RECREATIONAL INSTREAM FLOW WATER RIGHTS
At the last Colorado Water Conservation Board (CWCB) meeting, there was a discussion about the recent trends by municipalities to appropriate water rights for boating and/or piscatorial purposes. The staff of the CWCB seems to be concerned that a spate of boat chute construction will be followed by a similar number of instream flow water right applications. Since the CWCB has exclusive authority to hold instream flows for the protection of the environment, the Board held a policy discussion as to whether recreational rights might be a “threat” to that authority.
The first time Colorado water law recognized recreational use as a legitimate instream water right was in 1991 when the Upper Gunnison WCD was awarded a right for the release from storage for piscatorial, wildlife and recreational purposes. (Prior to that, there have been rights issued for lakes and reservoirs for recreational purposes.) That was followed by Ft. Collins’ applying for a right for a boat chute and fish ladder. More recently, Littleton and Golden have filed applications for recreational rights.
The CWCB staff identified three concerns with these types of non-consumptive applications. They could: “1. hinder water development by limiting exchange potential; 2. prevent Colorado from being able to use all of the water allocated under existing compact entitlements; and 3. detract from the State’s Instream Flow Program by essentially authorizing private instream flow water rights.”
The staff asked the Board to consider altering the status quo with new legislation that could either: 1. eliminate recreational instream flows; 2. redefining the definition of “control” structures needed to qualify for a water right; 3. expand the CWCB’s exclusive authority to hold ALL types of instream flows; or 4. require the CWCB to be co-applicants to assure that applications are “reasonable and responsible.” [This whole discussion points out the traditional water users’ uneasiness with the concept that non-consumptive water rights are ligitimate.] The Board took no action but will continue to discuss this issue.
NEW DAM PROPOSED IN DOUGLAS COUNTY
Parker W&S District is proposing to build a 16,200 af reservoir on Newlin Gulch, a tributary to Cherry Creek about 3 miles southwest of the Town of Parker. The cost of the project is estimated at $35 million ($2,160/af). Proposed sources of water include: in-priority surface and alluvial groundwater from Cherry Creek; advanced wastewater-treated effluent exchange; and in-priority surface flows in Newlin Gulch.
UPPER RIO GRANDE SCOPING
Reclamation has announced its intent to prepare an EIS for Upper Rio Grande Basin water project operations.
Written comments will be accepted up to Nov. 20, 2000.
LA PLATA RIVER COMPACT INFRACTION
Under the Compact between Colorado and New Mexico, when the La Plata River flows drop below 20 cfs, Colorado is obligated to deliver 10 cfs to New Mexico. Colorado relies on return flows from irrigation to meet this requirement. With such a dry year, Colorado is under-delivering their obligation by 1-2 cfs. The State Engineer’s Office from both states have been discussing how to correct this problem.
DRY YEAR ADMINISTRATION
The above-mentioned problem indicates the Division Engineers and Water Commissioners are busier than usually this year administering water rights in priority. In the South Platte River, only water rights senior to 1871 are being met. In many sub-basins, next-door neighbors are being called out to protect more senior rights. In many areas, farmers and ranchers are harvesting early, where possible, to try to save crops from being destroyed by drought.
CHANGING IRRIGATION PATTERNS
In the South Platte Basin, many farmers are converting row and flood irrigation to center pivot irrigation because of the lack of sufficient farm workers to manage the more labor-intensive methods. For several years, more than 14,000 acres/yr. are being affected. This has markedly modified return flow patterns, lowering water tables and drying up parts of South Platte River.
UPPER COLORADO RIVER FISH RECOVERY PROGRAM UPDATES
* HOUSE APPROVES MONEY FOR ENDANGERED FISH – Before adjourning for the August recess the House of Representatives passed a bill to provide $100 million for recovery of “four endangered fish species in the Colorado River and its tributaries” say the Denver Rocky Mountain News 7/27. The money would go toward fish ladders, “screens to keep fish out of agricultural canals,” expanding hatcheries and other projects.
* Program Director vacancy – Henry Maddox is being transferred to Salt Lake City to become the Utah Field Supervisor. Henry’s successor has not been announced.
* Implementation Committee – A recent meeting was canceled, apparently, because of a dispute over the Program Recovery Goals. I will have more information on this issue in a future report.
