[Durango] Herald Denver Bureau
The Gunnison rancher wants to build an 18-foot-wide water pipeline from the Mississippi River to a hill south of Denver and bring in enough water for millions more people. Read the story
By Brandon Gee (Contact) - Steamboat Pilot & Today
Steamboat Springs — Routt County, the Upper Yampa Water Conservancy District and the towns of Oak Creek and Yampa will pool their resources in opposing Shell Oil’s application to take 375 cubic feet of water per second from the Yampa River west of Craig. Read the full story
Yesterday was a day of celebration, as two bills that CEC and our coalition partners [including CTU] have been working on for years (even decades) passed -- one federal, one at the state level.
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Dominguez-Escalante NCA, protected with the passage of the Omnibus Public Land Management Act! |
Victory for Dominguez-Escalante National Conservation Area and Rocky Mountain National Park Wilderness In Congress, the Omnibus Public Land Management Act, HR 146, passed the House yesterday. The bill (which includes the Rocky Mountain National Park and Dominguez Canyon Wilderness bills) would permanently protect more than 2 million acres of America's wilderness, including 316,000 acres in Colorado. The omnibus lands act would provide the greatest expansion of the National Wilderness Preservation System in 15 years and the first wilderness designation in Colorado since James Peak Wilderness was passed in 2002. With last week's passage by the Senate, the bill now heads to President Obama's desk, where it should be signed into law within a few days!
» Read Full Press Release » Learn more and comment on the CEC Blog!
Protections from drilling help create healthy energy industry In a major victory for Colorado’s future, the state Senate yesterday passed a broad series of new protections that will safeguard the state’s public health, environment and wildlife and promote a healthy, thriving energy industry. The new safeguards embody common-sense approaches such as prohibiting new oil and gas facilities within 300 feet of a public water supply, requiring companies to identify chemicals used in drilling and opening communication between oil and gas operators, the Colorado Division of Wildlife and Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment to help protect wildlife and public health from long-term effects of drilling. We anticipate that Gov. Ritter will sign it into law sometime next week.
» Read Full Press Release » Learn more and comment on the CEC Blog!
Both of these bills represent a huge victory for public lands, healthy wildlife, and protecting Colorado's incredible natural beauty!
Thanks for all the work you've done one these bills over the last few weeks, months, and years!
Sincerely,
Carrie Curtiss Colorado Environmental Coalition
A industry advocate group is already considering filing a lawsuit as the new rules await Ritter's signature. By John Ingold - The Denver Post
The controversial new rules for oil and gas drilling in Colorado won final approval in the legislature Wednesday, and one industry advocate said his organization is already considering filing a lawsuit over the rules. Read More
March 2009
We attended the Ex Loco Carpe Diem "convening" in Las Vegas w/ a number of NGOs, water providers, gov't agency personnel and funders to discuss the Federal Role in Western Water Issues in the Face of Climate Change. We also worked w/ TU staff and other NGOs to put together a memo with suggestions to the new administration on water adaptation strategies to include in a climate change cap and trade bill.
We worked on a couple of letters to the editor that were published, including one in the Denver Post explaining TU’s (qualified) support for rainwater catchment bill (we support a version that guarantees return flows to streams):
http://blogs.denverpost.com/eletters/2009/02/19/harvesting-rainwater-has-an-effect-downstream/
And another in Pueblo Chieftain raising questions about Aaron Million’s pipeline project and calling instead for more comprehensive, collaborative water planning:
http://www.chieftain.com/articles/2009/03/01/editorial/doc49aa0307a89c2958757598.txt
The Colorado Water Project (CWP) staff submitted recommendations for instream flow water rights to the Colorado Water Conservation Board (CWCB) at the CWCB’s February 2009 Instream Flow Workshop. CWP used TU’s Conservation Success Index to identify two greenback cutthroat trout streams in the Poudre River watershed that were not currently protected by state-held instream flow water rights. Field data was collected in October 2008 and it was used to quantify the instream flow needs of these creeks. Recommendations were presented at the Workshop which then initiates a one-year public review process by the CWCB. The recommendations will be presented to the CWCB in 2010 for appropriation. Once decreed, these instream flow water rights should provide a reasonable level of flow protection for stream segments that support healthy populations of greenback cutthroat trout.
The CWP is also continuing to evaluate and or monitor the progress of several Environmental Impact Statements for various water development projects around the state such as the Windy Gap Firming, Denver Moffat Expansion, and Northern Integrated Supply Project.
CWP staff is continuing to provide environmental perspective on several large cooperative endeavors including the Halligan Seaman Shared Vision Plan and the Colorado River Wild and Scenic Management Plan Alternative.
CWP staff is cooperating with the Colorado Division of Wildlife, Bureau of Land Management, and United States Forest Service staffs to identify and prioritize stream reaches for instream flow water right protection and to find opportunities to restore and reconnect trout habitat. For example, CWP and USFS staffs are currently working with a landowner on the western slope to discuss opportunities for reconstructing a headgate on USFS land which diverts native cutthroat trout as well as water onto irrigated lands. This headgate also serves as an upstream migration barrier and diverts the majority of the streamflow during certain seasons of the year. CWP staff will continue to work with state and federal government staffs and local landowners to protect, reconnect and restore aquatic habitat.
