Udall introduces new ‘Good Samaritan’ water clean-up legislation

Colorado Independent

By Katie Redding

Calling past opposition a “spirited debate in the environmental community about the best way forward,” Udall pointed to two environmental groups who have already agreed to support the new bill: Trout Unlimited and Earthworks. Trout Unlimited Chief Operating Officer Chris Wood released a statement in support of the bill, pointing to EPA data indicating that abandoned hardrock mines contaminate 40 percent of Western streams.

http://coloradoindependent.com/40122/udall-introduces-new-good-samaritan-water-clean-up-legislation

Udall Sponsors Plan To Clean Up Old Mines

CBS4Denver

By Judith Kohler, AP Writer

Chris Wood, Trout Unlimited's chief operating officer, said in a prepared statement that cleaning up abandoned mines "is one of the single most important, least addressed environmental challenges in the nation." Wood said Trout Unlimited is cleaning up fisheries and water affected by abandoned mines in Utah, Idaho, Montana, Colorado and Nevada.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has had to negotiate deals and issue administrative orders to protect the conservation group from lawsuits.

http://cbs4denver.com/local/Senator.sponsors.bill.2.1248421.html

Neubecker to speak to Alpine Anglers on water diversions

Special to the Trail-Gazette

Ken Neubecker, president of Colorado Trout Unlimited, will speak Thursday on the impact of water diversions from the upper Colorado River."More than half of the water of the upper Colorado is already diverted to the Front Range for agricultural and municipal use," said Neubecker. "Now two new projects could take almost half of what remains."

But as conservation, government and business interests in Grand County geared up for a protracted fight, water developers Denver Water and Northern Colorado Water Conservancy District agreed to work with local agencies to find ways to meet the water needs of the Front Range while minimizing the impact on wildlife and recreation on the Colorado and Fraser Rivers.

Neubecker will speak about the situation at the Alpine Anglers` monthly meeting at 7 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 15 in the Hondius Room of the Estes Park Public Library. The public is invited.

http://www.eptrail.com/ci_13552219

‘Good Samaritan’ legal battle pits greens against greens

  Colorado Independent

By Katie Redding

Elizabeth Russell at nonprofit Trout Unlimited, which is currently working on several acid mine drainage clean-up projects in Colorado, worries that expecting government to clean up the countless draining mines on private property isn’t feasible.

“The government is just not going to do it,” she said. “They don’t want the liability either.”

http://coloradoindependent.com/39698/%E2%80%98good-samaritan%E2%80%99-legal-battle-pits-greens-against-greens

Cutthroat competition

Durango Herald op-ed from Paul Sheppard, president of the Five Rivers Chapter of Trout Unlimited in Durango: As part of the recent land swap discussion, we should consider values that do not equate well to dollars, as they are priceless.

The U.S. Forest Service recognizes articles identified in the Wild & Scenic Rivers Acts as "outstandingly remarkable values" or ORVs. These are features in the forest of such high value, the Forest Service is directed to manage them so as to retain their character. In order for the people to make more informed decisions about the proposed land swap, I feel it important to share these values.

http://durangoherald.com/sections/Opinion/2009/09/27/Cutthroat__competition/

Thanks to Coyote Gulch for the link!

More fodder for FRAC Act backers as Pa. officials shut down fracking ops

The Colorado Independent - By David O. Williams

The problems in Pennsylvania could supply lawmakers even more ammunition in the ever-intensifying national campaign to strip a Safe Drinking Water Act exemption for the process that was granted during the Bush administration. Colorado Congresswoman Diana DeGette is leading the charge on that front with her so-called FRAC Act – a measure hotly debated in and around the gas fields of Colorado’s Western Slope. Read more

Upper Ark water study gets state funds

By CHRIS WOODKATHE PUEBLO CHIEFTAIN

“It’s important from the standpoint of knowing what the total supply is and comparing our projected demands. Then we’ll know what we need to meet those demands,” said Terry Scanga, general manager of the Upper Ark district. The study would also look at groundwater recharge rates and possible sites for groundwater storage. Read more

Colo. water cleanups hobbled by ‘Good Samaritan’ legal risks

 Colorado Independent

 By Katie Redding

Trout Unlimited's Elizabeth Russell advocates for federal “Good Samaritan legislation,” laws that would relieve groups like Lake Fork Watershed from liability. She said that in Pennsylvania, the only state with such laws, “clean ups are happening left and right.” http://coloradoindependent.com/38169/colo-water-cleanup-projects-hobbled-by-%E2%80%98good-samaritan%E2%80%99-legal-risks

Enough water?

By CHRIS WOODKATHE PUEBLO CHIEFTAIN

And speaking of the environment, a statewide plan is only effective when each piece of river it touches can be accounted for, said Melinda Kassen of Trout Unlimited.

Kassen said the nine basin roundtables that feed into the IBCC have yet to complete the analysis of nonconsumptive water needs throughout the state. Even then, each project will have to be decided on a case-by-case basis, since recreation interests

- rafting vs. fishing, for example - are often at cross-purposes.

Some reaches are fine, some need protection and some need restoration, Kassen said.

“We need to make sure we use the money available for environmental protection to protect those areas we know will have problems,” Kassen said.

http://www.chieftain.com/articles/2009/09/20/news/local/doc4ab5bc15852b1824827984.txt

State plans for multiple water futures

By CHRIS WOODKATHE PUEBLO CHIEFTAIN

Melinda Kassen of Trout Unlimited said the overall goal of meeting water needs is not as important to the environment as when and where the water is used.

“It’s about ecosystems,” she said. “What do we have to do to protect the important ecosystems of the state?”

http://www.chieftain.com/articles/2009/09/15/news/local/doc4aaf1b996005b080031227.txt