Although portions of this report are used on occasion in Colorado Central Magazine, we do not publish the full report there, as we do on this website. It is prepared by Steve Glazer of Crested Butte and is distributed early each month via an email list. To subscribe to that list, email to <listserv@lists.sierraclub.org> with SUBSCRIBE RMC-CONS-WATER as the message.
Please note that this is an archive, and some links may no longer function.
The U.S. must develop a nationwide water plan that details cooperation between governments and regions and is aimed at controlling drought, floods, municipal water supplies and water quality if the nation is to thwart a water crisis, according to a report from the Water Resources Policy Dialogue. Salt Lake Tribune; 1/10 <http://www.headwatersnews.org/stories/redirect.php?id=6304>
Colorado's snowpack is 25 percent below normal and state officials are predicting next summer's drought will be as bad or worse than last year's. Denver Post; Jan. 29 <http://www.denverpost.com/Stories/0,1413,36%257E23447%257E1142721%257E,00.html>
Colorado Gov. Bill Owens urged the Legislature to approve his agenda on the economy, education and health care, and stressed a compromise on water storage in his state of the state address, but said little to fix the $850 million budget shortfall. Denver Post; Jan. 17 <http://www.headwatersnews.org/stories/redirect.php?id=6439>
Leaders from the Front Range and the West Slope of Colorado met seeking an agreement on how to manage the state's water resources that would balance urban and rural water needs. <http://www.headwatersnews.org/stories/redirect.php?id=6615> <http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/state/article/0,1299,DRMN_21_1695414,00.html>
A bill aimed at lowering taxes on water-efficient items and prohibiting homeowner associations from requiring excessive watering was rejected by state Republicans. Boulder Daily Camera; Jan. 24 <http://www.headwatersnews.org/stories/redirect.php?id=6592>
Colorado Front Range cities are negotiating for irrigation water in deals that could leave 10,000 acres of prime farmland out of production next summer. Denver Rocky Mountain News; Jan. 12 <http://www.headwatersnews.org/stories/redirect.php?id=6337>
Aurora, Colorado's second-largest city, is preparing a $100 million bond issue, the first part of $290 million in water projects. Denver Business Journal; 1/21 <http://www.headwatersnews.org/stories/redirect.php?id=6511>
Colorado agriculture uses 85% of the state's water to support a multibillion-dollar industry, but cities say their demands are more important. Denver Business Journal; Jan. 21 <http://www.headwatersnews.org/stories/redirect.php?id=6512>
Environmentalists and Western Slope irrigators aren't too worried about Colorado's Big Straw project to pump unused Colorado River water back over the divide; they say it's far too expensive to pass. "We feel the whole idea is ridiculous." - Matt Sura, director of the Western Colorado Congress, with environmentalists' prognosis for the state's $5 billion Big Straw project. Denver Rocky Mountain News; 1/7 <http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/state/article/0,1299,DRMN_21_1656133,00.html> <http://www.headwatersnews.org/stories/redirect.php?id=6230>
Low snowfall in Colorado is hurting resort-town rental markets, as well as the ski industry. Denver Post; Jan. 19 <http://www.headwatersnews.org/stories/redirect.php?id=6468>
Several important water reports have been released recently. The Land and Water Fund of the Rockies, with the cooperation of High Country Citizens' Alliance, has released an impressive report on the Gunnison River called Gunnison River Basin: No Panacea for the Front Range. This comprehensive report discusses the hydrology of the Gunnison Basin, the water rights and court cases that define water use, and a thorough explanation of how the Front Range can meet its needs without the need to import water from the Gunnison Basin. The report is available as a pdf file on the LAW Funds website, <http://lawfund.org/media/pdf/Gunnison_Report_Final.pdf>
Another worthwhile read is a report authored by several water policy experts about the impact the current drought has on future water management in Colorado. Written by Dan Luecke, John Morris, Lee Rozaklis and Robert Weaver, it makes a compelling argument for why building large new dams is not the answer for drought protection. Instead, it promotes "smart storage," enlarging existing storage and expanding supplies incrementally. It, too, is accessible on the website of one of its sponsors, Trout Unlimited. The pdf file can be found at <>www.cotrout.org. Also available at Trout Unlimited website is an update of their Dry Legacy Report which explains progress being made to protect instream flows threatened by drought and development. It also reveals new threats and recommends solutions for the future.