* Yampa Water Management Committee has been discussing mechanisms to supply 7,000 to 7,700 af of water when needed for the fish.
Non-native fish management is also being discussed.
FLAMING GORGE SCOPING
Reclamation will be taking comments until Sept. 5 for an EIS on reoperation of Flaming Gorge Dam to reflect flow recommendations by the Upper Colorado River Recovery Program.
More information can be found at http://www.usbr.gov.
ESA AND INDIAN WATER RIGHTS
A working group within the Department of Interior has finalized its study of the impacts of the Endangered Species Act on development of tribal water rights. The final report and recommendations are available at
http://www.doi.gov/feature/es_wr/report.htm and http://www.doi.gov/feature/es_wr/recom.htm The Goals and Objectives are:
(1) Implementation of the Endangered Species Act which respects the seniority of Indian water rights.
(2) Implementation of the Endangered Species Act which does not prevent the completion of activities authorized by Congress for the purpose of enabling Tribes to exercise their water rights, while avoiding jeopardy to listed species and adverse modification of critical habitat.
(3) Development of Indian water resources consistent with the promotion of healthy watersheds upon which sensitive species (including candidate, proposed and listed species) depend.
OBJECTIVE #1
When federal agencies play a role in the development of water resources (permitting, financing, construction, and/or environmental review) in river basins where Indian tribes hold water rights, consideration of the effect of that development on the exercise of Indian water rights should begin as early in the process as possible, in recognition of each agency’s trust responsibility for Indian natural resources.
OBJECTIVE #2
The process and criteria utilized in developing environmental baselines for use in Section 7 consultations should address the future possible exercise of Indian water rights.
OBJECTIVE #3
Section 7 consultations should identify options which allow for the future exercise of Indian water rights, while avoiding jeopardy to listed species and adverse modification of critical habitat.
OBJECTIVE #4
Federal funding should be part of an overall program to assist and encourage Indian tribes to address the environmental impacts of Indian water resource development and to enhance riparian ecosystems.
OBJECTIVE #5
There should be express consideration of the impact of proposed designations of critical habitat on the exercise of Indian water rights, and areas should be excluded from such designations if there is an adverse impact on those rights.
Comments on the Final Report and Recommendations should be submitted by October 4, 2000 to S. Elizabeth Birnbaum, Special Assistant to the Solicitor, U.S. Department of the Interior, 1849 C Street, NW, Room 6352, Washington, DC 20240. No action will be taken to implement any of the Recommendations of the Working Group until all comments have been received and analyzed.
SILVERY MINNOW PACT PROVES AGREEMENT POSSIBLE ON RIO GRANDE WATER
The agreement between conservationists and irrigators to keep water flowing in New Mexico’s Rio Grande was a temporary but historic step forward. The deal was to save the silvery minnow, but the point is to keep the river flowing, and agreeing once shows all they can agree again. Albuquerque Journal; Aug. 6
* A DWINDLING RIO GRANDE. The Rio Grande is the lifeblood of central New Mexico, but the population in the river valley is expected to increase by 61 percent in 30 years, and there’s not enough water to go around now, a point made painfully obvious in the current drought.
The first stories in a five-part series. Albuquerque Journal; July 16 MINNOWS FOUND DEAD AS EMERGENCY RESCUE CONTINUES: Biologists rescued endangered Rio Grande silvery minnows from sections of the river that had gone dry and returned them to parts of the river that were still flowing says the Albuquerque Journal 7/26. The FWS reports there were “some fish died in the dry parts of the river before they could be saved” but there were no estimates on the number dead or saved. The Bureau of Reclamation also began pumping water from diversion canals into the river to try and keep a minimum flow in the river necessary for the silvery minnow’s survival.
UTAH RIVER GOING BACK TO NATURE
Utah engineers and biologists are planning to rip out and undo decades of “improving” Utah’s Jordan River — damming, straightening, dredging, reinforcing the banks, regulating water flows. The projects didn’t stop annual flooding and ruined thousands of acres of riparian habitat. Deseret News; July 16
LONG VS SHORT-TERM FIX
“The company charged with the cleanup of” the radioactive Atlas tailings site on the banks of the Colorado River near Moab, UT is proposing immediate short-term measures to protect endangered fish says the Salt Lake Tribune 7/27. The FWS is wary that the interim measures not become a substitute for long-term solutions such as moving the tailings pile.
