NATIONAL WATER FESTIVAL
There will be a festival on Friday, September 22 at Confluence Park in Denver. The festival, sponsored by the national Project WET (Water Education Training), will run from 9:30 a.m. until 2:00 p.m. It is part of a celebration taking place in all 50 states and in Canada. The intended audience is 5th grade students and their teachers although special guests will include elected and appointed city, county and state officials and representatives of various natural resources interests, with a presentation at noon to honor Mayor Wellington Webb.
ASPINALL OPERATIONS
Crystal Dam operations were modified this summer in a manner not seen before. Normally, since Blue Mesa and Morrow Point dams are operated for peaking power, Crystal Dam releases are normally intended to reregulate the river to provide for constant flows. In mid-July, Reclamation started to operate Crystal for “maximum power.” The rationale for this operational change is the power restrictions at Glen Canyon and Flaming Gorge and power demands throughout the southwest.
As the Crystal Reservoir levels go up and down, the amount of water necessary to produce constant power varies by about 250 cfs diurnally. Although preliminary opinions were that the fluctuations would probably not harm endangered fish downstream, it could have adverse effects on the trout fishery or other resources. DOW expressed concern that velocity and depth changes with the fluctuations could strand small fish and affect angler safety.
This change in operations did not go through an environmental assessment as required by the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). When this concern was raised, we were told that operations were changed back to normal, constant flow releases. Reclamation indicated that they did not foresee this occurring next summer or on a regular basis. Western Area Power Administration suggested a meeting of parties concerned with this episode be planned for early January.
INSTREAM FLOW PROTECTION FOR THE GRAND MESA, UNCOMPAHGRE, GUNNISON NATIONAL FOREST (GMUG)
The proposed forest management plan revision for the White River National Forest has stirred controversy on three fronts: reduced emphasis on resource extraction; restrictions on recreational use; and bypass flow requirements on special use permits for water storage and diversions on forest land. In an attempt to avoid a similar controversy on the latter issue during the upcoming revision of the GMUG forest management plan, Bob Storch, the GMUG Forest Supervisor, has convened an Instream Flow Steering Committee.
This committee is exploring how to create a public stakeholder process to address concerns over the use of bypass flow requirements to protect environmental values in the forests. The committee is composed of representatives of state government, economic interests, water users and organizations, conservationists, recreational interests and environmentalist.
Over the years, federal legislation has been enacted that creates conflicting guidance on what values to protect and how to protect them. Current Colorado water law does not reflect all of the same values as federal law making it difficult for federal resource managers to meet their obligations. Add to this concerns of water users who fear that changes in management might reduce the yield of historic operations of their water development projects on the National Forest. While other forests have many special use permits and easements for water projects, the GMUG has over 1,000 such permits and easements – more than any other forest in the nation. It is estimated that this public stakeholder process may take 2-3 years with no predictions as to its outcome.
COLORADO WATERSHED ASSEMBLY
A meeting, organized by Larry MacDonnell, provided a good opportunity to network with people working on watershed protection throughout the state. The meeting was attended by 60 people representing over 40 watershed groups. The meeting was facilitated by River Network with support from EPA. There are almost as many purposes for these groups as there are groups.
Some work on greenbelt restoration, some work on water quality protection or restoration, others work on land use restrictions to improve water quality and some work on water resource management issues. There was considerable interest for a state-wide entity to provide information and certain types of assistance. A steering committee was created to organize future meetings and activities.
HOPE FOR NEW NATIONAL PARK DIMS
Sen. Wayne Allard’s plan to create a Great Sand Dunes National Park apparently has bogged down after an Interior Department lawyer said he would urge President Clinton to veto the bill over language that would affect federal water rights in the new park.
COLORADO FARMERS MIGHT BE PAID NOT TO SELL WATER
Farmers can get tax credits and maybe even cash for agreeing not to sell their water, a local group in Otero County has found. The Water Works! Committee hopes the incentives will stop farmers in the lower Arkansas Valley from selling their water to Front Range cities.
CUTTHROAT TROUT LATEST BATTLEGROUND
The announcement by 8 conservation groups that they intend to sue the FWS for failing to list the Colorado River cutthroat trout “is just the latest salvo in an increasingly bitter battle between environmental groups and the Clinton administration” says the Denver Post 8/5. One of the groups, the Center for Biological Diversity, has spearheaded legal efforts to force Endangered Species Act (ESA) protection for species in the Western U.S. and contends that the listing process is so politicized that “its going to take court action to get all these species listed.” According to the environmental groups, listing delays, failure to designate critical habitat, cuts in funding and the increasing use of habitat conservation plan agreements have undermined ESA protections.