Colorado taxpayers worried about the drought and the possibility of another devastating fire season, will have the opportunity this year to better protect their forests, rivers and streams through a new tax refund checkoff on their 2003 Colorado Individual tax forms. The watershed fund will provide money for a new competitive grant program to help local watershed protection groups to restore and better protect our rivers and streams, as well as lands within Colorado's watersheds. The money raised by the new Fund will flow through the Colorado Water Conservation Board, which will work with the Colorado Water Quality Commission and the Colorado Watershed Assembly to administer the new grant program. Funds will be distributed to established watershed initiatives for projects that "work toward the restoration and protection of lands and natural resources within the watersheds in Colorado."
federal appeals court has heard oral arguments in the Rio Grande silvery minnow case. The court must now decide if a lower court was correct in compelling federal water managers to use water allocated to irrigators and the City of Albuquerque to keep the imperiled species from becoming extinct. The case turns on whether the "ESA takes precedence over Bureau of Reclamation contracts and other federal laws" and the outcome would be binding for New Mexico, Colorado, Kansas, Oklahoma, Utah and Wyoming. Albuquerque Tribune; Jan. 14 <http://www.abqtrib.com/archives/news03/011303_news_fish.shtml>
Growing demand for water in San Juan County, N.M., and what may be the end of a 20-year wet cycle all but guarantees conflict, and residents should start deciding how they will handle it. Farmington Daily Times; Jan. 15. <http://www.headwatersnews.org/stories/redirect.php?id=6384>
Scientists and officials should consider other options to save the endangered native chub in the Colorado River besides electrocuting introduced trout. Arizona Republic; Jan. 19 <http://www.headwatersnews.org/stories/redirect.php?id=6466 [This>
opinion piece attracted an immediate response from Living Rivers saying that stocking the endangered chub will not help without first addressing the habit needs of the chub.]
The Bush administration revised the regulations for implementation of the Freedom of Information ACT that would allow the government to charge the full cost of complying with requests for information. On 10/8/02, Earthjustice Legal Defense Fund, representing Grand Canyon Trust, requested information related to development of the recovery goals for the Upper Colorado River Recovery Program. That information was compiled and delivered to Earthjustice by Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS). If the Service had denied Earthjustice's request for a fee waiver (which they could have done under the new FOIA regulations), the cost of responding to the FOIA would have been $5-6K. As reported earlier, Earth Justice filled a 60-day Notice of Intent to Sue on 11/25/02 over the approval of the recovery goals. On 1/28/03, the FWS responded to the Notice and offered to meet with the plaintiffs.
The Yampa River Management Plan and Environmental Assessment are progressing and are expected to be completed before the end of August. The Programatic Biological Opinion (PBO) should be completed in the same timeframe. Contingent upon the findings of the PBO, the Service will negotiate an agreement with Wyoming and Colorado to implement the plan. A 404 permit is being prepared for the enlargement of Elkhead Reservoir. At the recent meeting of the Management Committee, options to get the Gunnison PBO process back on track were discussed. Colorado does not want to provide estimates of reasonable expected future depletions until after the Statewide Water Supply Initiative study is completed in about 2 years. The State also wants the consultation to revisit the Dolores Reservoir depletions. The three options discussed are not to do a PBO and do consultations project by project, just do the PBO on existing depletions, or do a PBO that would include up to 50,000 af of future inbasin depletions. This would avoid the question of whether there will be a future transbasin diversion out of the Gunnison River. Colorado will be partnering with the Program to study streamflow transit losses in the lower Gunnison. It has been decided that the Recovery Program will pay Reclamation for the O&M costs for water being stored in federal reservoirs for release to protect endangered fish. The drought is requiring the delay of some of the Program's research and implementation of the some of the Program's actions.