POWER FISH
Utah, and most Western states, is fighting to rid is native trout fishery of whirling disease. But the parasite got its start in the state in a hatchery owned by the governor’s family, and some contend politics have overshadowed biology ever since. Salt Lake Tribune; July 31
UTAH PLANS TO CLEAN AND DRINK MINE-TAINTED WATER
State and federal officials have a plan to clean up an underground aquifer contaminated with heavy metals from more than a century of mining southwest of Salt Lake City, then use it to supplement cities’ municipal water supplies. Deseret News; July 28
DRAINING LAKE POWELL TOO SERIOUS TO BE TAKEN SERIOUSLY
Removing the Glen Canyon Dam, as environmentalists are seriously proposing, would ruin the economy of the Southwest, cutting power to 400,000 ratepayers, closing the Navajo plant that supplies power to 650,000 more, and ending irrigation of 3 million acres of farmland. Arizona Republic; July 17
STATES SUBMIT NEW COLORADO RIVER WATER PROPOSAL
Officials in seven Western states have submitted a proposed agreement on Colorado River water allocations to the Interior Department, a deal that addresses California’s chronic overuse but that is far from finished. Salt Lake Tribune; July 27
NEW SCOPING FOR LCR MSCP
The Lower Colorado River Multispecies Conservation Plan (MSCP) is designed to serve as a coordinated, comprehensive wildlife and habitat conservation approach for the lower Colorado River basin within the 100-year flood plain of the Colorado River from below Glen Canyon Dam to the Southerly International Boundary with Mexico for a period of 50 years.
The proposed LCR MSCP will:
1) conserve habitat and work toward the recovery of threatened and endangered species as well as reduce the likelihood of additional species listings under the Federal Endangered Species Act (ESA) and the California Endangered Species Act (CESA); 2) accommodate current water diversions and power production and optimize opportunities for future water and power development, to the extent consistent with the law, and; 3) provide the basis for compliance (take authorization) with the ESA and CESA.
Information on the program purpose, meetings, and documents is available electronically at www.lcrmscp.org
Written comments are requested by August 11, 2000. They should be sent to Mr. Tom Shrader, Attn: LC-2011, Bureau of Reclamation, P.O. Box 61470, Boulder City, NV 89006-1470. Comments may also be faxed to Mr. Shrader at 702-293-8146.
SALTON SEA DRAFT ENVIRONMENTAL DOCUMENTS TO BE REVISED AND SUPPLEMENTED
Reclamation and the Salton Sea Authority announced plans to revise and supplement the January, 2000 Salton Sea Restoration Project Draft Environmental Impact Statement/Draft Environmental Impact Review (DEIS/EIR) based on public comments and further engineering review of the document. Since its release for public review in January, over 1700 comments have been received.
Over the next several months, the supplemental review process will explore additional restoration alternatives such as the use of large-scale solar ponds; delete references to the use of Colorado River flood flows from the alternatives; and address in the revised DEIS/EIR the potential of selecting a preferred alternative for restoration of the Salton Sea.
Opposition to using Colorado River flows came from water agencies that rely on Colorado River water and from environmentalists who want any extra river water to revitalize the wetlands downstream in the Colorado River delta in Mexico. The EPA, in its letter commenting on the draft plan, said flood flows from the nearby Colorado River would not greatly reduce the sea’s salinity but have had “a proven, large beneficial effect on the quality and extent of habitat in the delta.”
SALTON SEA BOTULISM HITS EARLIER AND HARDER
Dozens of sick endangered brown pelicans are being trucked in every day to the Pacific Wildlife
Project rehabilitation center in Irvine, CA, victims of the “annual botulism outbreak at the Salton Sea says the LA Times 7/10. The outbreak is beginning a month sooner than usual and with more hot weather predicted and an “unusually great number of brown pelicans” living at the lake, rehabilitators are bracing for a busy summer.
Thanks to FWS efforts to immediately locate sick pelicans, rescue efforts have been fairly effective and “only a couple of birds have died.”
