A very good friend of mine for 40+ years, a retired water guy, sent me his annual birthday greeting (13 May) and as is his custom, went on about some water and related observations in his home state of Colorado and environs. I asked if I could post them and he agreed. I added the graphics,
We also discussed the merits of Bill Deal and the Rhondels but that discussion is too deep for most of you.
Here goes:
The fearsome local winter for 2022 was a bust. Little snow and sadly deficient in cold. The northern part of the county was the beneficiary of a Christmas week atmospheric river that dropped nearly 12 inches or water at 10,000 feet, but my part of the county was missed almost entirely. Then spring arrived early (somewhat of a blessing), but the west wind cam and dust came with it. Snow at 10,000 feet is long gone, and most snow below 11,000 feet is gone. We accumulated about 9 inches of water from 120 or so inches of snow. That is maybe 65 percent of normal. As a friend or mine used to say, maybe also means maybe not.
Here the dominant water-news topics are Reclamation’s promise to release 500,000 acre-feet of water from Flaming Gorge (Utah/Wyoming) to prop up water levels in Lake Powell, and another scheme to divert groundwater from the great San Luis Valley. Since the announcement of promised water from Flaming Gorge, the forecasted inflows to Lake Powell have declined by 200,000 ace-feet. I once heard a Reno card dealer use the expression using good money to chase bad money; perhaps this applies to Colorado River planning, er, promise making, based on forecasted amounts.
Some south Denver metro group, headed up by former governor Owens, wants to pump 20,000 acre-feet of water from the valley (it is a geological wonderland!) and divert it to Castle Rock, CO. It has all the trappings of rural water transfers to urban areas. Promises of money, and no depletion, and heaven for all. Since about 1975 water has been transferred from the Arkansas valley to south metro with the promise of financial mitigation. The mitigation promise was indeed kept – Colorado opened 6 (maybe 7) prisons out east in Crowley and Kiowa counties. They hired locally! When mining jobs declined in my beloved former home state it did the same thing, and turned the rural counties into “prisonville”. Six prisons there, too.
With regard to the previous two paragraphs perhaps the dominant water-news issue here and everywhere west of the 100th meridian should be the New Mexico wildfires. The west is drying up and it (climate-change drought) is taking more than just western landscapes with it. I have a fond spot in my heart for Las Vegas, NM. It was there that I was introduced to New Mexico green chilies over eggs. Gift enough! The downtown plaza, though, is so New Mexico, and it was there that I first really saw New Mexico for the wonderful place it is. The wildfire is an ecological, but also a cultural disaster. A centuries old way of life is being burned up.
Enjoy!
"Never work with an Oscar winner who is shorter than the statue." - writer Larry Gelbart, referring to Dustin Hoffman
RE: San Luis Valley groundwater export project. The Douglas County, CO Board of County Commissioners on May 25 voted no regarding the proposed export of water from the San Luis Valley. The BOCC cited several reasons for their no vote. One curious reason: it may not be legal to use COVID relief funds to finance “early work” on the project. Perhaps all should be glad COVID relief funds do not apply to the financing of these types of projects.
Posted by: Michael | Saturday, 04 June 2022 at 07:29 PM