Daily Colorado Water News
Coyote Gulch
Nonpoint Source Colorado
FEBRUARY 2010 : COLORADO, WESTERN U.S., NATIONAL, INTERNATIONAL
COLORADO
House passes rafters' legislation
A bill that allows rafters to go aground on private property passed the House on Tuesday and awaits the governor's signature to become law. Sponsored by state Rep. Kathleen Curry, unaffiliated-Gunnison, HB1188 sparked debate over commercial rafters' rights to travel public waterways and the rights of property owners. In the end, rafters won out, as the bill passed 40-25. The bill, if approved by Gov. Bill Ritter, would allow rafters on commercial trips to touch the banks and the riverbed as they pass through private property. Until now, rafters had been allowed to pass through private property as long as both of those steps were avoided. Opponents of the bill said it strips property owners to their right of exclusion. Pueblo Chieftain; 2/17/10
Bill to fund water commission jobs killed
Things are about to get tougher for the Division of Water Resources in enforcing water rights in the coming year, after the House Appropriations Committee killed a bill to fund four of the 10 water commissioners who monitor head gates and water rights. The appropriations committee voted Friday morning to kill HB 1006, sponsored by Rep. Kathleen Curry, I-Gunnison. The bill would have moved funding from the Division of Wildlife, under the Department of Natural Resources, to fund four vacant water commissioner positions in the Division of Water Resources. HB 1006 came out of an interim committee last summer on water resources. It would have moved $409,000 from a severance tax fund in the Department of Natural Resources to fund 5.3 full-time equivalent employees in the Division of Water Resources. According to Curry, four of those positions would be field positions held by water commissioners who monitor water rights. Journal Advocate; 2/12/10
Bill extends water rights
Gas and oil companies would get a deadline extension to file for water rights for their wells under a bill that started moving Wednesday. But ranchers who own water rights are worried the bill could undo a landmark case that started in Archuleta County that forced gas wells to get water permits. Senate Bill 165 passed the Senate Agriculture Committee 6-0 on Wednesday. Sen. Bruce Whitehead, D-Hesperus, voted yes. The court case pitted Archuleta County's Vance and Fitzgerald families against the state engineer and gas companies. Ultimately, the Supreme Court said gas companies need to get water permits for their wells. The Legislature in 2009 reacted to the Vance ruling by telling the state engineer to figure out which gas wells interact with surface water and need additional regulation. The engineer's office published maps this winter that exclude much of the San Juan Basin from additional scrutiny. Cortez Journal; 2/18/10
Pace's water transfer bill dies on House floor
A bill that would have required mitigation agreements between communities where water transfers originate and their destinations died Friday in the House with strong opposition from urban legislators. Rep. Sal Pace's HB1159 was killed on second reading, with 23 members in support and 36 opposed. "I think about 10 (representatives) understood the bill," Pace said. "(Denver legislators) acted like they were deeply concerned for (what the bill would do to) their districts, but they couldn't say why." The bill would have required water districts benefitting from transfers to negotiate with the districts of origin to reach agreements mitigating economic and environmental impacts of the swaps. If the sides couldn't reach a compromise, the terms of the mitigation agreement would be reconciled in water court. Pueblo Chieftain; 2/6/10
Illegal water diversions may cost $500 per day in fines
The Senate Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee took up the issue of surface water this week, unanimously passing a bill that could set up a $500-per-day fine for illegal surface water diversions. SB 10-27 is sponsored by Sen. Paula Sandoval, D-Denver and Rep. Ellen Roberts, R-Durango. The committee approved the bill unanimously on Thursday and sent it to the Senate Appropriations Committee for further action. The bill would impose the same fine for illegal diversion of surface water as is in place for illegal diversion of ground water. In a recent interview, Roberts said she and Sandoval were asked to carry the bill by the Attorney General in part to help resolve an issue that went through the courts last year. The case involved illegal surface water diversion in the Rio Grande River Basin in the San Luis Valley. Fort Morgan Times; 2/3/10
Water fight skews budget
Legislators decided Wednesday they had gone to the well one too many times in an attempt to balance their budget. The House turned back an attempt to drain the final $19 million out of a fund used to build water projects. A year ago, the Colorado Water Conservation Board had two of the richest bank accounts in the state government. But after the recession arrived, the Legislature took $107 million from the accounts. Today the balance stands at about $19 million, and the Legislature's budget writers had plans to take that, too. “It's not ideal. It's certainly not something we would have chosen. But we're broke," said Rep. Jack Pommer, D-Boulder, chairman of the Joint Budget Committee. But Gov. Bill Ritter's Department of Natural Resources rebelled, and a bipartisan group of representatives joined to defeat the effort on a 39-22 vote. “These are the water programs for small towns, big towns, rural communities, big cities," said Rep. Sal Pace, D-Pueblo, who voted against taking the water money. Durango Herald; 2/18/10