CALIFORNIA DEREGULATION REQUIRES LARGEST-EVER AUCTION OF UTILITY ASSETS
California is to deregulate its electric-power industry by the end of next year, a mandate that requires the auction of 174 dams, 99 reservoirs, 68 power plants, 380 miles of artificial waterways and hundreds of thousands of acres of land. And it may strip the state of environmental controls. New York Times; July 19
SMALL WATERSHED DAMS BILL APPROVED
The House passed H.R. 728, which would authorize $90 million over 5 years to rehabilitate small watershed dams around the country. The measure responds to fears that thousands of aging dams could fail, posing a threat to life and property. At the owner’s request, the bill also allows authorized funds to be used to decommission small watershed dams. The Senate Agriculture Committee approved similar legislation (S 1762) on June 20.
SHINER CRITICAL HABITAT PROPOSED
The FWS has proposed 6/30 to designate critical habitat for the Arkansas River shiner, once again to settle a lawsuit brought by the Center for Biological Diversity.
The proposal would protect 1,160 miles of rivers and an adjacent riparian area in portions of the Arkansas River in KS, the Cimarron River in KS and OK, the Beaver/North Canadian River in OK, and the Canadian/South Canadian River in NM, TX, and OK.
PRESIDENT PASSES ON DAM BREACHING
The administration is telling Congress that it opposes breaching the 4 lower Snake River dams for now and will try a variety of other measures instead to try and save the rapidly declining runs of Pacific Northwest salmon. The White House says it will “retain dam removal as a future option if the variety of measures to save the salmon don’t meet specific targets for recovery in a specified time. “The administration decision is a major blow” to environmentalists who have put heavy pressure on the administration to support breaching arguing that any delays risk reaching the point of no return in the salmon’s continuing slide toward extinction. The draft plan also lacks important interim measures – such as hatchery reforms, dam reforms, habitat improvements, and harvest restrictions – that must be implemented immediately to help salmon.
Army Corps of Engineers: An Assessment of the Draft Environmental Impact Statement of the Lower Snake River Dams.
RCED-00-186. 29 pp. plus 3 appendices (8 pp.) July 24, 2000.
GOVS’ SALMON RESCUE PLAN SANS BREACHING
The governors of 4 Northwest states released a salmon rescue plan that was “sketchy on details” and did not mention breaching the 4 lower Snake River dams says the Idaho Statesman 7/26. The plan’s recommendations are more about political rather than ecological reality and did not impress environmental groups who say they are going back to court “to bust the dams rather than risk the threat of extinction” of the region’s 12 endangered salmon and steelhead runs. Among the recommendations are reducing predation, “reviewing commercial fishing,” creating “salmon sanctuaries to protect key habitats” and adjusting dam operations. High Country News; Aug. 3
WATER-TEMPERATURE RULES COULD MAKE BREACHING DAMS MORE LIKELY
The EPA has warned the Army Corp of Engineers that it, too, must abide by federal regulations for water temperature, a factor left out of analyses on breaching Snake River dams, and an added cost that could make breaching cheaper than complying. Spokesman-Review; Aug. 7
SALMON DODGE HEAT WAVE BULLET
A sizzling West Coast heat wave that sent electricity demand in CA surging, had Bonneville Power Administration officials in charge of Northwest dams ready to “suspend fish-friendly procedures at electricity-producing dams in order to goose the juice” says the Seattle Post-Intelligencer 8/3.
Although it wasn’t needed, the BPA was ready to “send the young salmon through the turbines” in order to “avoid rolling blackouts in the Golden State.”
FEDS AND TRIBE HOPE TO RESTORE SALMON TO BARREN STRETCH OF COLUMBIA
Federal officials are reconsidering their decades-old analysis that there is little salmon habitat on the 54-mile stretch of Columbia River above Chief Joseph Dam, and in light of new research, hope to restore the species there. [Is a fish ladder around Grand Coullee Dam next?] Spokesman-Review; July 24
PESTICIDES DISRUPT SALMON DEFENSES
Pesticide spoils salmon’s ability to smell and to react to danger, according to recent research, indicating that reducing pesticide levels in rivers may be important to salmon recovery. Spokesman-Review; Aug. 2
DAM TO GO RIVER TO FLOW
“After two years sitting on the fence,” the state of Florida has given the go ahead to remove the “controversial dam at Rodman Reservoir” and begin restoring the Ocklawaha River, one of the state’s largest waterways, and habitat for endangered manatees, not to mention putting a happy ending on “one of Florida’s oldest environmental battles” says the St. Petersburg Times 7/15.
