Brief by Ed Quillen
Local News – July 2004 – Colorado Central Magazine
Natural Remedy?
The State Health Department has issued numerous warnings about West Nile Virus, which is carried by one species of mosquito. Colorado residents (at least those below about 10,000 feet) are advised to wear insect spray containing DEET (diethyl-meta-toluamid), except that small children shouldn’t put DEET on their skin.
Then comes another warning from the health department. A researcher has been trapping deer mice in the Four Corners area, and this year found 84 mice; about a third of them tested positive for hantavirus, an untreatable infection which causes severe fever, and in half of all known cases, death to humans.
Deer mice are rural mice who often live in sheds, garages, wood piles, and the like. The disease is spread by inhaling dust from mouse dung, and the health department advises wetting down suspect areas with diluted bleach before cleaning.
But there might be a way to address both the mice and mosquito problems with one stroke: Plant some catnip. Two researchers at the University of Iowa found that its essential oil, nepetalactone, was 10 times more effective than DEET at repelling mosquitoes.
Catnip attracts cats, who enjoy its drug-like effects, and cats are pretty good at eliminating mice. We’re not sure if this method really works, but we do know that A) Catnip grows quite well in Salida, because we have a big bush; 2) We don’t notice as many mosquitoes around the plant as we do elsewhere in the yard, and 3) It attracts cats, because some alley cat recently took up residence in our shed, and then gave birth to three adorable kittens.
Granted, it has an odd aroma that bothers some people, but wearing a small cheesecloth sack of fresh catnip leaves shouldn’t be any more annoying than slathering yourself with commercial mosquito repellent. Unless, of course, you get pulled over by a zealous cop who refuses to believe your leaves aren’t something else.
Water Wrangling
The Upper Arkansas Water Conservancy District is looking at expanding into the uppermost Arkansas — the source of the river in Lake County. The district, organized in 1979, currently covers Chaffee, Custer, and western Frémont counties. Lake County recently acquired rights to about 80 acre-feet a year, and the county commissioners are looking at ways to manage it.
Map from UAWCD website
A county-only water conservancy district would provide more local control, but administration would be simpler if the county joined the UAWCD.
The Upper Gunnison River Water Conservancy District has a novelty this year: No one has petitioned for election, so all three board seats will be appointed by District Judge Steven Patrick.
That’s how it almost always happens in the other 51 conservancy districts, but in recent years, Gunnison valley residents have often petitioned for elections. So three current board members — Ken Spann, Bob Drexel, and Diane Lothamer — will likely serve additional four-year terms on the 11-member board.
Those might be busy years, because the district has some water rights to protect. The rights, granted in 1960 as part of the deal to build Blue Mesa Reservoir, are conditional. To hold them, the district must show progress toward putting the water to “beneficial use,” which in Colorado generally means storing and diverting it. Until that happens, it’s a “conditional” water right, and could be lost if the district doesn’t demonstrate progress to the water court.
After 40+ years, the water court may get impatient and want to see some actual construction. “Discussions and thinking and planning can’t go on forever,” board lawyer John McClow told the UGRWCD. “The court basically has told us that we need to make a decision; either you’re going to do this or you’re not.”
The board is considering small reservoirs in the Tomichi, Coch etopa, and Ohio Creek drainages.
If you’re passing through Westcliffe, though, you should find it easier to get water. The Round Mountain Water and Sanitation District voted to re-open the RV water tap in the Westcliffe Town Park. On account of the drought, it had been turned off in 2002, and board members agreed to keep it off as long as the district had to impose watering restrictions in Westcliffe and Silver Cliff. There won’t be a charge, but users will be asked to limit their take to 100 gallons.
While Westcliffe lifted watering restrictions, they may be coming in Leadville. The Parkville Water District, which serves municipal users in the Cloud City, has proposed voluntary even-odd restrictions for this summer, and meters may be in place for next summer.
Observations
“Another oft-cited reason for leaving [Custer County] was that it’s too cold, snowy, and/or windy here. It seems odd that anyone could go to all the effort of having a home built in Custer County without realizing by the elevation and location that it was bound to be a bit chilly at times. Apparently, though, this happens regularly.”
Larry Charrier, June 3
Wet Mountain Tribune
“So much stink has been made about draining Lake Powell and restoring Glen Canyon, and perhaps it should be. But the flood of people already coming to the canyon country is causing and will cause a greater destruction than any reservoir of water could ever do.”
