by John Orr
Nestlé Waters Chaffee County Project
As we go to press the Chaffee County Commissioners have yet to issue or deny Nestlé Waters a permit to build their pipeline, pumphouse and loading facilities to truck water from the Hagen Spring out of basin to Denver. The company bottles spring water under the brand name Arrowhead and has a facility for doing so down in the flatlands. The plan is to run tanker trucks over Trout Creek Pass, across South Park, over Kenosha Pass down U.S. 285 to the Denver Metro area.
On July 1 the commissioners held a special hearing to discuss the project. Some of the discussion centered around the economic benefits of the project. Commissioners conceded that there is little benefit to Chaffee County in terms of permanent job gains. The potential annual property tax revenue to the county is still subject for debate. It should be somewhere between $3,500 and $19,800 depending on which consultant got their numbers right, Nestlé’s (the larger amount) or opponents of the project. Similarly, the consultants disagree on sales tax revenue. Nestlé’s consulting firm (THK) says $3,185 per year while the opposition consultant from Coley Forrest estimates $1,274. Property taxes for the Buena Vista Schools should be around $11,292 per year. There will also be a one-time building permit revenue of $12,455 which, of course, goes towards offsetting county costs.
A report in the Salida Citizen said that Bruce Lauerman took the opportunity to remind interested parties that Nestlé intends to improve the riparian environment around the spring – including wetlands — and that the former hatchery site will have a positive effect on Chaffee County’s natural resources.
One concern that has surfaced is the source of augmentation water for the project. Since Nestlé is moving water out of basin they are required to augment flows in the river to replace the water that would have been there. Their source for augmentation is a ten year (with an additional ten years possible) lease with Aurora. Aurora has the water, since construction is at a virtual standstill in the Denver Metro area. They are also in the process of building their Prairie Waters reuse project. The project reclaims some of Aurora’s effluent from the South Platte River north of Thornton.
The lease is for Twin Lakes water, a fairly senior right on the Arkansas. The water is transmountain water and therefore can be used to extinction in the receiving basin without returns owed to the river. The worry for Terry Scanga, General Manager of the Upper Arkansas Water Conservancy District, is that the senior Twin Lakes right will call out juniors in the valley during times of low water.
Recently opponents started citing climate change as one reason that the commissioners should refuse Nestlé’s permit. The uncertainty around future supplies – it is hoped – will be the tipping point and that the county will refuse the application.
Current federal legislation
There are three bills of interest making their way through the U.S. Congress.
First up is the Clean Water Restoration Act (S. 787). Proponents say that recent federal court decisions have circumvented the intent of the Clean Water Act.
Opponents – when talking about the scope of the bill – rally around the expression “Anything that is wet, was wet in the past or will be wet in the future,” will now be under federal regulation.
It is true that that state would lose some control over administration and policy for water. The EPA and Corps of Engineers will have different, expanded direction over a broader range of waterways. Most Colorado water providers and administrators favor Colorado’s prior appropriation and water courts.
The second bill S. 796, the Hardrock Mining and Reclamation Act of 2009, is a rewrite of the law for mining claims. It will add royalty payments and mitigation plans with financial commitment to the mining business. Secretary Salazar recently told Mother Jones Magazine, “Relative to the water that was used for Coors beer, we know that Clear Creek comes off the headwaters … where we have thousands of abandoned mines.”
Compromising state control is an issue here also.
Finally, Senator Udall and Representative Lamborn introduced legislation to grease the wheels of water treatment at the Leadville Mine Drainage Tunnel. The tunnel is at the center of controversy over the possibility of a catastrophic blowout of acid mine waste. Last year both the Bureau of Reclamation and the Corps of Engineers rebutted the likelihood of a uncontrolled failure. The EPA completed a relief well and pipeline to the treatment plant last year and could pump more if the treatment plant had the capacity.
Udall and Lamborn are hoping to get some authorization to fund an upgrade to Reclamation’s treatment plant. Another goal is to authorize Reclamation to treat water from the California Gulch superfund site.
Nelson Tunnel/Commodore Waste Rock Pile
Up at the Rio Grande Headwaters the EPA has worked out a plan to channel Willow Creek on bedrock which will remove the threat of the rock pile washing downstream at the superfund site. Next up is a design for managing the 8,000-foot adit that drains five mines and spills into Willow Creek. Plans are to build the channel, line the sides with grouted boulders and stabilize the rock pile.
Short takes
* The high flows of this past spring helped move a lot of the sediment that ran off in the first couple of years after the big 2002 fire season in South Park, according to a report in The Denver Post. The scouring this spring will improve habitat for aquatic life.
* You can’t help but want to support a creature with the name “Susan’s purse-making caddisfly.” The Pueblo Chieftain reports that it is only found in “Trout Creek Spring area of Chaffee County and in High Creek Fen in Park County.” The Xerces Society is trying to obtain endangered species status for the insect.
* The Pueblo Board of Water Works was eager to sell the Columbine Ditch to finance their Bessemer Ditch buy down in Pueblo County. Aurora, with partner Climax Molybdenum, matched the high bidder, Ginn Development. The mine can use the water directly, while Aurora will most likely exchange their share for water they have in storage in the Arkansas Valley.
* Book your hotel for September 26 in Montrose to celebrate 100 years of water through the Gunnison Tunnel. The tunnel moves water from the Gunnison River to the Uncompahgre River. Authorization for the Bureau of Reclamation and the tunnel were in the same legislation in 1902.
* Congratulations to the Upper Gunnison River Water Conservancy District: Fifty years in the Gunnison Valley.
* Congratulations to the Collegiate Peaks Anglers. The Colorado Trout Unlimited chapter was honored by the state organization for its habitat restoration project in Canon City.
* Melinda Kassen received CTU’s Bruce Hoagland Award for Leadership in Conservation. Kassen directs the Western Water Project, which was instrumental in the eventual deal for the Black Canyon of the Gunnison instream management agreement that sets the flow limits through the park.
* The Upper Arkansas Water Conservancy has a new director – Tom Goodwin. He has roots on the board through his father, long-time chairman Denzel Goodwin, according to The Mountain Mail.
