Sharing Colorado River Water

The United States and Mexico agreed Tuesday to new rules on sharing water from the Colorado River, capping a five-year effort on how to spread the pain of drought and reap the benefits of wet years... Mexico will forfeit some of its share of the river during shortages, bringing itself in line with western U.S. states that already have agreed how much they will surrender when waters recede. Mexico also will capture surpluses when waters rise...

The agreement, coming in the final days of the administration of Mexican President Felipe Calderón, is a major amendment to a 1944 treaty considered sacred by many south of the border. The treaty grants Mexico 1.5 million acre-feet of river water each year - enough to supply about 3 million homes - making it the lifeblood of Tijuana and other cities in northwest Mexico.

"We have chosen collaboration over conflict; we have chosen cooperation and consensus over discord," said U.S. Interior Secretary Ken Salazar, who called the new pact the most important international accord on the Colorado River since the 1944 treaty.

Mexico will begin to surrender some of its Colorado River allotment when the elevation in Lake Mead drops to 1,075 feet and begin to reap surpluses when it rises to 1,145 feet. Mexico will be allowed to store up to 250,000 acre-feet of water in the reservoir and draw on nearly all of those reserves whenever needed...

"These are big political steps for Mexico to take," said Jeffrey Kightlinger, general manager of the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, which will buy some of Mexico's water. "Chances are we won't have a surplus and we won't have a shortage, but if we do, we'll have the guidelines in place on how we're going to handle it."

To read the article in its entirety, click here. 

SFRED Weighs in on Oil Shale in the West

Commercial oil shale development in Utah, Wyoming and Colorado would require large volumes of water, threatening Western water supplies and jeopardizing fish and wildlife, according to a report released Thursday by Sportsmen for Responsible Energy Development (SFRED). According to the report, “Water Under Pressure: What Oil Shale Could Mean for Western Water, Fish and Wildlife,” a commercial oil shale industry would ultimately affect river flows and the habitat of native fish. Several important Western rivers – the Green, Colorado, White, Uintah and Duchesne – and the sportsmen who depend on them stand to see significant impacts from large-scale production. Whether it’s endangered and threatened species or the great trout fisheries beloved by anglers across the West, reduced stream flows will have negative repercussions for fish, sportsmen and the region’s outdoors-dependent economy.

An economically viable technology to turn kerogen – a precursor to oil – into a usable fuel is unproven, and the scope of the potential environmental impacts is unclear. But the Government Accountability Office estimates that industrial-scale oil shale production could require as much as 123 billion gallons of water – enough water for a city of more than 750,000 homes. Roads, new power plants and transmission lines would have to be built, causing significant land disturbances and further carving up wildlife habitat already pressured by oil and gas drilling.

“For a resource that lies in the midst of the semi-arid West, with sparse precipitation and few large rivers, it is not clear where the water would come from or how it would affect fish and wildlife,” said Brad Powell, senior policy director for Trout Unlimited’s Sportsmen’s Conservation Project. “With the region’s water supply already strained and facing continued population growth, finding another increment of water for oil shale, while protecting native and sport fisheries, may be an insurmountable challenge.”

Additional research will be needed to determine whether or not oil shale is economically and environmentally feasible.

To read the full article, visit this link.

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Reach 4...A Healthier Purgatoire River

