COLORADO VOTERS REJECT WATER INITIATIVE
Colorado voters turned down ballot measures to provide as much as $2 billion for new water projects. Denver Post; Nov. 5 <http://www.headwatersnews.org/stories/redirect.php?id=11860> <http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/election/article/0,1299,DRMN_36_2403413,00.html>
DEFEAT OF COLORADO WATER INITIATIVE MAY STILL PUSH NEW PROJECTS
Voters’ defeat of Colorado’s Referendum A, which would have approved as much as $2 billion for water projects, raised awareness of water storage needs and may yet result in new projects, backers said. Denver Post; Nov. 6 <http://www.denverpost.com/Stories/0,1413,36~53~1747624,00.html>
COLORADO IRRIGATORS SAY IT’S CRITICS’ TURN TO COME UP WITH WATER PLAN
The defeat of Colorado’s $2 billion initiative for new water projects has the agriculture industry anxious about its future water supplies, and backers expect a flurry of water bills in the next legislative session. Denver Business Journal; Nov. 11 <http://www.bizjournals.com/denver/stories/2003/11/10/story8.html>
COLORADO ATTORNEY GENERAL SUPPORTS WATER-SHARING PLAN
Colorado Attorney General Ken Salazar said lawmakers should get behind the plan that would allow Douglas and Arapahoe counties to tap into Denver Water’s system, using surplus in wet years and returning water from underground sources in drought years. Denver Rocky Mountain News; Nov. 14 <http://www.headwatersnews.org/stories/redirect.php?id=12049>
COLORADO’S ‘BIG STRAW’ FEASIBLE, STUDY SAYS, FOR $15 BILLION
A new study of Colorado’s proposed “Big Straw” project to suck Colorado River water from the downstream border back to Front Range cities is feasible but would cost as much as $15 billion, according to a new study. Denver Post; Nov. 18 <http://www.denverpost.com/Stories/0,1413,36~23447~1773599,00.html>
Bend Colorado’s ‘Big Straw’ plan into practical solutions <http://www.headwatersnews.org/stories/redirect.php?id=12207>
COLORADO WATER PROJECT’S COST LIKELY TO SINK IT
Colorado’s “Big Straw” project would cost every household in the state $7,350 to build it and would more than double monthly water bills to operate it. Denver Post; Nov. 21 <http://www.denverpost.com/Stories/0,1413,36~23447~1781258,00.html> <http://durangoherald.com/asp-bin/article_generation.asp?article_type=opin&article_path=/opinion/opin031120.htm>
WESTERN COLORADO LAWMAKERS OBJECT TO BIG STRAW BURDEN
Two state senators said Colorado’s Big Straw project would leave basins in the northwest and southwest corners of the state responsible for delivering water downstream, at the expense of their economic development. Durango Herald; Nov. 26 <http://www.headwatersnews.org/stories/redirect.php?id=12267>
COLORADO COUNTY’S WELLS RUNNING ON EMPTY
Douglas County led the nation in growth in the 1990s and rapid development continues today, but dropping water levels in the Denver Basin could leave residents high and dry in as little as two to ten years, experts say. Denver Rocky Mountain News; Nov. 23 <http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/local/article/0,1299,DRMN_15_2445399,00.html>
COLORADO LAW DOESN’T PROTECT AQUIFERS, AS NEARLY EVERYONE THOUGHT
Colorado officials mistakenly believe state law protects a 100-year supply of ground water, but growth and fast-rising demand may mean exhausted aquifers in the near future. Part of a series. Denver Rocky Mountain News; Nov. 25 <http://www.headwatersnews.org/stories/redirect.php?id=12242>
DENVER WATER DISTRICTS HAVE $3 BILLION PLAN
A plan by 11 Denver-area water districts to forestall a looming water shortage would cost $3 billion, $1 billion less than simply drilling new wells. Denver Rocky Mountain News; Nov. 26 <http://www.headwatersnews.org/stories/redirect.php?id=12265>
AL-P COSTS KEEP CLIMBING
The estimated cost of the controversial Animas-La Plata Project (ALP) in southwestern Colorado doubled in July to $500 million, and now Bureau of Reclamation (BOR) officials said it will increase again, although they don’t know how much. Farmington Daily Times; Nov. 13 <http://www.headwatersnews.org/stories/redirect.php?id=12014 The>
