YJWCD Water District Filings Water District 6 Court
Water District (YJWCD) places the White River Valley at a critical cross roads.read filings
Water at a Premium
Source: Steamboat Pilot 12.10.10
The Elk River Basin covers 460 square miles in northern and western Routt County, and growth and development in the basin have left the entire basin over-appropriated, in terms of water rights, as of Jan. 1. After Jan. 1, no new, non-exempt well permits will be issued without a corresponding plan for augmentation.
A recent study by the Colorado River Water Conservation District in Glenwood Springs, Colorado. Reports, according to CRWCD Deputy General Manager Dan Birch, estimated that extracting the shale oil might take as much as 120,000 acre-feet of water per year, which he said translates to roughly one or two barrels of water used for each barrel of oil produced .
... But, said Birch, even at the lowered estimate, the oil shale industry would use up to approximately 20 percent of all the Colorado River water now being used by agriculture, municipalities and other users around the Western Slope. -
John Colson
Glenwood Springs Post Independent, Staff, Glenwood Springs, CO Colorado
June, 2010 meeting of the Yampa/White Basin Roundtable Mr. Birch stated "We believe we can get all of the water from the White River Basin".
The question facing Western Colorado; Do we want to drink water or turn it into gasoline?
GREEN TIP OF THE DAY
Be aware of your water use. Thirty-six states are anticipating water shortages by 2016. Yet the average American uses more than 100 gallons of water each day. A family of four using low-flow showerheads instead of full-flow models can save about 20,000 gallons of water per year.
Snowmelt in the Colorado River basin is occurring earlier, reducing runoff and the amount of crucial water available downstream. A new study shows this is due to increased dust caused by human activities in the region during the past 150 years.
The study, led by a NASA scientist and funded by the agency and the National Science Foundation, showed peak spring runoff now comes three weeks earlier than before the region was settled and soils were disturbed. Annual runoff is lower by more than five percent on average compared to pre-settlement levels.
The findings have major implications for the 27 million people in the seven U.S. states and Mexico who rely on the Colorado River for drinking, agricultural and industrial water. The results were published in this week's Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.more
Water Use in Southwest Heads for a Day of Reckoning
New York Times By FELICITY BARRINGER September 27, 2010
The Southern Nevada Water Authority is tunneling under Lake Mead to install an intake valve that could continue operating until water levels dropped below 1,000 feet.
As Lake Mead’s level drops, Hoover Dam’s capacity to generate electricity diminishes. If Lake Mead levels fall to 1,050 feet, it may be impossible to use the dam’s turbines, and the flow of electricity could cease.
While Las Vegas is one of the Colorado River’s smaller clients — it consumes 2 percent of the river’s allocated deliveries.
The distribution of the river’s dwindling bounty is likely to be reordered as early as next year.
Lake Mead could drop below a crucial demarcation line of 1,075 feet.
more...
Pipeline Proposal picks up Opponents in Utah, Colorado
Salt Lake Tribune
Published Nov 15, 2010 06:24AM
Opposition is mounting to the proposal to tap water from the Green River, and the Flaming Gorge Reservoir, to help supply Colorado’s populous Front Range.
more
With a section of the Central Flyway passing through the county, it is a great place for bird watching.. 3,228 square miles, and habitats ranging from desert shrubland in the west to alpine tundra on east, Rio Blanco County is an aviary unto itself.