Water project funds don't escape cuts
The state's bank accounts for water projects continue to be tempting targets for legislators looking somewhere - anywhere - for extra money. Senators voted Wednesday to remove $2 million from one of the accounts. It happened a week after the House turned back a plan to drain the $19 million remaining in the accounts. The Legislature has already taken $107 million from the water funds to cope with the recession. On Wednesday, Republican Sen. Keith King of Colorado Springs went looking for a way to avoid cuts to an unemployment fund. Businesses must pay into the fund after they lay off employees. The plan was to take $5 million from the account, which is in danger of going broke. If that happens, the state will have to raise fees on businesses. Durango Herald; 2/25/10
New report cites unnamed fen near Fairplay in national controversy
A 12-acre unnamed "fen" located about six miles northwest of Fairplay is one of five case studies cited in a recently published report that looks at Colorado waters that have lost or may lose the protection of the Clean Water Act of 1972 because of two U.S. Supreme Court rulings. A "fen" consists of "wetlands that are primarily made up of organic soil material (i.e., peat or muck) and are ground water driven," according to the report, which was posted on the Scribd Web site (www.scribd.com) on Feb. 9 and authored by Dennis Buechler, director emeritus of the Colorado Wildlife Federation. Fens are thought to be irreplaceable and important for the environment. About 15 miles to the south of the unnamed Park County fen cited in Buechler¹s report, the Nature Conservancy owns and maintains the High Creek Fen Preserve and describes it as "an astonishing vestige of the last Ice Age" in its brochure titled "Colorado's Last Great Places." The report states that the U. S. Army Corps of Engineers decided that it did not have the authority to protect the unnamed fen under the Clean Water Act of 1972 in the wake of two U.S. Supreme Court decisions. Fairplay Flume; 2/21/10
District wants $8 million for conduit
Another $8 million in the federal budget for the Arkansas Valley Conduit would allow work on the project itself in two years time. “It will allow us to finish the preliminary work to get to the final design by January 2013. Then we can move into land acquisition and construction,” Jim Broderick, executive director of the Southeastern Colorado Water Conservancy District, said Thursday. The district is the primary sponsor of the $300 million conduit, which would bring fresh drinking water supplies to 42 communities east of Pueblo. The conduit received $5 million in funding this year, and funding for $3 million is included in President Barack Obama’s budget for next year. Pueblo Chieftain; 2/19/10
Arkansas River water exchanges not revved up yet
Just because your automobile’s speedometer goes to 120 mph, you might not always want to drive it that fast. That’s sort of how water users are using the exchange potential on the Arkansas River. Very few are even cruising along at highway speed; most of the “cars” are still in the garage; and some are even on the assembly line. At some point there could be a traffic jam. “A better analogy might be the carrying capacity of the highway,” Water Division 2 Engineer Steve Witte laughed, when given the above picture. By far, the top driver on this peculiar road is Colorado Springs, which operates an exchange by storing water out of priority in Lake Pueblo against its sewer return flows down Fountain Creek. It’s a complex accounting system that incorporates a lot of moving parts, including the transit loss along Fountain Creek, agreements with other water users and determining the nature of water being used. Pueblo Chieftain; 2/22/10
GarCo won’t fight drilling near spring
Garfield County commissioners expressed concern Tuesday about a second energy company’s plans to drill near the contaminated Prather cabin spring northwest of Parachute, but they said the county doesn’t have the technical expertise to challenge the matter. Commissioners voiced continuing frustration over the fact the state has yet to determine the cause of the contamination, which was first detected when Ned Prather became ill after drinking benzene-tainted water May 30, 2008. A second spring on the property later was found to be contaminated. The Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission is investigating Williams Production RMT as the possible source of the first spring’s contamination, and OXY USA WTP LP in the case of the second. Grand Junction Sentinel; 2/17/10
Shell: Oil shale project to go on
