Colorado cities eyeing Wyoming water

by DP Opinion on August 20, 2009

Re: “Thirsty cities eye Wyo. water,” Aug. 16 news story.

In your article, Parker water manager Frank Jaeger asserted that “We’re going to have to have more water. It’s going to have to be imported.” Jaeger called the scheme to pipe water 500 miles from Flaming Gorge Reservoir across Wyoming to the Front Range the “least intrusive of anything you could do.”

The truth is, a pipeline of this magnitude would be highly intrusive and damaging to the natural environment, depleting flows in the Green River and destroying habitat for the world-famous trout fishery below the reservoir and for the endangered warm-water fish species farther downstream. Moreover, the monetary and energy costs of building the project and pumping water 500 miles to the Front Range would be staggering.

There are better options. Smart water strategies — like water conservation, reuse, small-scale storage, aquifer recharge and water sharing arrangements — carry a fraction of the cost and environmental impact of transbasin pipelines. Together, these smart strategies would eliminate the need for a Flaming Gorge pipeline or other costly and environmentally damaging transbasin diversion.

Drew Peternell, Boulder

The writer is director of Trout Unlimited’s Colorado Water Project.

http://blogs.denverpost.com/eletters/2009/08/20/colorado-cities-eyeing-wyoming-water-2-letters/

Revival within reach for South Platte River

 

Carp Slam will help breathe life into restoration plans for South Platte River

By Charlie Meyers
The Denver Post

All of this serves chiefly as an angler’s pow-wow for an initiative that began several years ago with a $400,000 grant to the Greenway Foundation to study what is called River North, from Confluence Park to the northern city limits.

More recently, Trout Unlimited announced a memorandum of understanding with South Suburban Parks and Recreation and the city of Littleton for a study of an extended reach of the river downstream from C-470.

North of this is a jumble of broken concrete, discarded tires and assorted trash that has plagued the river for as long as anyone can recall.

“We’d like to see the Platte turned into a recreational playground, a place that would attract tourists as well as residents, much like with Salida and Durango,” said Michael Hobbs, president of the Denver Chapter.

http://www.denverpost.com/headlines/ci_13154645

Carp Tournament In Denver Will Help Trout

 

Written by Environmental Specialist Paul Day

DENVER (CBS4)

Why, some might ask, would competent fly fishers pay good money to catch something in downtown Denver as ugly as a carp? The answer lies several miles upriver on the urban South Platte.

Todd Fehr is with the environmental group Trout Unlimited.

“Today, the river in many places is thin, too shallow for trout to live in,” said Fehr, an officer with the Denver Chapter of TU.

TU has plans for turning the marginal water into a recreational fishery.

http://cbs4denver.com/entertainment/fly.fishing.carp.2.1132797.html

Cost estimates for Summit mine cleanup soar

 

Experts trying to figure out workings of abandoned tunnels to treat Peru Creek heavy metals

By Bob Berwyn
summit daily news

Some recent estimates for treating drainage from the abandoned mine range as high as $20 million, according to Trout Unlimited’s Elizabeth Russell, who has been leading the effort the past couple of years. That amount includes construction and annual operations and maintenance for as long as 20 years, but it’s still much higher than expected. When Trout Unlimited entered the picture, there was speculation that a treatment plant could be built for under $1 million.

“All the work that’s been done up there paints a much more dire picture of what we need to do,” Russell said.

http://www.summitdaily.com/article/20090814/NEWS/908139987/1055

Saving South Boulder Creek

Daily Camera

By Clay Evans
Tuesday, August 11, 2009

The cities of Boulder and Lafayette and Trout Unlimited, the national conservation organization with an office in Boulder, aren’t exactly thrilled with the idea of further allocating water from the Fraser. But if it’s going to happen, as most expect it will, they’d like to see 5,000 acre-feet of storage added to the proposed 72,000-acre-feet expansion and use it to ensure adequate winter flow in South Boulder Creek.

“It’s a stream that needs help,” said Drew Peternell of Trout Unlimited.

http://www.dailycamera.com/news/2009/aug/11/saving-south-boulder-creek/

‘Wounded Warriors’ Savor Healing Day of Fly-Fishing

By Laurie Hindman
Berthoud Recorder

On Saturday, they welcomed 10 soldiers and veterans from different areas in the United States and in various stages of recuperation from both physical and emotional wounds and trauma, to family property along the Big Thompson for a day of fly-fishing, home cooked food in the shade of towering cottonwood trees, and camaraderie. The soldiers, known as “recovering warriors,” were flown to Colorado, their flight and accommodations paid for by Project Healing Waters. Read more

 

Weekly water roundup: Nestle Waters Chaffee County project, Bruce Whitehead named to state senate

Denver Water Examiner – weekly roundup

Naturally-occuring bacteria proves successful in waterways providing local water

The Temecula [CA] Valley News

DAVIS DAM – A naturally-occurring bacteria can be added in heavy concentrations to lakes or canals beset by infestations of voracious Quagga mussels, providing a glimmer of hope in the war against the pest, it was reported today. Read more

Cities, environmentalists to help South Boulder Creek

Boulder Daily Camera - Gross Reservoir expansion could restore stream flows

By Laura Snider (Contact) – Sunday, August 9, 2009

For more than a decade, water lawyers, conservationists and anglers have been wading through the complex maze of Colorado’s water rights system, trying to figure out how to restore the ecological health of South Boulder Creek, which flows through both Walker Ranch open space and Eldorado State Park. Read more