The Purgatoire River is a major headwater tributary of the Arkansas River, draining a large portion of southeastern Colorado.  From the headwaters on the eastern slopes of the Culebra Range, the river flows east for approximately 50 miles to the City of Trinidad.  Trinidad has through its history been plagued by several damaging flood events, and in 1958, the US Congress authorized construction of the Trinidad Dam and Reservoir (Trinidad Project) under the Flood Control Act of 1958.  The primary purpose of the project was to provide flood control, as well as storage for irrigation and recreational use. The Trinidad Project dam and reservoir have dramatically altered the natural flow regime of the Purgatoire River.  The pre-project river hydrology was principally snow-melt driven, with additional influence from high-intensity, short duration storm events during the summer monsoon season.  Prior to construction of the reservoir, the Purgatoire River typically experienced peak flows during the snow melt run-off in May and June, with additional storm driven peaks in July and August.  Base flows typically occurred from mid-September through early April.  Reservoir operations have flattened out the annual hydrograph, limiting the peak run-off flows below the dam, and significantly extending the period of higher than natural flows beginning earlier in the spring through the late summer into fall.  Releases from the dam correspond to a designated irrigation season, and flows during the non-irrigation season are limited, with the only flow in the river downstream of the dam coming from Raton Creek and a few other intermittent tributaries.

In 2010, the Purgatoire River Anglers Chapter of Trout Unlimited contracted with Fin-Up Habitat Consultants, Inc. to conduct an assessment of existing aquatic habitat conditions and a feasibility study for a cold water habitat improvement project on a segment of the Purgatoire River within the City of Trinidad.  Funding for the assessment came from a Trout Unlimited Embrace-A-Stream grant the Chapter had applied for in the 2010 grant cycle, as well as a small contribution from the Cheyenne Mountain Chapter of TU in Colorado Springs.  The purpose of this assessment was to evaluate the existing condition of the river, including available habitat for resident trout, to identify segments of the stream for restoration, and to develop a planning document for future projects.

The assessment was completed during the summer of 2011. The results of the assessment indicated that the severely reduced winter flows below Trinidad Dam are likely to limit the potential fishery in the Purgatoire River through the City of Trinidad, Colorado.  Interviews with long time residents and local fisherman, did indicate that a remnant population of trout does persist in the study reaches, and many of the river’s stakeholders in the region are convinced that the creation of an urban recreational fishery is in the best economic and social interests of the community.  Although a self-sustaining population of trout might be difficult to establish, there was an opportunity to create a seasonal “put-and take” fishery within the city limits of Trinidad, which would provide recreation enhancements including easier and more controlled access to the river corridor for residents.  While an enhancement project of this nature could not address the limited flow issue, the work would provide velocity shelter and in-channel holding cover for stocked fish during the sustained higher flow period.  A project could provide seasonal fishing opportunities from April through October each year, and would address many of the access, dispersed recreation, and bank stability issues.  Following this enhancement concept, the assessment analyzed the potential of each reach for a project of this type.  Concept plans for Reach 3, 4 and 5, in the central downtown area of the City of Trinidad were developed, and are described, in order of recommended priority.

The stakeholders for the Trinidad / Purgatoire River effort include a diverse mix - Purgatoire River Anglers – Trout Unlimited, The City of Trinidad, Pioneer Natural Resources Company, The Purgatoire River Water Conservancy District, The Trinidad Community Foundation, and Colorado Department of Parks & Wildlife.  The project stakeholders agreed that Reach 4 would be the first priority, and would be used as a demonstration project to assess the value of creating a “put-and-take” fishery in the heart of downtown Trinidad.  Planning for implementation of the project began in the summer of 2011, with a target date of completion by early summer in 2012.  Construction of the Trinidad / Purgatoire River Reach 4 Demonstration Project began on February 23, 2012.  The project began with the stockpiling of 600 tons of boulders at two sites near the upstream and downstream boundaries of the reach.  Boulders were then distributed to the individual habitat feature locations within the river channel by a loader.

Construction then began at the upstream boundary of the reach, under the I-25 bridge, and worked downstream to a point just upstream of the Colorado Division of Water Resources stream gauge at the North Commercial Street bridge.  Heavy equipment construction of in-channel habitat and stream-bank stabilization features was completed by Friday, March 9, 2012.

