Read more of this story »

Desert spreads endlessly beyond the horizon, where crystalline azure meets rusted bronze. This is red rock country. Moab, Utah is known for its breathtaking scenery. Red rock arches, labyrinth-like canyons, the clever Colorado River. This paradise permeates the soul and the soil.  But something else sleeps in the soil: uranium tailings.

Uranium was discovered near Moab in the early 1900s, but it wasn’t significantly mined until 1952 when Charlie Steen, a geologist, discovered large quantities of uranium in Lisbon Valley, south east of Moab. Enough Uranium was mined that a sign in town declared that Moab was “The Uranium Capitol of the World!”

Read more of this story »

In southeast Utah rests a peaceful town located on the banks of a peaceful river. Here the Green River flows between two canyons, Gray and Labyrinth, allowing for farming and ranching in an arid desert. Driving through Green River, Utah doesn’t take but a few moments, including a stop to purchase some mouth-watering melons, for which Green River is famous. But Green River now has a new claim to fame.

Transition Power Development LLC (TPD) has proposed construction of a 2 unit nuclear power plant known as the Blue Castle Project situated just outside of the peaceful town. In order to maintain the 2 unit nuclear power plant, massive amounts of water would be required. The Kane County Water Conservancy District (KCWCD) has filed a water-rights application in order to facilitate the project. The application requests 29,600 acre-feet of water, which would be diverted from the Green River, a part of the Colorado River drainage.

Read more of this story »

Shell Oil’s plan to acquire a junior water right for an 8% stake of Colorado’s Yampa River average April-to-June flow for oil shale development has been opposed by some twenty-five parties, all submitting letters of opposition to the District 6 Colorado Water Court in Steamboat Springs.

Among those opposing the plan were a bevy of federal, state, and local governmental agencies, a coal company, and several environmental organizations.

“Colorado’s future is the issue here,” said Roger Singer, the Sierra Club’s western regional representative, in a statement. “Do we commit this dwindling resource to energy development?”

The Yampa River is the only river left in Colorado with unappropriated water.

Shell’s plan would divert up to 375 feet per second in spring runoff months and pump the water into a new 1,000 acre, 15 billion gallon reservoir. But the viability of oil shale development in the west depends on water and energy - energy that would most likely be provided by new coal-fired generation

Shell’s application and the opposition letters will be reviewed by the water court, a process that could take up to a year and a half, considering the high number of dissenters.

Image: CC Licensed by s_medgah at flickr

[Creative Commons photo by Wolfgang Staudt]

The areas along the river are already suffering from drought, and getting at the resources there uses and pollutes the precious remaining water. Research at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography estimates that the river could dry up in as little as 13 years.

Read more of this story »

After being chided by both Democrats and Republicans over remarks he made this summer about renegotiating the Colorado River Compact, Sen. John McCain said at a recent Colorado campaign stop that he would “never, ever” try to take more of Colorado’s water.

“As a citizen of the great state of Arizona, I want to say on behalf of all my fellow citizens: Thank you for the water,” said McCain to a group of about 2,000 supporters in Pueblo, Colorado.

In August, McCain said the Colorado River water compact should be renegotiated because of the added pressures of growth and development. The comment brought immediate attacks from the state’s top Democrats and even a surprisingly strong response from Republican candidate for U.S. Senate Bob Schaffer who said the compact would only be renegotiated, “Over my cold, dead, political carcass.”

As The Straight Talk Express rolled through the swing-state of Colorado this past week, Sen. McCain went out of his way to reiterate that his August comment was taken out of context. In an interview with the Denver Post and in recent stump speeches, McCain made a concerted effort to mend fences wrought by the gaffe - but will that effort stick? Some are not so sure if it will.

John Orr writes at the Denver Examiner:

“Voters will have to decide if McCain’s current position really reflects his views. He has done an about face on many issues over the summer in an attempt to shore up his faltering campaign. Which statement contains the “straight talk,” renegotiate the compact to provide more water to Arizona or never, never, renegotiate?”

States in the upper Colorado River Basin are extremely sensitive about the water compact they have negotiated with lower basin users (California, Nevada, Arizona).  In Colorado, “renegotiation” is considered synonymous with reallocation, and that is something most Coloradoans—regardless of their political affiliation—consider fighting words.

Image credit: jdnx via flickr under a Creative Commons License

McCain told The Pueblo Chieftan last week that he wants to renegotiate the 1922 Colorado River compact to re-appropriate water from the upper basin states, like Colorado, New Mexico and Wyoming, where the river originates and give it to lower basin states like California, and his home state of Arizona. McCain said:

“I don’t think there’s any doubt the major, major issue is water and can be as important as oil. So the compact that is in effect, obviously, needs to be renegotiated over time amongst the interested parties. I think that there’s a movement amongst the governors to try, if not, quote, renegotiate, certainly adjust to the new realities of high growth, of greater demands on a scarcer resource.”

“Over my cold, dead, political carcass,” said Bob Schaffer, a Republican candidate for U.S. Senate. “The compact is the only protection Colorado has from several more politically powerful downstream states. Opening it for renegotiation would be the equivalent of a lamb discussing with a pack of wolves what should be on the dinner menu.”

John Redifer, political science professor at Mesa State College, said McCain’s position makes sense in light of Arizona’s needs, but not as a national policy. “I wonder if he is running for president of the United States or for something in Arizona when he makes those statements,” Redifer was quoted as saying in the Grand Junction Sentinel. “I’m really kind of surprised that someone running for president … that needs to carry the state of Colorado would make a statement like that.”

