Fracing disclosure notice good news

Durango Herald The news (Herald, April 19) that petroleum giant ExxonMobil supports the disclosure of chemicals used in the hydraulic fracturing process associated with gas and oil drilling here in La Plata County and across the West is a significant step in the right direction. The company deserves a pat on the back for taking this stance.

In the past, the industry has been loath to disclose the chemical cocktails that are injected into the ground to help break up rock and release the flow of natural gas. This makes Exxon- Mobil's recent announcement even more significant - if this industry giant, which is poised to take over XTO Energy here in Southwest Colorado, can unveil the contents of its fracturing fluid, others will hopefully follow suit.

As the company noted in a recent Herald article, this disclosure will certainly encourage other companies to use greener chemicals to access natural gas. Not only can exposure to these chemicals at the drill site prove harmful to people, but throughout the West, these unnatural chemicals have turned up in groundwater. Drinking wells have become polluted and unsafe in areas of Wyoming and here in Colorado. It's worth it for industry to unveil the contents of its proprietary fracturing fluids if for no other reason than to give health officials a head start in treating illnesses caused by the accidental ingestion of this material.

On a larger scale, this move is good for our most precious resource - our water. Not only is this resource vital to human health, but it's absolutely needed to maintain healthy fisheries and wildlife populations. The need for cold, clean water is particularly important to native trout, and there have been instances in Colorado where drilling and fracturing pose serious threats to indigenous cutthroat trout populations.

As a sportsman, and a representative of Trout Unlimited, I congratulate ExxonMobil for making this gesture, and I encourage all of the operators in our corner of Colorado to do the same.

Chuck Wanner, president, 5 Rivers Chapter of Trout Unlimited, Durango

http://durangoherald.com/sections/Opinion/letters_to_the_editor/2010/04/23/Fracing_disclosure_notice_good_news/

Cutthroat enemy: Dreaded lake trout

By Karl Licis Special to The Denver Post

The decline in Yellowstone cutthroats is a serious concern, and efforts to restore the natives by several governmental agencies and the private sector are underway.

"They're the only indigenous trout in the region; they've been there for thousands of years," said Dave Sweet, chairman of the Wyoming Council of Trout Unlimited, who recently made a presentation to the Cutthroat Chapter of TU in Denver to raise awareness of the decline.

"They're such an integral part of the national park that losing them would be a tragedy," Sweet said.

While the origin of the lake trout is unknown, the consequences have been unmistakable. The lake-trout population has exploded while the cutthroats have been devastated.

http://www.denverpost.com/headlines/ci_14905995

Colorado & Western Water Project Notes

April 2010 WWP staff testified about the SECURE Water Act in mid-March in D.C. While in DC, staff met w/ Asst Secretary of the Interior for Water & Science, about TU's approach to hydro. Staff also presented on SECURE at the University of Denver Water Law Review annual conference.

We had a month stocked full of meetings with both our NGO partners, consultants and the Bureau on how we're going to get the Basin Study -- and other decision making in the Basin -- to incorporate some level of protection for environmental flows, and how the rest of the study is moving along. Colorado released its final water availability study for the CO R Basin in CO.

CTU had its big annual auction in Denver and national staff bought a table. Later this week, various members of the Water Project staff will be attending and making presentations at the CTU Rendezvous.

We’ve been working on responses to the Million pipeline project, which threatens Flaming Gorge fishery and other sensitive habitat: http://www.coloradoan.com/article/20100406/OPINION04/4060303/Plan-has-economic-environmental-pitfalls

CWP staff submitted comments to the Army Corps of Engineers on the proposed expansion of Denver Water’s trans-basin Moffat Collection System Project. If the expansion moves forward, cumulative depletions to the headwaters of the Fraser River and Colorado River mainstem could reach 70% to 80% of native flows. CWP staff recommended that the project not move forward unless an adaptive management plan can be agreed to by east and west slope interests.

The CWP staff also continues to provide environmental perspective on several large cooperative endeavors including the Colorado River Wild and Scenic Management Plan Alternative, Halligan Seaman Shared Vision Plan and the Chatfield Reservoir Reallocation process.

The CWP staff is cooperating with the United States Forest Service, Colorado Division of Wildlife and Bureau of Land Management staffs to reconnect several headwater streams containing conservation populations of Colorado River cutthroat trout. In general, these projects involve either barrier removal (i.e., culvert removal and replacement) and/or installation of fencing to exclude cattle from the riparian areas. These projects will start back up early this spring once funding and access become available.

We are working with the Forest Service and a private contractor on preparation of an RFP seeking bids for a watershed restoration plan focusing on Colorado River cutthroat trout for the Elkhead Creek Basin.

The CWP staff and local Colorado Trout Unlimited Chapter members worked with Colorado Division of Wildlife staff to sample fish in the Eagle River. The sampling has been conducted for several years to evaluate improvements to the trout fishery attributable to past mine reclamation activities and stream habitat improvements in the Eagle River. Based on the results of this sampling effort, the trout fishery in the Eagle appears to be doing quite well with some 200 meter sample reaches holding up to 490 fish including lots of trout within the 14” to 16” range.

Plan has economic, environmental pitfalls

Coloradoan Opinion piece on the Flaming Gorge Pipeline from Drew Peternell, Director of TU's Colorado Water Project:

Developer Aaron Million is selling his proposed 500-mile water pipeline from Flaming Gorge Reservoir on the Utah-Wyoming border to the Front Range as a win for everyone, from thirsty Front Range communities to farmers to fish.