Bureau of Reclamation report on ALP costs is available at <http://www.usbr.gov/alpreport/> <http://www.daily-times.com/cgi-bin/artman/exec/view.cgi?archive=180&num=5770>
AGENCY NEEDS TO COME CLEAN ON ALP
The Bureau of Reclamation’s announcement that the cost of building the Ridges Basin Reservoir has now doubled to $500 million before construction has begun. The San Juan Water Commission should demand a full accounting before any more money flows into the project. Farmington Daily Times; Nov. 14 <http://www.daily-times.com/artman/publish/Editorial.shtml>
REGIONAL OFFICIALS BALK AT COST OF COLORADO-NEW MEXICO WATER PROJECT
A report by a regional water commission blames dramatically higher cost estimates for the Animas-La Plata water project on federal mistakes and hints the commission shouldn’t be responsible to pay them. Santa Fe New Mexican; Nov. 25 <http://www.santafenewmexican.com/main.asp?FromHome=1&TypeID=1&ArticleID=36117&SectionID=2&SubSectionID=7>
NEW MEXICO GROUP URGES STATE TO BUY RIVER WATER
Think New Mexico, a public policy think tank, released a report Friday saying the state should earmark state funds to acquire water rights to help maintain flow in the state’s rivers and keep the state in compliance with the Endangered Species Act (ESA). Santa Fe New Mexican; Nov. 23 <http://www.headwatersnews.org/stories/redirect.php?id=12194>
BILL WILL LET ALBUQUERQUE KEEP WATER ORDERED FOR ENDANGERED MINNOW
A conference committee led by New Mexico Sen. Pete Domenici has blocked an attempt to use Albuquerque’s water to help save the endangered silvery minnow. The rider prohibits the use of contracted water to save the minnow unless it is provided by a willing seller and gives conservationists and water users two years to work out a “final solution.” Santa Fe New Mexican; Nov. 7 <http://www.headwatersnews.org/stories/redirect.php?id=11903>
BREEDING MINNOWS
The Rio Grande Silvery Minnow Refugium in Albuquerque has “exceeded its first-year goal in growing the endangered minnows, from captured eggs, to be reintroduced into the river” by a factor of 10, producing up to a half-million of the tiny fish says the Albuquerque Tribune 11/25. The success of the captive breeding program in restoring the Rio Grande’s wild population, which has been reduced to 5% of its past range, won’t be known until the spring when they spawn.
DESPITE TORRENTS OF MONEY, SANTA FE RIVER RUNS DRY
Twenty years and millions of taxpayer dollars have failed to save the river around which Santa Fe grew; some say it’s a lack of will to restore the flow, others say it’s the complexity of bringing the dozen agencies involved to the table. Santa Fe New Mexican; Nov. 9 <http://www.headwatersnews.org/stories/redirect.php?id=11924>
NEW MEXICO IRRIGATORS DON’T WANT STATE TO CREATE WATER MARKET
Members of New Mexico’s traditional irrigation districts oppose a draft state water plan’s recommendations to develop a state water market to trade water rights. S.F. New Mexican;11/12 <http://www.headwatersnews.org/stories/redirect.php?id=11995>
NEW MEXICO OFFICIALS PROMISE TO PROTECT IRRIGATORS
Responding to complaints of acequia members and land grant holders that the state’s draft water plan does not address historical water rights, commission members said that provisions will be added to protect water rights conferred under the 1848 Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo. Santa Fe New Mexican; Nov. 14 <http://www.santafenewmexican.com/main.asp?SectionID=2&SubSectionID=7&ArticleID=35643>
ALBUQUERQUE’S WATER PROTEST BAFFLES SANTA FE OFFICIALS
Albuquerque city officials have filed a protest over Santa Fe’s request to withdraw its water from the Rio Grande, complaining some of the water would irrigate upscale golf courses. Santa Fe New Mexican; Nov. 28 <http://www.santafenewmexican.com/main.asp?SectionID=2&SubSectionID=6&ArticleID=36239>
HATS OFF TO NEW MEXICO UTILITY FOR WATER CONSERVATION EFFORT