Sen. Ken Salazar, D-Colo. said McCain’s comment was “dangerously naive.” Salazar added, “It reflects, in my view, a fundamental misunderstanding” of the importance water politics has in the arid West.”

Wyoming Gov. Dave Freudenthal, also a Democrat, said McCain’s water comment could provide an opening for Democrats. “I was absolutely astonished that anybody running for president would suggest it, “Freudenthal said.

No matter which way you slice it, this has the potential to be a big political gaff. The sensitivity of the water issue is such that it can often overwhelm partisan allegiances. Across the American West there’s an old saying that goes, “Whiskey’s for drinkin’ and water’s for fightin’” Sen. McCain should have known better. Water in the Colorado Basin is not something that one tosses around with such disregard for its importance to upper basin users. A point that will certainly be hammered home next week in Denver at the Democratic National Convention.

Related Posts:

• Canadian Groups Battle Large-Scale Hydro Bound for US Electricity Markets
• Bush Administration Proposes ‘Fire Sale’ of Rocky Mtns. for Oil Shale Development
  
• Is the Colorado River Becoming Radioactive from Upstream Uranium Mines?
• Las Vegas Ripping Up Lawns to Save Water, But is it Enough?

Photo: Gonzo fan2007 via flickr under a Creative Commons License

It All Depends On Who You Ask

Las Vegas Water Offical Warns Radioactive Levels Rising

Sunday’s news was a bit disconcerting, when I read a small story at Tri-State Online.  Pat Mulroy, head of the Southern Nevada Water Authority was quoted as saying measurable quantities of uranium are showing up in Colorado River water, something difficult and expensive to remove before passing it on to consumers in Las Vegas.

She blames upstream uranium mining, especially in the Moab, Utah area, so I decided to take a look and see what’s happening up there.

To the best of my knowledge, there are no operating uranium mines in or near Moab, UT, or anywhere in the state of Utah.  So, I felt Ms. Mulroy was referring to the uranium mill tailings just outside Moab, where they’ve been for decades after the failure of the Atlas Minerals Corporation mill.

Read more of this story »

Marine physicist Tim Barnett and climate scientist David Pierce reached that conclusion after analyzing the region’s current and planned water usage and taking into account the ongoing impact of climate change.

Furthermore, they acknowledge their projections are based on conservative estimates … meaning the prognosis for Lake Mead could be even worse than their study indicates. Even if the area implements current water-use mitigation plans, they warn, Lake Mead could still go dry.

“We were stunned at the magnitude of the problem and how fast it was coming at us,” Barnett said. “Make no mistake, this water problem is not a scientific abstraction, but rather one that will impact each and every one of us that live in the Southwest.”

Barnett and Pierce concluded that current conditions are creating a net deficit of almost 1 million of acre-feet of water — enough to meet the needs of about 8 million people — every year in the Colorado River system, which includes both Lake Mead and Lake Powell. That volume is likely to increase as a warming Earth causes more water evaporation, they add.

The Colorado River system supplies water to large parts of the Southwest, including Los Angeles, San Diego and Las Vegas.

Barnett’s and Pierce’s study also found there’s a one in 10 chance Lake Mead could go dry by 2014 … a mere six years from now. The researchers say there’s also a 50 percent chance that, by 2017, water levels will be too low to support hydroelectric power generation.

Projections like that make Las Vegas’ current mortgage crisis pains pale in comparison. Could an evaporating Lake Mead lead to the first wave of climate evacuees in the U.S.? Sad to say, we might know the answer in a few short years.

Sen. Ken Salazar, D-Colo. said McCain’s comment was “dangerously naive.” Salazar added, “It reflects, in my view, a fundamental misunderstanding” of the importance water politics has in the arid West.”

Wyoming Gov. Dave Freudenthal, also a Democrat, said McCain’s water comment could provide an opening for Democrats. “I was absolutely astonished that anybody running for president would suggest it, “Freudenthal said.

No matter which way you slice it, this has the potential to be a big political gaff. The sensitivity of the water issue is such that it can often overwhelm partisan allegiances. Across the American West there’s an old saying that goes, “Whiskey’s for drinkin’ and water’s for fightin’” Sen. McCain should have known better. Water in the Colorado Basin is not something that one tosses around with such disregard for its importance to upper basin users. A point that will certainly be hammered home next week in Denver at the Democratic National Convention.

Related Posts:

• Canadian Groups Battle Large-Scale Hydro Bound for US Electricity Markets
• Bush Administration Proposes ‘Fire Sale’ of Rocky Mtns. for Oil Shale Development
  
• Is the Colorado River Becoming Radioactive from Upstream Uranium Mines?
• Las Vegas Ripping Up Lawns to Save Water, But is it Enough?

Photo: Gonzo fan2007 via flickr under a Creative Commons License

It came to an end in Las Vegas, when representatives of the seven states inked their signatures to a 20 year water-use agreement that now supersedes the 1922 pact.

The plan resolves several legal issues among water agencies and formalized rules fostering cooperation during drought conditions now ongoing in the region. The states are promising consultation and negotiation before litigation on Colorado River water issues. What a concept.

Three lower-basin states, Arizona, California and Nevada will use the Lake Mead reservoir behind Hoover Dam to store water they won’t use or need right now. Thirty million people depend on water in that region, especially in Southern California, where 26 cities and water districts serve about 18 million customers.

Read more of this story »