The global weather anomaly El Nino has strengthened and is expected to worsen the drought in several Western and Plains states while drenching California and the Southeast through the spring, the government said. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said El Nino, which is blamed for vicious droughts and floods worldwide, had entered its "mature stage" and would linger through April. "Because the last couple of years have been so dry, even normal snow pack this winter will not be enough to get many Western states out of their drought," said Douglas LeComte, drought specialist at the federal Climate Prediction Center. El Nino is an abnormal warming of waters in the Pacific that distorts wind and rainfall patterns around the world. <http://enn.com/news/wire-stories/2003/01/01102003/s_49327.asp> <http://enn.com/news/wire-stories/2003/01/01222003/ap_49394.asp>
A new report by the Natural Resources Conservation Service says that snowpack in mountain ranges across the West is well below normal, and some believe this may be the worst drought in 1,400 years. Arizona Republic; Jan. 19 <http://www.headwatersnews.org/stories/redirect.php?id=6465>
In the Pacific Northwest, a winter "too warm for snow," combined with predictions for continued dry conditions have set the stage for an "abysmal water year" in the Columbia Basin says Greenwire 1/22. Basin tribes are "deeply concerned" that this year's expected strong run of outmigrating juvenile salmon and steelhead will run into trouble because of an anticipated "serious tug of war with BPA (Bonneville Power Administration) on flow and spill this spring and summer."
Smaller Arizona communities are suffering from four years of drought, while cities that draw from the Colorado River and its huge reservoirs are relatively unscathed. But that is changing. The Salt River Project will cut by one-third its water deliveries to Phoenix, as the drought finally starts to hit home in Arizona cities. Arizona Republic; Jan. 20&26, New York Times; 1/27 <http://www.headwatersnews.org/stories/redirect.php?id=6487> <http://www.headwatersnews.org/stories/redirect.php?id=6637> <http://www.headwatersnews.org/stories/redirect.php?id=6613>
Waning supplies and rising demand make it likely that water will become a far more valuable commodity in the near future, and consumers will start paying something closer to its real value. Arizona Republic; 1/22 <http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/0122drought-waterrates.html>
A new climate report said the drought will continue over most of the West, and some states can expect water shortages this year. Arizona Republic; 1/22 <http://www.headwatersnews.org/stories/redirect.php?id=6549>
Ranchers across
the West have been culling their herds as feed and water sources
dried up; they lost an estimated $300 million last year and another
year of drought could be disastrous for many. Arizona Republic; Jan. 22.
Although portions of this report are used on occasion in Colorado Central
Magazine, we do not publish the full report there, as we do on this website.
It is prepared by Steve Glazer of Crested Butte and is distributed early each
month via an email list. To subscribe to that list, email to
<listserv@lists.sierraclub.org>
with SUBSCRIBE RMC-CONS-WATER as the message. Please note that this is an archive, and some links may no longer function. The U.S. must develop
a nationwide water plan that details cooperation between governments
and regions and is aimed at controlling drought, floods, municipal
water supplies and water quality if the nation is to thwart a water
crisis, according to a report from the Water Resources Policy
Dialogue. Salt Lake Tribune; 1/10
<http://www.headwatersnews.org/stories/redirect.php?id=6304> Colorado's
snowpack is 25 percent below normal and state officials are
predicting next summer's drought will be as bad or worse than last
year's. Denver Post; Jan. 29
<http://www.denverpost.com/Stories/0,1413,36%257E23447%257E1142721%257E,00.html> Colorado Gov.