ANIMAS-LA PLATA IS STILL A COSTLY PROJECT
H.R. 3112, The Colorado Ute Settlement Act Amendments of 1999, which is the Animas-La Plata (ALP) project, might be considered under “suspension” of House rules.
The ALP proposal has been stalled for many years as a result of its violations of federal financing, environmental laws and its huge taxpayer-subsidized price tag. Although the current version is touted as an Indian-only project, a significant portion of the project’s benefits would go to non-Indian interests. Under this legislation, the non-tribal water users are not required to pay the full costs of their share of the project.
Some of the most significant problems with this legislation are:
* It violates Reclamation law that requires local water users to bear the burden of full cost repayment for municipal and industrial water development. H.R. 3112 shifts a considerable portion of that payment to the federal taxpayer.
* It does not explicitly deauthorize the remainder of the original project, allowing those extremely costly components to be resurrected at any time in the future.
* ALP costs are still much too high. ALP could cost well over $300 million, yet benefits amount to only $85 million – a return of only 22 cents for every dollar invested.
* Taxpayers will pay millions of dollars annually for at least the next 30 year to pay for operation, maintenance and replacement costs until the Tribes put the water to use. The Bureau of Reclamation predicts that much of the water will not be used for 30-100 years in the future; therefore taxpayers will pick up the tab for millions of dollars for an unused project for decades to come.
* Taxpayers will be saddled with millions of dollars annually for the costs of pumping water uphill, salinity control and other expenses.
* ALP might deprive the Navajo and Apache Tribes from being able to reach settlement on their reserved rights on San Juan River water, including the proposed Navajo-Gallup Pipeline Project.
* S. 2508, the Senate version of the bill, has “sufficiency” language to prevent judicial review.
Both bills could see floor votes in the next few weeks.
SILVERY MINNOW “BEYOND ENDANGERED”
A recent survey of the middle Rio Grande netted just 5 silvery minnow “along the bulk of its remaining critical habitat” says the Albuquerque Tribune 8/28. According to conservationists, the species is now “beyond endangered.” With May numbers also “lower than expected,” the latest survey provided the “lowest number of minnows ever observed” and indicate that what is left of the minnows are “concentrated in a section of the river most prone to drying and predation.” Irrigation diversion dams prevent the species from “swimming upstream, spawning and repopulating upper reaches of its once vast habitat” and if the river dries out again, it “will likely result in extinction of the species in the wild.”
RIO GRANDE MINNOW A TINY SYMPTOM OF LARGER ISSUES
The endangered silvery minnow is an inauspicious symbol but there is no Endangered Rivers Act, and to save the Rio Grande for cities and farmers, there must be enough healthy river to save the minnow. Albuquerque Journal; Aug. 13
N.M. SENATOR SAYS MOVE THE FISH
Sen. Pete Domenci asserted that instead of taking the water to the endangered silvery minnow, the state should take the minnow to the water. The senator suggested that in order to avoid depriving farmers of Rio Grande water, better habitat should be created above a major dam, and the fish should be moved there. Albuquerque Journal; Aug. 24
RIO GRANDE WATER RIGHTS A STATE ISSUE
A federal judge sent a water-rights dispute to the N.M. state court in a decision that could have far-reaching implications across the West. The contested issue regards ownership of the water in Elephant Butte Reservoir. Some called the lawsuit an attempt by the U.S. to “federalize” the Rio Grande. At the heart of the issue is who gets the river’s water in the New Mexico-West Texas areas. El Paso is now concerned they will get the short-end of the stick. Albuquerque Journal; Aug. 25
EL PASO WATER PLAN
The El Paso-Las Cruces Regional Sustainable Water Project, a 50-year water plan, is described in a draft environmental impact statement now under review. It has raised contract issues over which the El Paso Public Service Board and El Paso County Water Improvement District No. 1 have been at odds.
Rio Grande water: PSB plans to obtain a year-round and vastly larger supply of water from the Rio Grande. Initially, the additional water would come from leasing rights to 45,000 acre-feet a year. But the city also wants to buy more than 18,000 acres in the Upper Valley and transfer those water rights to the city. The likelihood of the city’s taking huge amounts of water from the river and paying far more for it than ever before adds uncertainty to the farming future in the Valley.
Treatment plant, pipeline: Plans for an 80-million-gallon-a-day water treatment plant near Anthony, Texas, and a 32-mile-long pipeline to carry up to 60 million gallons of river and well water over the Franklin Mountains to Northeast El Paso have been discussed.