Shell Oil announced it was abandoning its fight for a conditional water permit from the Yampa River for oilshale work in Colorado's Rio Blanco County, where the company holds three federal research and development oilshale leases, and company officials said the termination of the water fight does not mean its walking away from those leases. “We reviewed our application in the context of our ongoing research and development activities and, in light of the overall global economic downturn that has affected our project’s pace, have decided not to pursue the Yampa water right at this time,” the company said in a prepared statement. Grand Junction Sentinel; 2/23/10
St. Mary's students help out the state by testing Platte River water quality
Classes at St. Mary's Catholic School have been testing water quality once a month in a section of the Platte River on Colo. 60 between Milliken and Platteville for roughly 20 years. It's an important job, after all, as the results are later used by the Colorado Division of Wildlife and other state agencies to decide court cases and make policy decisions. On Tuesday, this eighth-grade class had their annual checkup from Sarah Tolan, an AmeriCorps Vista member who works with Colorado River Watch to make sure that the children have been testing the water correctly all this time. The program started in 1989 and has since expanded to 130 different groups across Colorado — 75 percent of which, Tolan said, are school groups like this St. Mary's class. Most are in high schools, but elementary children have also been known to conduct the tests. The goal, Tolan said, is to try to get students more exposed to the outdoors while providing a new, more engaging way of learning about the environment. Greeley Tribune; 2/10/10
Taking control: Managing selenium is important because it causes defects in fish
Selenium control, particularly controlling how much is leached into the Colorado River from the Uncompahgre Valley, isn’t going to be easy or inexpensive. It’s also “confounding,” as more than one speaker averred during Thursday’s Selenium Summit in Delta sponsored by the Gunnison Basin and Grand Valley selenium task forces. The day-long seminar brought an estimated 100 people to hear a lineup of geologists, biologists and water and soil specialists discuss the difficulty of managing selenium, a naturally occurring mineral found in high concentrations in Mancos Shale. It’s estimated the selenium-rich Mancos Shale in the Gunnison River Basin and the Uncompahgre Valley accounts for 61 percent of the selenium deposited in Lake Powell each year, said Sonya Chavez de Baca, task force coordinator. Grand Junction Sentinel; 2/20/10
EPA, State of Colorado recognize Recovery Act benefits at Brighton Drinking Water facility
At a ceremony today at the City of Brighton’s Greensand Drinking Water Facility, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the State of Colorado recognized 34 American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (Recovery Act) projects that are improving water infrastructure and supporting jobs across the state. During the event, the City of Brighton broke ground on the installation of a state-of-the-art ultraviolet (UV) disinfection system that will provide safe drinking water for 34,000 residents. The system is expected to be operational by May, 2010. The Recovery Act is providing more than $62 million for 34 wastewater and drinking water projects in Colorado communities through Clean Water and Drinking Water Revolving Loan funds administered by EPA and the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment. EPA; 2/17/10
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WESTERN U.S.
Bull trout protections up for public review before FWS habitat designation
Proposed rules to protect bull trout have a month of public review before the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service completes its critical habitat designations. "The general public wants to know what's going on in its home waters," FWS biologist Wade Fredenberg said at a Missoula information session on Tuesday. In Montana, that includes 3,094 miles of stream and 223,762 acres of lake in the Clark Fork, Flathead and Kootenai river drainages. Montana has about one-eighth of the important bull trout water in the six-state area touched by the proposed rules. But unlike Washington and Idaho, Montana's trout populations have had virtually no interaction with migrating salmon or steelhead fish. Missoulian; 2/17/10
Feinstein's Water Bomb
Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., is preparing to introduce a legislative rider that would dramatically reduce Endangered Species Act protection for salmon and other fish in California. The amendment would lift restrictions on the amount of water that farmers can pump from the Sacramento-San Joaquin river delta for the next two years. But it could also scuttle a delicately negotiated effort to balance protections for endangered fish with the water needs of farms and residents of Southern California. Feinstein’s effort comes as the state seems bound for the third year of an emergency fishing ban to protect dwindling salmon runs, and as populations of the Delta smelt and other fish continue to crash. And the move is a remarkable turnaround: Just four months ago, Feinstein denounced Sen. Jim DeMint, R-South Carolina, for trying to introduce a similar amendment at the behest of California water districts. High Country News; 2/12/10
Project to reduce mercury in lakes gets good reviews