Bill Owens urged the Legislature to approve his agenda on the
economy, education and health care, and stressed a compromise on
water storage in his state of the state address, but said little to
fix the $850 million budget shortfall. Denver Post; Jan. 17
<http://www.headwatersnews.org/stories/redirect.php?id=6439> Leaders
from the Front Range and the West Slope of Colorado met seeking an
agreement on how to manage the state's water resources that would
balance urban and rural water needs.
<http://www.headwatersnews.org/stories/redirect.php?id=6615>
<http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/state/article/0,1299,DRMN_21_1695414,00.html> A bill aimed at lowering taxes
on water-efficient items and prohibiting homeowner associations from
requiring excessive watering was rejected by state Republicans.
Boulder Daily Camera; Jan. 24
<http://www.headwatersnews.org/stories/redirect.php?id=6592> Colorado
Front Range cities are negotiating for irrigation water in deals that
could leave 10,000 acres of prime farmland out of production next
summer. Denver Rocky Mountain News; Jan. 12
<http://www.headwatersnews.org/stories/redirect.php?id=6337> Aurora,
Colorado's second-largest city, is preparing a $100 million bond
issue, the first part of $290 million in water projects. Denver
Business Journal; 1/21
<http://www.headwatersnews.org/stories/redirect.php?id=6511> Colorado
agriculture uses 85% of the state's water to support a
multibillion-dollar industry, but cities say their demands are more
important. Denver Business Journal; Jan. 21
<http://www.headwatersnews.org/stories/redirect.php?id=6512> Environmentalists and Western Slope irrigators aren't too worried
about Colorado's Big Straw project to pump unused Colorado River
water back over the divide; they say it's far too expensive to pass.
"We feel the whole idea is ridiculous." - Matt Sura, director of the
Western Colorado Congress, with environmentalists' prognosis for the
state's $5 billion Big Straw project. Denver Rocky Mountain News; 1/7
<http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/state/article/0,1299,DRMN_21_1656133,00.html>
<http://www.headwatersnews.org/stories/redirect.php?id=6230> Low snowfall in Colorado
is hurting resort-town rental markets, as well as the ski industry.
Denver Post; Jan. 19
<http://www.headwatersnews.org/stories/redirect.php?id=6468> Several important water reports have
been released recently.
The Land and Water Fund of the Rockies, with the cooperation of
High Country Citizens' Alliance, has released an impressive report on
the Gunnison River called Gunnison River Basin: No Panacea for the
Front Range. This comprehensive report discusses the hydrology of the
Gunnison Basin, the water rights and court cases that define water
use, and a thorough explanation of how the Front Range can meet its
needs without the need to import water from the Gunnison Basin. The
report is available as a pdf file on the LAW Funds website,
<http://lawfund.org/media/pdf/Gunnison_Report_Final.pdf> Another worthwhile read is a report authored by several water
policy experts about the impact the current drought has on future
water management in Colorado. Written by Dan Luecke, John Morris, Lee
Rozaklis and Robert Weaver, it makes a compelling argument for why
building large new dams is not the answer for drought protection.
Instead, it promotes "smart storage," enlarging existing storage and
expanding supplies incrementally. It, too, is accessible on the
website of one of its sponsors, Trout Unlimited. The pdf file can be
found at <>www.cotrout.org.