CARLOTA MINE PERMIT CHALLENGED
Several local and national groups have joined forces to appeal an EPA decision to permit a copper mining plan that could cause great harm to Pinto Creek, east of Phoenix. If the Carlota Copper Project goes forward, Pinto Creek would be diverted to allow mining beneath the creek bed. Pinto Creek and nearby wilderness areas are popular recreation sites and are home to a menagerie of desert plant and animal species. The creek is hailed by its protectors as precious, in part because portions of it flow year-round – a rarity in such an arid climate. The permit is one of the last hurdles Cambior, Inc., of Canada, needs to clear before mining operations could begin. It governs the discharge of wellfield water and runoff from wasterock dumps from the site. The creek’s protectors are appealing the EPA decision on the grounds that the permit fails to protect the stream.
Mineral Policy Center’s Dan Randolph said, “Since the wellfield water has not been tested, discharge of that water into Arizona streams may not meet water quality standards.”
ATTEMPTS TO THWART STUDYING GLEN CANYON DAM DECOMMISSIONING
All utility companies belonging to Colorado River Electric Distributors Association (CREDA) have passed resolutions opposing any studies to decommission Glen Canyon Dam or any other Colorado River Storage Project Act facility. CREDA members are asking their Congressional delegations to vote to prohibit any federal funds being used to study decommissioning CRSP projects. This is the second year in a row that such a rider has been enacted.
KENNEBEC RIVER RENEWAL IS MONUMENTAL
A year after the 162-year old Edwards Dam was removed from the Kennebec River in Maine, sea-run fish are swimming upstream in stunning numbers say biologists.
Alewives migrated back from the ocean in such numbers this spring that people were scooping them by the bucketful from the water 20 miles upstream from where the Edwards dam once sat. Atlantic salmon had found their way to their native waters above the dam site just weeks after the dam was removed. So many striped bass were back that fly fishermen were having a field day on the upper Kennebec. “It has made people realize that dam removal isn’t a crazy idea,” said Margaret Bowman of American Rivers. “It shows that rivers can restore themselves when given the chance to do so.”
NOMINATE YOUR RIVER FOR MOST ENDANGERED
Looking for a way to bring attention to your favorite endangered river? American Rivers is now accepting nominations for America’s Most Endangered Rivers of 2001.
If you’d like to nominate your river, contact Suzy McDowell at 202-347-7550 x3040 or smcdowell@amrivers.org
RIVER TEMPERATURE “GRAVE THREAT TO SALMON”
A hot, dry summer has raised water temperatures in the Columbia and Snake rivers to the point where “adult salmon and steelhead could die before spawning” says AP 8/11. Although no major fish kills have been reported yet, a biologist with the Idaho DFG says “conditions are pointing to a loss of epic proportions” and a hydrologist with the Inter-Columbia Tribal Fish Commission calls the reservoirs behind the dams “warm pools of death.”
SEATTLE PREPARED TO PONY UP FOR BREACHING
Seattle’s City Council has unanimously gone on record in support of breaching the four lower Snake River dams and has offered to “slightly raise local power rates to bolster depleted salmon runs” says Reuters 8/23. Environmentalists say that the vote confirms that local communities will “pay to protect salmon, a Northwest U.S. icon.”
SOME SAY, DAM-BREACHING NOT THE ONLY SOLUTION TO SALMON RECOVERY
In 1991, the federal government declared the Snake River sockeye salmon in danger of extinction. This summer, an estimated 350 sockeye swam past the last of eight Snake River dams. The reasons include changes in the ocean’s climate as well as changes in human behavior.
Political debate has focused solely on dam breaching, and that’s a mistake says the Spokesman Review; Aug. 23
NMFS WITHDRAWS COLUMBIA DREDGING APPROVAL
The National Marine Fisheries Service has withdrawn its approval for an Army Corps of Engineers plan “to deepen 103.5 miles of the Columbia River’s shipping lane” says The Oregonian 8/26. In a letter to the Corps, the lead agency for protecting Pacific Northwest salmon cited “newly acquired information” to reverse its 1999 approval of the project and require “more extensive study on the effects of dredging.” The NMFS says it wants to further the study the effect on the Columbia estuary and the sensitivity of salmon to toxic sediments stirred up by the dredging.
MICRO GOLF TAKING MACRO WATER FROM SALMON
According to AP 8/31, the Washington Ecology Dept. says that a golf course partly owned by Microsoft’s co-founder is using ” as much as 50 million gallons of water a year without approval.” The golf course is “harming salmon migration” by reducing stream flows and raising the temperature in the Sammanmish River but claims “they can’t afford the $143,330 annual cost of purchasing water.”
