, Trout Unlimited, the Grand County Historical Association, Friends of the Fraser River, Colorado Cattlemen's Association, Colorado Riparian Association and the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation. Depending on your interests, there are ways to get involved.

Grand County still has a window to control the look and feel of its own future. As we can see from our neighboring mountain communities, that window of opportunity doesn't stay open forever.

http://www.skyhidailynews.com/article/20080821/EDITORIALS/272343/1070/AE&parentprofile=-1

Grand County loses land, water as traditions fade

Thursday, August 21, 2008

Tonya Bina Sky-Hi Daily News

Development on the Front Range causes 100 percent loss to the rivers in Grand County.

It's a known fact that much of the water taken is used to keep residential landscapes alive.

“Truthfully, 50 percent of the water that they use in those municipalities is growing Kentucky bluegrass. That's not necessary,” said Kirk Klancke, Grand County’s foremost river-water advocate.

“So they take it from us and kill this natural environment to create an artificial one, to grow an imported grass from a humid environment in a high plains desert. It's completely illogical.”

http://www.skyhidailynews.com/article/20080821/NEWS/272332/1079&ParentProfile=1067

Fish feeling aftermath of metals spike

No brook trout found in latest round of sampling by state biologists in Snake River

By Bob Berwyn

summit daily news

SUMMIT COUNTY — Last summer's spike in zinc and other metals in the Snake River has persisted, spelling more trouble for trout in the polluted stream.

Colorado Division of Wildlife biologists were disappointed by the absence of brook trout when they surveyed a section of the Snake near Keystone last week.

“It’s definitely a step backwards,” said fisheries expert Jon Ewert, who had hoped that the brookies would re-establish themselves after last summer's gully-washing storm that sent a surge of poisonous metals down the drainage.

Since then, concentrations of zinc seeping from the abandoned Pennsylvania Mine high along Peru Creek have remained near double what they were before the storm, at about 1,200 parts per billion, far above levels deemed toxic for trout.

Zinc kills trout even at concentrations that aren't harmful to humans. Levels in the Snake River have long exceeded state and federal limits.

Some scientists studying potential cleanup options for the Snake River believe that the rainstorm last year may have fundamentally changed the drainage from the mine, leading to the chronically higher levels. Other experts think that the reported increase in zinc concentrations may be related to the way the monitoring data is being analyzed and interpreted by the labs, said Lane Wyatt, a Summit County water-quality expert.

“The zinc levels were a huge surprise,” said Trout Unlimited's Elizabeth Russell, one of the leaders of a task force looking at how to improve water quality in the Snake River. “We didn't think they’d stay that high over the winter.”

http://www.summitdaily.com/article/20080815/NEWS/104721337/1078&ParentProfile=1055

GOV. RITTER STATEMENT ON [8/14] ROAN AUCTION

Cherry Creek News - Written by Dreyer, Evan

“For more than a year, the oil and gas industry and some politicians have claimed that a Roan Plateau lease sale would generate proceeds of up to $2 billion. Today, we learned just how wrong and over- exaggerated those claims were....:

http://www.thecherrycreeknews.com/content/view/3284/2/

Restrictions for motorized vehicles at reservoirs not enough, some say

August 14, 2008By Katie Burford | [Durango] Herald Staff Writer "The decision closes some user-created routes and old logging roads popular with ATVs. But Dave Petersen, state field director for Trout Unlimited's public lands initiative, said the priorities of sportsmen, called "quiet users" by the Forest Service, were largely ignored.... "

http://durangoherald.com/asp-bin/article_generation.asp?article_type=news&article_path=/news/08/news080814_4.htm