Also available at Trout Unlimited website is an update of their
Dry Legacy Report which explains progress being made to protect
instream flows threatened by drought and development. It also reveals
new threats and recommends solutions for the future. Colorado
taxpayers worried about the drought and the possibility of another
devastating fire season, will have the opportunity this year to
better protect their forests, rivers and streams through a new tax
refund checkoff on their 2003 Colorado Individual tax forms. The
watershed fund will provide money for a new competitive grant program
to help local watershed protection groups to restore and better
protect our rivers and streams, as well as lands within Colorado's
watersheds. The money raised by the new Fund will flow through the
Colorado Water Conservation Board, which will work with the Colorado
Water Quality Commission and the Colorado Watershed Assembly to
administer the new grant program. Funds will be distributed to
established watershed initiatives for projects that "work toward the
restoration and protection of lands and natural resources within the
watersheds in Colorado." federal appeals court has heard oral arguments in the Rio Grande
silvery minnow case. The court must now decide if a lower court was
correct in compelling federal water managers to use water allocated
to irrigators and the City of Albuquerque to keep the imperiled
species from becoming extinct. The case turns on whether the "ESA
takes precedence over Bureau of Reclamation contracts and other
federal laws" and the outcome would be binding for New Mexico,
Colorado, Kansas, Oklahoma, Utah and Wyoming. Albuquerque Tribune;
Jan. 14
<http://www.abqtrib.com/archives/news03/011303_news_fish.shtml> Growing
demand for water in San Juan County, N.M., and what may be the end of
a 20-year wet cycle all but guarantees conflict, and residents should
start deciding how they will handle it. Farmington Daily Times; Jan. 15.
<http://www.headwatersnews.org/stories/redirect.php?id=6384> Scientists and officials should consider other options to save the
endangered native chub in the Colorado River besides electrocuting
introduced trout. Arizona Republic; Jan. 19
<http://www.headwatersnews.org/stories/redirect.php?id=6466 [This> opinion piece attracted an immediate response from Living Rivers
saying that stocking the endangered chub will not help without first
addressing the habit needs of the chub.] The Bush administration revised the regulations
for implementation of the Freedom of Information ACT that would allow
the government to charge the full cost of complying with requests for
information. On 10/8/02, Earthjustice Legal Defense Fund,
representing Grand Canyon Trust, requested information related to
development of the recovery goals for the Upper Colorado River
Recovery Program. That information was compiled and delivered to
Earthjustice by Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS). If the Service had
denied Earthjustice's request for a fee waiver (which they could have
done under the new FOIA regulations), the cost of responding to the
FOIA would have been $5-6K. As reported earlier, Earth Justice filled
a 60-day Notice of Intent to Sue on 11/25/02 over the approval of the
recovery goals. On 1/28/03, the FWS responded to the Notice and
offered to meet with the plaintiffs. The Yampa River Management Plan and
Environmental Assessment are progressing and are expected to be
completed before the end of August. The Programatic Biological
Opinion (PBO) should be completed in the same timeframe. Contingent
upon the findings of the PBO, the Service will negotiate an agreement
with Wyoming and Colorado to implement the plan. A 404 permit is
being prepared for the enlargement of Elkhead Reservoir.
At the recent meeting of the Management Committee, options to
get the Gunnison PBO process back on track were discussed. Colorado
does not want to provide estimates of reasonable expected future
depletions until after the Statewide Water Supply Initiative study is
completed in about 2 years. The State also wants the consultation to
revisit the Dolores Reservoir depletions. The three options discussed
are not to do a PBO and do consultations project by project, just do
the PBO on existing depletions, or do a PBO that would include up to
50,000 af of future inbasin depletions. This would avoid the question
of whether there will be a future transbasin diversion out of the
Gunnison River. Colorado will be partnering with the Program to study
streamflow transit losses in the lower Gunnison.
It has been decided that the Recovery Program will pay
Reclamation for the O&M costs for water being stored in federal
reservoirs for release to protect endangered fish. The drought is
requiring the delay of some of the Program's research and
implementation of the some of the Program's actions. The global weather
anomaly El Nino has strengthened and is expected to worsen the
drought in several Western and Plains states while drenching
California and the Southeast through the spring, the government said.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said El Nino,
which is blamed for vicious droughts and floods worldwide, had
entered its "mature stage" and would linger through April. "Because
the last couple of years have been so dry, even normal snow pack this
winter will not be enough to get many Western states out of their
drought," said Douglas LeComte, drought specialist at the federal
Climate Prediction Center. El Nino is an abnormal warming of waters
in the Pacific that distorts wind and rainfall patterns around the
world.