CALIF. UPHOLDS FARMERS WATER RIGHT
In a ruling that puts farmers at the top of the water chain, the Calif. state Supreme Court sided with farmers in a challenge over water use with city water users in the Mojave River Basin. The court upheld a 150-year-old water policy, which favors landowners with the oldest water rights — in most western states, that means farmers. The decision threw out the so-called theory of “equitable apportionment,” which was used to take older water use rights from agriculturalists and “reapportion” them amongst newer (municipal) users without paying any compensation.
The ruling could also make providing “instream flow” for wildlife in the state much more expensive. Arizona Daily Star (AP); Aug. 21
CALIFORNIA VALLEY SPLIT BY IRRIGATION CLAIMS
Water woes in California’s Fresno Valley, one of the most productive agriculture regions in the nation, have pitted family farmers on one side of the valley against their neighbors on the other. And the fight and the precedent threatens to inundate other irrigation districts. Casper Tribune (AP); Sept. 6
QUOTE OF THE DAY
“My goal is to help people learn to live with a free-flowing river. It’s a piece of paradise that nobody wants to lose.” — Shirley Gammon, Mont. state conservationist for the federal Natural Resources Conservation Service, on a new federal program aiming to preserve the free flow of the Yellowstone River. The program would pay landowners to let the river occasionally flood their land.
INVASIVE SNAILS FROM DOWN UNDER FOUND IN DITCH NEAR MADISON RIVER
On 7/14, AP reports that New Zealand mud snails have invaded an irrigation ditch that runs from the Madison to the Gallatin rivers, raising questions about the impact on trout. One-third the size of buckshot, the mollusks could be the leafy spurge of the Madison River, choking out the caddis, salmon and Mayflies that blue ribbon trout love to nibble. They already have resulted in the closing of the Cobblestone fishing access on the Madison, where they were found in Darlington Ditch, which flows from the Madison.
Biologists are worried the ditch could infect not only the Madison, but also the Gallatin River near Three Forks, where the ditch drains back into the river after irrigating several farms.
Pat Byorth of the Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks said the state may attempt to kill the snails this fall by draining the ditch and letting the snails dry in the sun. They will have to wait until irrigation season is over. Poison engineered specifically to kill mollusks like mud snails is another possible remedy.
Darlington Ditch could be the first place in North America where biologists were actually able to kill the prolific snails.
A doctoral student at Montana State University, David Richards discovered the snails accidentally while collecting river plants for research May 17. At first glance, mud snails look like coarse black grains of sand. In eddy pools and grassy streams, where they can number a half million or more per square meter, the snails resemble sand bars of black pumice. Their appearance makes mud snails difficult to recognize in the Firehole and Gardner rivers of Yellowstone National Park, where mud snails are prevalent, Richards said.
ND SALAMANDER DIE-OFF LINKED TO VIRUS
Scientists have identified “a strain of iridovirus” as the proximate cause of a North Dakota salamander die-off which is “the latest in a series of mass amphibian deaths” says the Milwaukee Journal 8/9. “A whole generation” of gray western tiger salamanders “was wiped out” by the virus, which also was linked to tiger salamander die-offs in Idaho in 1999 and Utah in 1998 and is “implicated in die-offs of spring peepers(frogs) in ME; mink frogs in MN; wood frogs and bull frogs, and spotted salamanders in NC; and wood frog tadpoles and spotted salamanders in MA.
MISSISSIPPI MIGRATORY BIRD HABITAT DISAPPEARING
A new report by American Rivers finds “more than 200,000 acres of migratory bird habitat along the Mississippi River” at risk from “urban sprawl, polluted runoff, flood control projects, sedimentation and barge wakes” says AP 8/16. The great river’s riparian wetlands provide essential habitat for over 300 species of birds that migrate along the flyway and the report found serious declines in 34 of 105 songbird species dependent on river habitat. More info on the report is available at http://www.americanrivers.org
OPPOSITION TO MISSOURI RIVER PLAN IMPEDES LARGER PURPOSE
Downstream congressmen’s attempts to scuttle the plan to increase spring flows on the Missouri River sends the wrong message to other agencies about saving species at risk. Washington Post; Sept. 8
AQUARIUM ADDS MUSCLE TO MUSSEL RECOVERY
Some 500 threatened fine lined pocketbook mussels were released in the Conasauga River near the TN and GA border by researchers from the Tennessee Aquarium’s Southeast Aquatic Research Institute says ENS 8/15. The release of the captive bred mussels is part of a recovery effort prompted by a comprehensive 1999 survey that “revealed declines in the numbers and variety of freshwater mussels.”
MANIPULATION OF SALMON GENES HAS SOME WORRIED
Genetic tinkering of Atlantic salmon has produced gigantic fish that grow four times faster than normal, and variations could end up in grocery stores.