Public Service Company of New Mexico is building a facility and pipeline to treat 5,000 to 6,000 acre feet of production water for cooling purposes at the San Juan Generating Station, cutting its use of San Juan River water by 25 percent annually. Farmington Daily Times; <11/17 http://www.headwatersnews.org/stories/redirect.php?id=12087>
NEW MEXICO UTILITY’S WATER-SAVING PLAN DEPENDS ON TAX BREAK
Public Service Company of New Mexico’s plan to use water from oil wells to help cool its Four Corners power plant depends on a $3 million tax credit to help make it feasible. Santa Fe New Mexican; Nov. 18 <http://www.santafenewmexican.com/main.asp?SectionID=2&SubSectionID=7&ArticleID=35777>
FEDERAL OFFICIAL WARNS NEW MEXICO TO SETTLE WATER DISPUTES
Bennett Raley, assistant Interior Secretary for water and science, said that the federal government might intervene if the state doesn’t settle the lawsuits over water that have been pending for years. Farmington Daily Times (AP); Nov. 23 <http://www.daily-times.com/cgi-bin/artman/exec/view.cgi?archive=175&num=5582>
UTAH WATER COMPANIES FIGHT OVER WANING SUPPLY
The municipal water company in Summit County, Utah, pumped more water last summer that it was entitled to, according to a complaint in an escalating battle for a limited aquifer. Salt Lake Tribune; Nov. 13 <http://www.sltrib.com/2003/Nov/11132003/utah/110570.asp>
SALT LAKE GROUND-WATER CLEANUP HITS MORE OPPOSITION
Salt Lake County Mayor Nancy Workman has joined the critics of a plan to clean ground water contaminated by Kennecott Utah Copper and dump it into the Jordan River. <http://www.sltrib.com/2003/Nov/11252003/utah/114248.asp>
IRRIGATION DISTRICT WILL AGAIN CUT SUPPLIES TO PHOENIX-AREA FARMERS
Farmers around Phoenix are already squeezed by low prices and encroaching development, and now, for the second consecutive year, they can anticipate one-third less water from the Salt River Project. Arizona Republic; Nov. 6 <http://www.headwatersnews.org/stories/redirect.php?id=11894>
WEST’S BROAD DROUGHT LIKELY TO CONTINUE, EXPERTS SAY
Three-fourths of the West is still in a moderate to severe drought, although much of Colorado’s emergency has eased in the past year. Denver Rocky Mountain News; Nov. 5 <http://www.headwatersnews.org/stories/redirect.php?id=11866>
STUDIES OF DECOMMISIONING GLEN CANYON DAM PROHIBITED AGAIN NEXT YEAR
The new Interior appropriations bill contains a rider that prevents the agency from spending any money to study the feasibility of draining Lake Powell, as it has every year since 2000. Salt Lake <Tribune; 11/5 http://www.sltrib.com/2003/Nov/11052003/utah/108394.asp>
QSA
The various documents comprising the Quantification Settlement Agreement are available at the Imperial Irrigation District’s website, <>www.iid.com, and clicking on the “news” link.
RECLAMATION SPENDING
Interior spending under Title II of H.R. 2754 includes $948.3M to, among other things, “…maintain, operate, and rehabilitate BOR projects throughout the western United States and protect the considerable Federal investment in western water infrastructure.” This is an increase of $70.3M over the President’s request and $13M more than last year. Title II includes $36.5M for completion of the Central Utah Project (CUP) (with $9.4M ear-marked for the Utah Reclamation Mitigation and Conservation Account) and $39.6M from the Central Valley Project (CVP) Restoration Fund for acquisitions and improvements under the CVP Improvement Act. Policy and Administration funding totals $55.5M. WSWC
EL PASO AREA RANCHER GIVES WATER BACK TO THE RIO GRANDE
While everybody else wants to use water from the Rio Grande, rancher Kit Bramblett is giving some back. <http://www.enn.com/news/2003-11-19/s_10507.asp>
SOUTHERN IDAHO DESPERATE FOR AT LEAST AN AVERAGE SNOWPACK
The Snake River reservoir system is at its lowest point in history, and southern Idaho’s $1 billion agriculture industry could be crippled by another dry winter. Spokane Spokesman-Review; Nov. 12 <http://www.headwatersnews.org/stories/redirect.php?id=11998>