We are supporting a bill this legislative session that would create a state income tax credit for parties who donate water rights to the CWCB for instream flow use. The bill has passed the House Agriculture and House Finance Committees. It will next go to the House Appropriations Committee.
From KFSK Radio - Joe Viechnicki PETERSBURG, AK (2009-03-17) Sport anglers who wade through Southeast Alaska’s creeks and rivers may have to get some new fishing gear in the next two years. That follows a decision by the state Board of Fish at it's February meeting in Sitka. The board voted to prohibit the use of felt sole waders starting in 2011. It’s a move designed to limit the spread of non-native plants and animals and it may be among the first such bans in the nation.
ARLINGTON, Va. — Trout Unlimited will celebrate its 50th anniversary as the nation's largest and oldest coldwater conservation organization throughout 2009. Started in 1959 by 16 fishermen in Michigan who wanted to protect their local river, TU has grown to 140,000 members in 400 local chapters throughout the country, including a Green Bay chapter. TU has been instrumental in restoring more than 10,000 miles of rivers and streams around the country. Trout Unlimited will host a number of events to mark its 50th anniversary, including an August celebration at its annual meeting in Traverse City, Mich., located near the Au Sable River where TU was founded.
Saturday, March 14, 2009
Former Grand Junction resident Jim Ives has worked in Alaska’s oil fields and on the former Colony oil shale project near Parachute.
In 1997-98 he served as executive director of the Rocky Mountain Oil & Gas Association, the predecessor of the Colorado Petroleum Association.
Today, he’s lending what might seem to be an unlikely voice on behalf of Colorado’s new oil and gas rules, which have been largely criticized by the industry as being costly and burdensome.
“I think basically the regulations represent a balance that is both socially responsible as well as commercially viable,” Ives said in an interview.
He conceded the rules — scheduled to take effect this spring if approved by the state Legislature — do add some expense. But he called them “a necessary cost of doing business.”
The Centennial resident, 61, is retired and active with Trout Unlimited. Trout Unlimited supports the new rules, which aim partly to protect fish and other wildlife habitat. Ives cites his industry background in expressing his belief that oil and gas companies can comply with what he considers to be flexible, fair and balanced rules.
http://www.gjsentinel.com/hp/content/news/stories/2009/03/14/031509_3aenergyguy_backs_rules.html
Local groups unite to rehabilitate river Durango Telegraph
by Missy Votel
The Animas River is getting a facelift. This week, the City of Durango was awarded an $86,000 grant from the Colorado Division of Wildlife for habitat improvements and bank stabilization for the stretch of river between 9th Street and the Highway 160 bridge. The project, which is planned for August, is meant to improve fish habitat while restoring riparian areas along the western river bank. With the high flows and increased use of the area in recent years, a number of native cottonwoods and shrubs along the banks have disappeared, leading to further erosion and habitat damage.
“Over the last several years, we’ve lost a lot of our big cottonwoods into the river,” said Ty Churchwell, of the Five Rivers Chapter of Trout Unlimited. “Every time we lose a 150-year-old cottonwood, it takes that long to replace it.”
Churchwell said the trees are important because, in addition to providing bird habitat and cover for fish, their massive root systems help to hold the soil in place. Without them, the bank erodes, causing further undercutting. “The root structure is what keeps the soil from washing away. Every big run-off we have, the problem perpetuates itself.”
Trout Unlimited along with Animas Riverkeepers was instrumental in securing the grant and getting the City of Durango on board with the project. The area to be worked on, which runs adjacent to Roosa Avenue, is city owned, making city cooperation crucial. The west side of the river, versus the east side adjacent to the River Trail and Doubletree, is being pinpointed because that is where the river takes a natural lefthand turn, scouring the west bank especially hard as a result.
http://www.durangotelegraph.com/telegraph.php?inc=/09-03-05/coverstory.htm
A water war is brewing on the Yampa River.
A bid by the Shell Exploration and Production Co. for a 15 billion- gallon water right has sparked opposition letters from 25 federal, state and local agencies, along with businesses and environmental groups.
The battle runs from Parker, which is seeking more water amid Front Range suburbs, to Dinosaur National Monument, where National Park Service officials worry that Shell's plan to divert water for oil-shale development may hurt the park.
Other objections filed with the Steamboat Springs water court came from a coal company, a power company, an agricultural ditch company and Cross Mountain Ranch, a hunting resort.
The Shell application and the opposition letters will be reviewed by the water court, a process that water lawyers say could take a year.
The Shell bid is provoking such a strong reaction because the Yampa is Colorado's last river with unclaimed water.
The environmental groups filing include the Sierra Club, the Wilderness Society, Trout Unlimited and the Colorado Environmental Coalition.