If you buy that, I've got riverfront property in the Mojave Desert to sell you.

The recent panel discussion on the proposal at the University of Wyoming highlighted some of the very real economic and environmental pitfalls of this multi-billion-dollar pipe dream ("Debate centers on water project," April 1 Coloradoan). As hydrologist Dan Leucke pointed out at that event, the proposal is rife with problems.

http://www.coloradoan.com/article/20100406/OPINION04/4060303/1014/OPINION/Plan+has+economic++environmental+pitfalls

Debate Centers on Water Project

coloradoan.com

Will there be enough water in a future faced with climate change for a pipeline to supply Front Range communities with water from Wyoming? Will that pipeline harm endangered fish? Will it cost too much and cause too much environmental damage?

Boulder hydrologist and environmentalist Dan Luecke and the pipeline's inventor, Fort Collins entrepreneur Aaron Million, faced off in attempt to answer those questions Wednesday night at the University of Wyoming.  Click here to read more...

Misconceptions about oil and gas drilling in the West

Denver Post Guest Commentary

By Chris Wood, the president and chief executive officer of Trout Unlimited.

Recent reports show oil and gas drilling in 2009 was at an 18-year low. Before the fingers start pointing at Secretary of Interior Ken Salazar for putting a stranglehold on the oil and gas industry, let's clarify that first statement: Oil and gas drilling in 2009 was at an 18-year low in Canada.

Some industry trade groups may blame Salazar for the declining trend in oil and gas activity in the Rocky Mountain West, but the reality is that the global recession isn't relegated to Vernal, Utah, Pinedale, Wyoming, and Rifle, Colorado. Well counts all across the western U.S. and Canada fell last year, with the province of Alberta seeing a 50-percent cut in the number of wells drilled in 2009 compared with 2008.

Read more: http://www.denverpost.com/headlines/ci_14710621#ixzz0ivLkQiVS

Innovative proposal will protect Dominguez waters

GJ Sentinel Regarding the March 11 editorial by The Daily Sentinel, “Future may be clear for Dominguez waters:” Trout Unlimited applauds the Sentinel for supporting a balanced, innovative plan to meet the water needs of the Dominguez-Escalante National Conservation Area and Dominguez Canyons Wilderness Area.

Healthy wilderness rivers and streams require more than minimal flows. They also require larger “flushing” flows in the spring to ensure that natural stream processes and hydrology are maintained. In last year’s Black Canyon of the Gunnison settlement, for instance, all parties agreed on the need for flushing flows to mimic the flow variability that occurs under natural conditions

In the Dominguez case, the BLM plan is innovative in calling for the state to claim water rights to meet the flow needs of the federal wilderness area.  This arrangement allows Colorado to maintain control over the water resource while satisfying the purposes of the federal wilderness designation which, as the Sentinel points out, resulted from a constructive, cooperative effort

The Colorado Water Conservation Board should approve this plan to keep the Big and Little Dominguez creeks running wild

Drew Peternell, Director

Colorado Water Project

Trout Unlimited

West Slope questions Denver Water plan

By Bob Berwyn

Summit County Citizens Voice

Similar concerns were repeated by Erica Stock, an outreach coordinator with Colorado Trout Unlimited.The fisheries conservation group has specific ecological concerns related to lower flows, including warmer water that harms fish and higher concentrations of toxic metals. All those issues need to be addressed in the environmental study, she said. “We need minimum flows, flushing flows, adaptive management and monitoring. If we see the river is starting to collapse, we need to stop doing what we’re doing,” she concluded.

Check out the TU action page on the project for more information on how to comment before the March 17 deadline.

http://summitcountyvoice.com/2010/03/09/west-slope-raises-more-questions-about-denver-water-plan/

Projects mean better floating, fishing

By TRACY HARMONTHE PUEBLO CHIEFTAIN

Three Trout Unlimited chapters and the Colorado Division of Wildlife headed the Trout Home Improvement project which provided strategically placed boulders where brown trout can rest from the strong current, feed and reproduce on their own to maintain the population naturally. Bushes and vegetation planted along the banks are vital for shade for the fish and also support insect life.

Sillox said Trout Unlimited members will be back this spring to conduct more plantings where some of the willows died. The members also helped with the informational signs that explain the benefits of the project.

 "Southern Colorado Greenback chapter paid for the three bases — about $1,000. Pueblo Community college's student welding program constructed the bases," Sillox said.The Canon City Recreation and Park District paid for the powder coating of the bases and installed them, while the Division of Wildlife paid for the informational panels recently installed on the bases.

"There was a whole bunch of different groups involved in the project and it is nice to see a lot of people involved," Sillox said.

http://www.chieftain.com/articles/2010/03/07/news/local/doc4b933fc3e9dbb021565462.txt

Ethics: Don't fish spawning areas

By Karl Licis - Special to the Denver Post With the annual spawning run of rainbow trout up the Dream Stream about to begin, anglers face a question of ethics: Is fishing for the spawners acceptable, and if so, how much fishing pressure can the resource withstand, despite the protection of catch- and-release regulations?

Read more: http://www.denverpost.com/huntfish/ci_14485729#ixzz0hRfTDQTU