Following the heavy construction activities in the river and along the access trail, the Purgatoire River Anglers chapter of Trout Unlimited organized a volunteer workday in the project reach on April 15, 2012.  Eleven volunteers worked to clean up the boulder stockpile sites, reseed disturbed areas, harvest willow cuttings, and plant willow and sedge along the newly constructed bank-full riparian benches.  A total of 41 hours of volunteer effort were utilized to put the finishing touches on the river work.  In early May, members of Trout Unlimited completed the final phase of the project, with the stocking of several hundred catchable rainbow trout throughout the project reach.

Article and photos courtesy of Pete Gallagher, Fin-Up Habitat Consultants, Inc. To read the full project report, please visit this link.

The Blue nets a Gold

Colorado has over 9,000 miles of rivers and creeks, but only 168 miles of these are considered “gold medal water,” making the Blue River an extremely special asset to Summit County's loyal anglers and general local economy. To earn the rating, rivers and streams must meet the official criteria for gold medal water: 12 trout per acre over 14” or 60-pounds of trout per surface acre. Blue River going through Summit and Grand counties features gold medal waters from Dillon Reservoir to the Green Mountain Reservoir inlet.

“That's a ton of fish,” said Erica Stock, Trout Unlimited outreach director. “That's what makes up the bulk of the Blue River fishery. To have fish that size, you need a healthy ecosystem. They live on bugs. In order to have diverse bug life you need a relatively healthy stream.”

The Colorado Wildlife Commission has designated these stretches of water as offering the greatest potential for trophy trout fishing. An ecologically healthy river is one that retains its major ecological features and functioning similar to the way it did prior to settlement and which would be able to sustain these characteristics into the future. Healthy streams promote aquatic life and nurture surrounding lands.

“You can tell that a river is viable when there is a healthy trout population,” Stock said. “You need to have good oxidation of the water. That comes from having good hydrology. When there's oxygen going into the water trout can grab their food sources.”

To read the rest of the article, visit the Summit Daily's "Wild Colorado: Gold-medal waters in the Summit."

Working Together to Protect Fishing and Hunting

During the second Presidential debate, Governor Romney and President Obama engaged in a heated exchange about energy development on public lands.  My ears perked up and my eyes went from my hunting area maps right to the TV. But I didn’t find enlightenment. The candidates simply said what we already know.  Both Governor Romney and President Obama support energy development on our public lands.   That’s no surprise, and it is going to be an important part of our domestic energy policy in the years to come.  The question for hunters and anglers is:  How do we ensure that development proceeds in a manner that protects our hunting and fishing resources?

Traditionally, sportsmen’s groups, conservationists, and environmentalists have focused on influencing policy in Washington D.C. and influencing land management decisions by federal agencies to reduce the impacts of oil and gas development on public lands.  That still may be an effective means to an end.  But here at Trout Unlimited (TU) we think there is a better way.  We are trying to work directly with oil and gas companies to help them develop energy on public lands in a way that protects the places that you love to hunt and fish.

We believe that working with energy developers is the best way to protect our resources for two primary reasons.  First, we think energy companies want to do the right thing.  Many of TU’s members work in the oil and gas industry or depend on the oil and gas industry for their livelihoods.  Moreover, many of the people we have met that work in the energy industry love to hunt and fish.  They choose to work in the energy industry in part because it allows them to be near public lands and chase deer and trout in their free time.  It stands to reason that these folks want to develop energy responsibly so they can make a living while preserving habitat for hunting and fishing.

Second, we believe that if you want something done, you should talk directly with the people that can do what you want done.  For example, my neighbor’s dog wouldn’t stop barking last year. All day, all night.  I had a few options. I could try and organize the neighborhood to help pass a city ordinance banning dogs. I could call the city authorities and lodge a complaint under the noise ordinances.  Or I could walk over to my neighbor’s house and talk with him about the problem.  I chose option number three, and it worked.  Ninety nine times out of a hundred it would work, and my neighbor would  address the problem.  He kept the dog inside at night and took it to obedience school.  If I had called the authorities or tried to pass a ban on dogs, however, I would have created animosity with my neighbor and that could have lead to a host of other problems.