But fisherman, environmentalists and bureaucrats are worried. No one is sure what might happen if these salmon escaped fish farms and cross-bred or competed with native stock. Spokesman-Review 8/23
EROSION HURTING ATLANTIC SALMON
A recent survey by the Maine Land Use Regulation Commission has found that “sediment from snowmobile and all-terrain vehicle trails” is adversely impacting Atlantic salmon in Washington County rivers says the Bangor Daily News 8/22. The 4 Washington County rivers are among 8 remaining rivers where the wild Atlantic salmon, which are candidates for ESA listing, spawn. Of 25 problem ATV erosion sites on the Machias and East Machias rivers, 24 were on land that had been logged by International Paper.
NEW BRUNSWICK FISHING CONFLICT ONLY THE BEGINNING
Aboriginal law experts predict that a court case which allowed unlicensed, year-round fishing and hunting for aborignials is only the beginning of massive legal actions on native rights. Natives, they state, will be forced to rely on the courts as bureaucrats “abandon” their duty to uphold treaties. Edmonton Journal; Aug. 24
B.C. MINISTER PROPOSES TO CRACK DOWN ON SALMON ESCAPES
The B.C. Fisheries Minister, upset at the escape of 35,000 farm Atlantic salmon, announced what he called a new regulatory regime on the industry. But the regulations aren’t new since the same announcement had been made by his predecessor last fall — they just were never enforced. Vancouver Sun; Aug. 24
NORTH POLE MELTING
“For the first time in 55 million years,” global warming is melting the North Pole as a mile-wide “lake” of open ocean has appeared in the Pole’s thinning ice cap says the Ottawa Citizen 8/20. The open ocean was “totally unexpected” and was discovered by an oceanographer from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change which recently confirmed that “the icecap covering Greenland is also disappearing.” A further indication of the greenhouse effect was provided by sea gulls who were sighted at the North Pole for the first time ever.
EPA MOVES TO CLOSE WETLANDS LOOPHOLE
The Clinton-Gore administration is proposing new rules “to protect environmentally sensitive wetlands from development” says the NY Times 8/10. A court decision 3 years ago opened up the loophole that has resulted in the loss of 20,000 acres of wetlands and 150 miles of streams in the last two years.
Under the action, EPA and the Army Corps of Engineers are proposing to address a major regulatory loophole in the Clean Water Act by clarifying the types of activities that can harm wetlands and thus, require regulation. The proposal will clarify the current regulations under the Clean Water Act, Section 404, to address environmentally destructive earth-moving activities (such as mechanized land clearing, ditching, channelization, and in-stream mining) associated with ditching and draining wetlands. For more information, visit http://www.epa.gov/owow/wetlands/dredgedmat/dredmat.html
DROUGHT INFO
The Water Quality Information Center at the National Agricultural Library has developed a new resource for agricultural aspects of drought, weather and climate. This page contains links to prediction and monitoring tools, drought and weather organizations, state-specific drought information (non-inclusive) and related full-text papers and articles. The new resource can be found at http://www.nal.usda.gov/wqic/drought.html.
JELLYFISH “SYMPTOMATIC OF SOMETHING WRONG”
– A marine scientist who has “found blooming populations of native and non-native jellyfish” along the Gulf coast from Louisiana to Florida contends the explosion “indicates the environment is out of balance” says the Sun Herald 8/26. Pollution, “mostly from the Mississippi River” is depleting oxygen from the ocean and allowing “jellyfish to thrive, while other species struggle.” The increase of jellyfish in the last decade is a major concern because they eat “many of the small animals that form the foundation of the food chain.”
COLORADO RIPARIAN ASSOCIATION 13TH ANNUAL CONFERENCE
Telluride Colorado, October 4-6, 2000
The CRA’s annual conference will focus on the San Miguel River watershed — its riparian plant communities, hydrology, conflicting/compatible uses, wetland restoration projects, and political processes. The conference will begin with a half day field trip on the San Miguel River (Wednesday), continue with a full day of presentations (Thursday) at the Telluride Conference Center and end Friday after a half day field trip focusing on wetland restoration at the Telluride Ski area. Early registration (by September 8) is $85 for members and $110 for non-members (includes one-year membership fee). Regular registration is $15 higher. Reasonable accommodations have been arranged for conference attendees, so register early and plan to enjoy both the conference and Southern Colorado in the fall.
For more information contact: Alan Carpenter 303-443-8094; atcarpen@bouldernews.infi.net or check the agenda at http://www.coloradoriparian.org
For information about joining the Sierra Club, contact chapter-director@rmc.sierraclub.org
