Scott CondonThe Aspen Times
Editor’s note: This is the first in a two-part series looking at issues raised in a new study of the Roaring Fork watershed. Today’s article looks at the effects water diversion has on the valley’s namesake river. Saturday’s article will look at environmental degradation of the river and the lands adjacent to it. Read the full story
by Ginger D. Richardson - Dec. 5, 2008The Arizona Republic
The Bureau of Land Management today is expected to eliminate a regulation that gave two congressional committees the ability to block future uranium mining and exploration on public lands near the Grand Canyon.... [U.S. Rep Tucson]... Grijalva who is rumored to be a leading candidate to head the Interior Department in President-elect Barack Obama's Cabinet, blasted the Bush administration's decision to abolish the regulation. http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/local/articles/2008/12/05/20081205canyon1205.html
By Patty Henetz - The Salt Lake Tribune
The drought gripping Utah, Southern California and the rest of the Southwest this century shows no sign of ending. Scientists see it as a permanent condition that, despite year-to-year weather variations, will deepen as temperatures rise, snows dwindle, soils bake and fires burn.
by Shauna Stephenson - Wyoming Tribune-Eagle [this is a really good opinion piece: tk]
Value is not measured in cubic feet, and keeping those resources - clean air, clean water and open space - is going to take nothing short of a battle. It will no doubt be my generation's burden to shoulder, and the weight will be too crushing to fiddle around with popularity contests.
http://www.istockanalyst.com/article/viewiStockNews+articleid_2840109~pageid_1.html
The Denver Post - NOv. 17 2008 By Abrahm Lustgarten ProPublica
In July, a hydrologist dropped a plastic sampling pipe 300 feet down a water well in rural Sublette County, Wyo., and pulled up a load of brown, oily water with a foul smell. Tests showed it contained benzene, a chemical believed to cause aplastic anemia and leukemia, in a concentration 1,500 times the level safe for people....
... many of its 6,000 wells have undergone a process pioneered by Halliburton called hydraulic fracturing, which shoots vast amounts of water, sand and chemicals several miles underground to break apart rock and release the gas.
The process has been considered safe since a 2004 study by the Environmental Protection Agency found that it posed no risk to drinking water. After that study, Congress even exempted hydraulic fracturing from the Safe Drinking Water Act. Today, fracturing is used in nine of every 10 natural-gas wells in the United States.
Visit: ProPublica.org's website for much more on the water safety story, including a slide show explanation of the hydraulic fracturing process in Wyoming, extensive documents, and links for more information..
Denver Post Perspective - October 26, 2008 Gretchen Bergen is a freelance writer and independent public information consultant. Grand County is one of her clients. She was also a 2006 Colorado Voices columnist.
By CHRIS WOODKATHE PUEBLO CHIEFTAIN
n a 27-page comment made available by the groups to The Pueblo Chieftain, the Rocky Mountain Environmental and Labor Coalition and the Sierra Club blast the supplemental report for ignoring key environmental concerns they brought up relating to the draft EIS.
http://www.chieftain.com/articles/2008/11/27/news/local/doc492e663f000ca163049607.txt
From Celsias - a website that "is all about doing practical things to combat climate change"
At Eritrea, workers planted the powerhouse halophyte salicornia, also known as sea asparagus. This salt-loving succulent is a potential food source and an oil seed crop that can also provide a cooking oil, high-protein meal, and biofuel.http://www.celsias.com/article/seawater-farming-solution-rising-sea-levels-food-a/
Discover Online
At a time when only one in six people on the planet have access to water and bottled water is not always the most practical (or environmentally sound) option, inventors are busy trying to turn just about anything into water.
.... each of you that fish this river and care about its future, make a donation to the Conejos Habitat Project! It is tax deductable and will make a huge difference in the future of the river. Send checks to Trout Unlimited c/o Conejos Habitat Project, P.O. Box 503, Alamosa, CO 81101
