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Weekly water roundup: Drought management, Climate risk, Oil shale, Geothermal energy, Amendment 52
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Photo: Pine beetles from Colorado State Forest Service
Here's a look back at the week in water:
Governor's Conference on Managing Drought and Climate Risk
The big news last week was the three day conference sponsored by Governor Ritter, the Colorado Water Conservation Board and the Colorado Foundation for Water Education. The conference featured speakers on a wide variety of subjects related to drought management and climate change.
Click here for the articles on the conference from Coyote Gulch. Examiner articles are here, here and here.
Don't forget to download a copy of Climate Change in Colorado: A Synthesis to Support Water Resources Management and Adaptation. The report is a product of the Western Water Assessment working out of the University of Colorado.
Oil shale
The RAND Corporation raised the hopes of many Americans earlier in the year by reporting that the U.S. had 80 billion barrels of oil trapped in oil shale and the country just lacked the political will to produce the abundance, drive down gasoline prices and end our dependence on imported oil. They're backing off from their enthusiastic support for the unconventional energy source now. Here's a quote from the report via the Grand Junction Daily Sentinel, "Although oil shale is also an important potential unconventional fossil resource, we do not address it in this report because fundamental uncertainty remains about the technology that could ultimately be used for large-scale extraction, as well as about its cost and environmental implications."
I'm glad that they've acknowledged the reality of producing oil shale. It's good to see that they are no longer blaming politicians and environmentalists.
Amendment 52
This week the Colorado Basin Roundtable came out against Amendment 52. The amendment would re-direct some of Colorado's oil and gas severance tax to improvements to I-70. The roundtable's opposition centered around the loss of revenue to fund water projects along with enshrining yet another revenue issue in the state constitution.
Black Canyon of the Gunnison: Brown trout spawning
Last week Reclamation reduced flows through the Gunnison Gorge to coincide with the Brown trout spawning season. The gorge is a fine fishery so it's good to see the coordination of efforts to protect it's riparian health. Flows through the canyon should be about 600 cfs. That's double the minimum flow required by the recent settlement agreement for flows in the canyon.
Quagga veligers found in Tarryall and Jumbo reservoirs
More bad news on the Quagga/Zebra mussel scene. Quagga veligers (the larval stage) have now been found in Tarryall reservoir and Jumbo reservoir. The critters are now in the Colorado River Basin, South Platte River Basin and Arkansas River Basin here in Colorado.
Geothermal energy
Mount Princeton Geothermal is hoping to wrap up the permit process for six test wells up in Chaffee County. The project is testing the area for the potential to generate electricity.
Windy Gap Firming Project
Residents of Grand County trekked over the Great Divide this week to speak at the first of two meetings about the Windy Gap Firming Project draft environmental impact statement. Their message is pretty simple, Please don't dry us up. We know your water rights are deep. Please do the right thing.
The project includes the proposed Chimney Hollow Reservoir.
Irrigation
New West this week ran a nice piece explaining the effects of agriculture on water supplies.
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