Sportsmen, anglers and the energy industry are, as a matter of law and fact, neighbors on our public lands.  At TU we are focusing our efforts on talking with our neighbors about our concerns, and it’s working.  We have begun to collaborate with a number of companies in the Rocky Mountain West on responsible energy development.  Shell Oil has been an early leader - working directly with TU on its energy development proposals in Routt and Moffat Counties in Colorado.  So far, Shell Oil has incorporated wildlife protections that TU supported into a drilling proposal in Routt County, agreed to implement a groundwater monitoring program proposed by Routt County, and gone above and beyond regulatory requirements to incorporate protective measures into its proposal based on citizen’s concerns.  Additionally, Shell Oil contributed $10,000 towards a river restoration project TU is spearheading on a nearby creek.  We are hoping to build on these successes and continue to work directly with Shell Oil to protect fish and wildlife in Colorado on a much larger scale.

Despite these early successes, we still have a long ways to go.  Energy development on public lands is expected to increase dramatically over the next 20 years, and we need more energy companies to work with us.  Some conservationists have been calling the authorities and trying to ban their neighbor’s activities for years. Companies that have experienced this may be reluctant to trust our organization.  That’s why it’s important that we start to highlight examples where energy companies are practicing responsible energy development.  We want TU members to be able to recognize and support companies that are going the extra mile to protect their sacred hunting and fishing grounds.

---Shane Cross, Western Energy Counsel, TU's Sportsmen's Conservation Project

Protect the White River Basin - The Time is Now

The White River basin is a national treasure. Take action to help ensure that energy development is balanced with our hunting and angling traditions! The BLM’s White River Field Office (WRFO) recently released its Draft Resource Management Plan Amendment (RMPA) for Oil and Gas leasing in the White River basin.  The WRFO covers over 2.6 million acres of Northwest Colorado and holds some of the best fish and game habitat in the nation. The basin is also home to some of the most extensive energy development in the nation, and conflicts exist over how to balance these resources.

Trout Unlimited is extremely concerned with the Draft RMPA. It fails to adequately balance energy development with other public land uses and fails to ensure that healthy fish and wildlife populations will be sustained over the life of the plan. We are deeply concerned about inadequate protections for water quality and streams, and the quantity of water required to develop at the levels the BLM has outlined.

The Preferred Alternative calls for drilling over 15,000 new wells over the next twenty years which would require over 1,300 miles of new roads, over 1.2 million truck trips, and 67.5 billion gallons of water all while reducing big game herds by 30% and doubling the population of Rio Blanco county. Moreover, the Preferred Alternative does not require that drilling operations be setback from streams and other surface water or require buffers between drilling operations and sensitive soils or steep areas. These deficiencies increase the likelihood of waters being contaminated by toxic substances or overwhelmed with sediment.

Possibly the most troubling of all is a lack of protection for Colorado River cutthroat trout (CRCT). The WRFO’s CRCT populations are vulnerable and isolated - they only exist in about 39 stream miles. The East Douglas Area of Critical Environmental Concern (ACEC) is designated for the protection of CRCT. However, after multiple requests by TU staff to apply protective stipulations in the area, the BLM continues to fall short in providing adequate protections for this area and others in the Draft RMPA. We believe that where an ACEC has been designated to protect a species, the management scheme in that area should reflect that protective intent.

You have probably heard about TU’s efforts to support responsible energy development. We are proud to seek collaborative solutions and to reach out to energy companies to find solutions to the toughest energy question of our times – how to balance energy production with conservation of other natural resources? However, when the BLM presents a development scenario like that found in the Draft RMPA, we have no choice but to call it what it is – an unsustainable plan that too severely degrades the environment and seats energy development as the first and most important use of our public lands.