D. Hartley, June/July
Canyon Country Zephyr
After losing in a bid for mayor in Silver Cliff, Town Trustee Jim Blevons resigned from the board: “Obviously, the people don’t like what I stand for, so why do anything for this town?”
April 15
Wet Mountain Tribune
“Given the long list of violators, it appears there’s a lot of blight in [Saguache] County. (You can drive down any given road and see the truth of that.)”
Doug Larson, June 2004
The Crestone Eagle
On a trip to and from Silver City, N.M., “Nowhere did we encounter gas prices higher or even as high as those in Gunnison. Even sleepy little Saguache was charging $1.99 a gallon after the most recent price hike. So there you have it: We have the highest collegiate football stadium in the U.S., the largest letter on a mountain, and also the highest gas prices between here and the bottom of New Mexico.”
Pat Sterling, June 10
Gunnison Country Times
Ursine Alerts
The bears have arisen from their winter slumbers, which inspires the annual warnings from the Colorado Division of Wildlife. Boars come out in mid-April, and sows with cubs usually emerge several weeks later.
“During the first month, it’s usually not so bad,” according to district manager Ron Dobson in Salida, because “they’re grazing on grass and flowers.” But then they’re tempted by garbage and other yard items, like hummingbird feeders, pet food, and barbecue grills, which Dobson advises storing indoors at night.
In Lake County, sheriff’s deputies responded to the report of a bear in a tree on May 5. According to the Leadville Herald-Democrat, one deputy “shot it with a round of non-lethal bear shot, which caused it to climb further up the tree.” They contacted wildlife officer Tom Martin, who suggested that the bear would leave if they did, and that’s what happened. Earlier that day, the department had received a call about a bear ravaging a Dumpster.
On May 20, a 60-pound black bear was spotted in Buena Vista. Wildlife officer Charlie Blake left it alone, since it wasn’t causing any trouble, but later that day, a bear (probably the same one) was seen in the same neighborhood. Black shot it with rubber buckshot, and it headed for the river.
Bears are pretty good at breaking into things like trash containers, and now there’s a testing program for “bear-proof” containers. The Grizzly and Wolf Discovery Center in West Yellowstone, Mont. has eight captive bears who serve as product testers. Bear goodies like peanut butter are spread inside the containers, which then go into the bear pen to be attacked; one tester is a 920-pound grizzly.
These bears were experienced at this before they went to the center; they are “problem bears” which were trapped and then taken in. The idea is to build containers that won’t tempt bears and get them into trouble.
One more-or-less local product has passed this demanding test. Designed and built by prison inmates in Cañon City as part of the correctional industries program, the 95-gallon covered trash receptacle is now “certified bear resistant” because it stayed closed after 90 minutes of grizzly mauling.
Hazards All Over
Sometimes you’re damned if you do, and damned if you don’t. The emergency responders in Park County must have felt that way on May 20, after an eastbound gasoline tanker rolled off U.S. 285 near Bailey, killing driver José Herrera.
The truck, loaded with 8,500 gallons of gasoline and diesel fuel, exploded, and fuel spilled off the road. Gasoline is a hazardous material, and the State Patrol at first said the easiest way to dispose of it was to just let the fire burn as the Platte Canyon Fire Protection District crew stood by.
But then the fire started to spread into the trees, and this has been a dry year, so the fire-fighters had to go to work, fighting both a wildfire and a flammable liquid fire. They suppressed both fires. To keep the spill from contaminating the South Platte River and Denver’s water supply, a culvert was plowed shut.
Leadville also had a hazardous-materials fire, but this one was planned after some unstable chemicals (like perchloric acid and ketone) were found in an old assay office in Stringtown. Some unstable chemicals were detonated in the building (starting a small fire which was quickly put out), while others were exploded outdoors.
At least that didn’t affect the water. On May 17, a truck crashed on the west side of Trout Creek Pass, spilling liquid ammonium thiosulfate. The Chaffee County Health Department said that if the chemical seeped into the soil, bacteria could turn it into nitrates, and the nitrates could contaminate well water in the area. High nitrate levels in water are a threat to human health, especially infants. Residents of the area were advised to drink bottled water until water-quality tests could be completed.
Nothing spilled to make people sick in the Park County Assessor’s office in Fairplay. Subsurface moisture seeped in to moisten drywall, and that allowed mold to grow. Mold spores spread into the air, and employees suffered. The office was closed May 21 and 24 so that the drywall could be replaced while the office got a fungicide treatment.