MA STARTS DAM REMOVAL PROGRAM
A year after the removal of a dam on Maine’s Kennebec River demonstrated the ecological benefits of returning rivers to their natural state, Massachusetts is beginning to consider which of its 3,000 dams should be breached says the Boston Globe 7/24. One dam on the Housatonic River is scheduled to be removed this year and another near Plymouth “will follow next year.” Many of the dams are in disrepair but deciding exactly which ones to remove the state will try and balance aesthetic, recreational and ecological concerns for the protection and recovery of fish species such as blueblack herring and American shad.
MINE WASTE TOXIC TO PTARMIGANS
A study in the journal Nature finds that ptarmigans are the “first of several wildlife species” to feel the affects of cadmium leaching into the environment from tailings at abandoned mine sites says ENN 7/13. Some 46% of the birds surveyed in an “area of south-Central Colorado known as the ‘ore belt'” were found to have “alarmingly high cadmium accumulation in their kidneys.” Cadmium toxicity, which inhibits calcium processing weakens bones and prevents the birds from building “normal egg shells.”
ALBUQUERQUE STEEPED IN ARSENIC DEBATE
Albuquerque’s water contains more than double the amount of arsenic allowed by new EPA standards, and the cost to make it “safe” is something like $250 million. The larger question, though, is how much is safe? Albuquerque Journal; July 31
DRINKING WATER
Congress threatens to take away important new drinking water protections. Recent Congressional actions could effectively block the EPA from implementing significant new public health protections for drinking water. On Wednesday, June 21, just one day before EPA proposed new, more stringent standards for arsenic in drinking water, the House of Representatives passed a bill that seeks to prevent EPA from adopting the new standards. It even tells EPA to cease enforcement of the current 58-year old arsenic standard, which the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) last year found does not protect public health and should be reduced “as promptly as possible.” A rider attached to the bill which funds EPA/ VA/Housing and Urban Development (HUD) FY2001 appropriations bill, or HR 4635) would prevent EPA from implementing the new arsenic regulations.
Another rider to the bill tells the agency to stop its efforts to issue a new standard for radon in drinking water. Last-minute efforts to strike the language from the bill were unsuccessful, and the bill has been sent to the Senate for consideration.
Arsenic and radon have both been linked to cancer in humans.
Arsenic is also associated with a number of other leading causes of death and disease in the United States, including respiratory diseases, circulatory and heart disease, cerebrovascular disease, neurological disorders, gastrointestinal disturbances, and diabetes mellitus. Numerous health studies and the 1999 NAS study have demonstrated that the current arsenic standard of 50 parts per billion (ppb) is woefully out of date, and is not protective of public health. EPA’s proposed National Drinking Water Regulations would reduce acceptable levels of arsenic in drinking water from the current 50 ppb to 5 ppb.
NUTRIENT CRITERIA TECHNICAL GUIDANCE MANUAL: RIVERS AND STREAMS
The public is invited to review this guidance document and to submit additional scientific information to U.S. EPA by September 25, 2000.
After evaluating the comments received, U.S. EPA will either publish a revised document or announce a decision to not revise the document at that time. The document can be downloaded from: http://www.epa.gov/ost/criteria/nutrient/guidance/rivers/index.html
To receive a hard copy, contact EPA’s Water Resource Center at 202-260-7786, or center.water-resource@epa.gov, or EPA Water Resource Center. RC-4100, Ariel Rios Building, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave., NW, Washington, DC 20460.
HOG WASTE DEADENS MO RIVER
“An accidental discharge” of manure from a hog-finishing plant resulted in a “total kill of aquatic life” along 3 miles of the headwaters of Missouri’s Loutre River says the Columbia Tribune 8/3. The spill created “a dead zone” in one of central Missouri’s most beautiful rivers and destroyed uncounted numbers of minnows, darters, blue gill, white crappie gizzard shad and bass.