Toxic mercury makes the wipers in Newcastle Reservoir in Utah too dangerous to eat. And, while scientists might not know why the popular fishing spot is so polluted, they think they might have a means of dramatically reducing the danger levels. The possible solution: churning the water so less toxic methylmercury works into the food chain. "This is the first glimmer of hope we've seen," said Walt Donaldson of the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources. The idea has been circulating for a few months. Last week, it got an important boost, with a tentative endorsement from the Utah Department of Natural Resources' Habitat Conservation Board. The board is doling out around $2.3 million this year on more than 60 projects to improve streams, range and other wildlife habitat. While its funding for next year is uncertain, the advisory panel gave its preliminary support for putting $74,100 toward the $247,000 needed in the first year. Salt Lake Tribune; 2/15/10
Invasive species battle at Lake Tahoe expands
Conservation officials in the Sierra Nevada are expanding their efforts to combat invasive species at Lake Tahoe to other lakes and reservoirs in the area. The Tahoe Resource Conservation District will work with local officials and conservation groups this summer to try to keep quagga and zebra mussels out of Donner and Independence lakes as well as Stampede, Boca and Prosser Creek reservoirs. "It's in everybody's best interest," said Dave Roberts, manager of the conservation district. "If (invasive species) get into one of those lakes, it'll be that much harder to keep them out of Tahoe." The effort is being funded through a $231,000 grant from the Truckee Meadows Water Authority, the Reno area's water provider. The agency is trying to protect the Truckee River, the Reno area's major water source. San Jose Mercury News; 2/13/10
State spent $17 million meant for water lawsuit
Kansas lawmakers accidentally spent $17 million set aside to finance litigation aimed at forcing Colorado and Nebraska to abide by water compacts, state officials said Monday. The embarrassing miscue committed in 2007 set off alarm bells in the Senate Ways and Means Committee, with some senators insisting upon reform in the method of writing appropriations bills and others demanding better tracking of money earmarked for specific purposes. "I would suggest we need to take a look at our accounting procedures," said Sen. Laura Kelly, D-Topeka. Kansas' successful lawsuit against Colorado over violations of the Arkansas River Compact resulted in a U.S. Supreme Court decree requiring Colorado to reduce its groundwater pumping and to pay Kansas about $34 million in damages and interest. The payment allowed establishment of a fund in Kansas to continue legal work on water issues with border states. "So, we took Colorado's money and blew it?" asked Sen. Janis Lee, D-Kensington. Denver Post; 2/2/10
Oregon, California sign deal aimed at ending Klamath water wars
Representatives from all sides of the Klamath River battle gathered in the Capitol rotunda Thursday in Salem, Oregon to sign a peace accord that might double as the United States' biggest dam removal and river restoration compact ever. Under the two Klamath Basin agreements, four PacifiCorp dams on the Klamath River could fall, salmon could reclaim 350 miles of a legendary salmon run, tribes could see fishing grounds restored and Oregon farmers could get guaranteed water supplies. The deal is far from certain: Congress must approve $500 million in extra federal expenses over 10 years for river restoration and protecting farmers in dry years. The dams wouldn't come down until 2020, and there are plenty of outs along the way. Oregonian; 2/18/10
Schweitzer, B.C. premier sign agreement banning mines, energy development in Flathead basin
British Columbia Premier Gordon Campbell and Montana Gov. Brian Schweitzer signed a deal Thursday to protect the cross-border Flathead River Basin from mining and energy development, and then Schweitzer challenged Congress to make good on the U.S. portion of the pact by July of this year. The two-page agreement commits the province and state to "prohibit the exploration for and development of mining, oil and gas, and coal in the British Columbia Flathead and the Montana North Fork Flathead River Basin, such action to be completed by July 2010." It covers nearly 5.7 million acres of river basin running along the western border of Glacier National Park and north nearly to Fernie, B.C. Missoulian; 2/19/10
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NATIONAL
Interior Launches WaterSMART Initiative
Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar today signed a Secretarial order establishing a new water sustainability strategy for the United States. Salazar showcased the Department of the Interior's WaterSMART Initiative at a press conference featuring a geospatial presentation on water supply and demand in the high-tech operations center at the Department's headquarters. The "SMART" in WaterSMART stands for "Sustain and Manage America's Resources for Tomorrow." “The federal government’s existing water policies and programs simply aren’t built for 21st century pressures on water supplies,” Salazar said. “Population growth. Climate change. Rising energy demands. Environmental needs. Aging infrastructure. Risks to drinking water supplies. Those are just some of the challenges.” He noted that the 2011 budget proposed by President Obama for the Department of the Interior doubles the current enacted 2010 appropriations for water programs to move the initiative forward. It includes $72.9 million for the WaterSMART program, which is a total increase of $36.4 million over 2010. U.S. Dept. of the Interior; 2/22/10