<http://enn.com/news/wire-stories/2003/01/01102003/s_49327.asp>
<http://enn.com/news/wire-stories/2003/01/01222003/ap_49394.asp> A new report
by the Natural Resources Conservation Service says that snowpack in
mountain ranges across the West is well below normal, and some
believe this may be the worst drought in 1,400 years. Arizona
Republic; Jan. 19
<http://www.headwatersnews.org/stories/redirect.php?id=6465> In the Pacific Northwest, a
winter "too warm for snow," combined with predictions for continued
dry conditions have set the stage for an "abysmal water year" in the
Columbia Basin says Greenwire 1/22. Basin tribes are "deeply
concerned" that this year's expected strong run of outmigrating
juvenile salmon and steelhead will run into trouble because of an
anticipated "serious tug of war with BPA (Bonneville Power
Administration) on flow and spill this spring and summer." Smaller Arizona
communities are suffering from four years of drought, while cities
that draw from the Colorado River and its huge reservoirs are
relatively unscathed. But that is changing. The Salt River Project
will cut by one-third its water deliveries to Phoenix, as the drought
finally starts to hit home in Arizona cities. Arizona Republic; Jan.
20&26, New York Times; 1/27
<http://www.headwatersnews.org/stories/redirect.php?id=6487>
<http://www.headwatersnews.org/stories/redirect.php?id=6637>
<http://www.headwatersnews.org/stories/redirect.php?id=6613> Waning supplies and rising
demand make it likely that water will become a far more valuable
commodity in the near future, and consumers will start paying
something closer to its real value. Arizona Republic; 1/22
<http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/0122drought-waterrates.html> A new climate
report said the drought will continue over most of the West, and some
states can expect water shortages this year. Arizona Republic; 1/22
<http://www.headwatersnews.org/stories/redirect.php?id=6549> Ranchers across
the West have been culling their herds as feed and water sources
dried up; they lost an estimated $300 million last year and another
year of drought could be disastrous for many. Arizona Republic; Jan. 22.
Western Water Report: February 3, 2003
US MUST BRACE FOR A WATER CRISIS, REPORT SAYS
COLORADO RESIDENTS TOLD TO PREPARE FOR WORSE DROUGHT
COLORADO GOVERNOR WANTS COMPROMISE ON WATER STORAGE
COLORADANS FROM BOTH SIDES OF DIVIDE WORK ON WATER PACT
COLORADO REPUBLICANS NIX WATER BILL
COLORADO CITIES BARGAIN FOR FRONT RANGE FARMERS' WATER
FAST-GROWING COLORADO CITY READY TO SECURE ITS WATER FUTURE
COLORADO AGRICULTURE PREPARES TO DEFEND ITS WATER
CRITICS SAY COLORADO'S BIG STRAW WILL DIE OF ITS OWN EXPENSE
LESS SNOW IN COLORADO KILLS RENTAL MARKETS
NEW WATER REPORTS RELEASED
NEW TAX-REFUND CHECKOFF TO FUND WATERSHED PROTECTION
ALBUQUERQUE, ENVIRONMENTALISTS WAIT FOR SILVERY MINNOW DECISION
A
NEW MEXICO INTERESTS SHOULD START PLANNING FOR WATER WARS
KILLING TROUT ONLY ONE WAY TO HELP SAVE COLORADO RIVER FISH
FOIA REGULATIONS
RECOVERY PROGRAM NEWS
EL NINO NOW IN STRONGEST PHASE IN UNITED STATES
SNOWPACK ACROSS WEST IS WELL BELOW NORMAL, REPORT SAYS
DROUGHT FORECAST BODES ILL FOR SALMON
ARIZONA CITIES JUST BEGINNING TO FEEL THE DROUGHT
WEST'S CHEAP WATER MAY SOON BE HISTORY
PERSISTENT DROUGHT LIKELY TO CONTINUE, REPORT SAYS
WEST'S RANCHERS WATCH SPRINGS DRY UP, HERDS WITHER