We ask that our members help us spread the word and submit comments asking the BLM to change course and adopt a plan that sustains all natural resources in the WRFO, one that ensures healthy public lands and fish and wildlife populations even after energy development has moved on.

Key points to include in your comments:

• A 500ft or greater setback should be required for all surface waters. • A ¼ mile setback should be required for all cutthroat trout waters. • A No Surface Occupancy (NSO) stipulation should be applied to the East Douglas ACEC to protect fragile cutthroat populations. • Adopt the conservation alternative (Alt. B) and refrain from granting waivers and/or exceptions to protective stipulations. • Require mitigation measures for fish and wildlife and their habitat that is harmed during energy development operation. • Refrain from developing areas that are unroaded and/or have wilderness characteristics. • Assess the cumulative impacts of energy development within neighboring field offices when determining appropriate development levels. • Require a “closed loop” system for water use during energy development. This means that all waters must be recycled and reused. • Please visit www.tu.org/whiteriver to see our vision of how the WRFO should be developed.

Comments can be sent to: Colorado_WROGEIS@blm.gov

Or

Heather Sauls Planning and Environmental Coordinator White River BLM Field Office 220 East Market Street Meeker, CO   81641

Please contact Aaron Kindle at akindle@tu.org or 303 868 2859 for more information.

Support the Sportsmen's Act

Ask your member of Congress:  please step up and vote for sportspeople! The Sportsmen's Act of 2012 will make a difference for habitat and for hunting and angling.

The Sportsmen's Act of 2012 is made up of many previously-proposed bills that would improve access and opportunity for hunting and angling, promote habitat conservation, and reauthorize key programs like Partners for Fish and Wildlife and the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation.

You can help!  Visit our online action center now to learn more and contact your Representative along with Senators Bennet and Udall, urging them to support The Sportsmen's Act!  Your email can make a difference.

Cleaning up Kerber Creek

Trout Unlimited (TU) watershed activists from around the nation joined local government agency partners Wednesday morning to explore Kerber Creek and celebrate the ongoing restoration effort. The tour was a part of TU’s annual watershed retreat, bringing watershed experts from Oregon, Utah, Montana, Idaho and Wisconsin to the Valley to witness the long-term impacts of mining and contribute to the conversation about the clean up, especially in regards to water quality. TU’s purpose is to protect and restore North America’s coldwater fisheries and their watersheds. The group has protected more than 10,000 river miles nationwide and pioneered new scientific, legal and legislative tools to make America’s rivers cleaner and healthier. They have served as the fiscal agent for Kerber Creek restoration efforts, acquiring more than $1.14 million for on-the-ground restoration; provided technical and grant writing assistance; helped to develop documents crucial to the continued success of the project and donated countless volunteer hours via the Salida-based TU Collegiate Peak Anglers Chapter...

Since its inception, TU has significantly improved the 64,323-acre watershed thanks to the landowners’ enthusiasm and support from governmental agencies including the Bureau of Land Management, the U.S. Forest Service, the Natural Resources Conservation Service and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Improvements include over 6.5 miles of recuperated stream; over 53 acres treated; 289 in-stream structures; 4,000 feet of restored stream bank and four in-stream flow rights. The group has also acquired $415,000 in-kind donations, $2,096,306 received grant matches and 13,000 volunteer hours.

“I can’t say enough good things about the partnerships we have been able to build with the landowners and agencies,” TU Colorado Mine Restoration Project Manager Elizabeth Russell said. “It has just been great.”

Much of TU’s work is focused on restoring areas mine tailings have damaged. Mine tailings are materials left over after extraction of valuable minerals from ore. The nearly 100 years of mining that took place in the Bonanza area has left many tailings and impaired the creek’s water quality, aquatic invertebrate communities and fishery habitats, which the restoration efforts have been able to reverse to some degree and is evident in the returning fish population.

Visit the Valley Courier to read the rest of the story.

Photo courtesy of Kerber Creek Restoration Project.