United States' drought has 'extraordinary' reversal
What a difference a rain makes. The nationwide drought that had farmers, communities and entire states fighting to conserve water has reversed in the most dramatic turnaround since federal scientists began keeping records. More than 92% of the country is drought-free — the nation's best showing since 1999. At the worst of the USA's most recent drought — in August 2007 — almost 50% of the country was involved. Currently, about 7% of the country is in a drought, according to federal scientists. The only part of the USA in "extreme" drought is a small fraction of Hawaii. There have been less than half a dozen occasions since the late 1800s when drought has been as sparse as it is now. USA Today; 2/17/10
How Ground Water Contamination Spreads
Why are some wells contaminated and some are not? All wells are not equally vulnerable to contamination because of differences in three factors: the general aquifer chemistry, groundwater age, and paths within aquifer systems that allow water and contaminants to reach a well. More than 100 million people in the United States receive their drinking water from public groundwater systems, which can be vulnerable to naturally occurring contaminants such as radon, uranium, arsenic, and man made compounds, including fertilizers, septic tank leachate, solvents and gasoline hydrocarbons. The US Geological Service (USGS) has tracked in a recent study the movement of contaminants in groundwater and in public supply wells in several aquifers in California, Connecticut, Nebraska and Florida. The importance of each factor differs among the various aquifer settings, depending upon natural geology and local aquifer conditions, as well as human activities related to land use and well construction and operation. Environmental News Network; 2/12/10
Expert warns of pending environmental crisis
While environmentalists and scientists debate pressing issues like renewable energy and climate change, University of Arizona professor Robert Glennon’s concern is over a seemingly ubiquitous resource he believes nearly all American’s take for granted: water. Alongside a group of state water experts, Glennon spoke at the University of Minnesota’s St. Paul Student Center Monday to address what he described as America’s “urgent water crisis.” The central theme behind Glennon’s argument was that Americans don’t value water enough and treat it like a limitless and inexhaustible resource. According to a recent study conducted by the Arrowhead Water Quality Team, a typical household of four uses 260 gallons of water each day. A majority of that water is used for toilets, showers and faucets. The Arrowhead Water Quality Team is a collaborative effort involving six northern Minnesota counties and federal and state-level agencies. Minnesota Daily; 2/22/10
Rapid melting of record snowfall could harm waterways, aquatic life
To nature, snow is potential. It is rainwater, waiting for a cue. So for now, scientists can guess at the environmental effects of historic back-to-back blizzards: Snowed-in cars don't pollute, snow-drooped trees could temporarily change the architecture of local forests. But the full impact of this two-act Snowmageddon won't be clear until the stuff melts. If those 30-plus inches of snow turn to water too fast, the water could pour unfiltered into the Potomac and Anacostia rivers, and eventually into the Chesapeake Bay. This week, environmental groups worried that such fast-moving water might carry road salt and other ice-melting chemicals, which can upset ecosystems and harm fish. The snow "is going to get into our waterways. It's either going to get in in a big dose, or it's going to trickle in slowly," said Bill Dennison, a vice president at the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science. For fish and other creatures, Dennison said, if salt-filled water flows in too fast, "you don't have a chance. You don't have anywhere to hide, you don't have any opportunity to adjust. So that's the danger we're watching for." Washington Post; 2/13/10
EPA unveils Great Lakes restoration plan
The Environmental Protection Agency on Sunday unveiled a five-year, $475-million plan to revitalize the Great Lakes, including cleaning up polluted water and beaches, restoring wetlands and fighting invasive species such as Asian carp. Federal and state officials call the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative Action Plan "historically unprecedented" in size, funding and coordination between branches of government. The plan calls itself light on study and heavy on action, seeking to heal the Great Lakes ecosystem from "150 years of abuse" and to ensure that "fish are safe to eat; the water is safe to drink; the beaches and waters are safe for swimming, surfing, boating and recreating; native species and habitats are protected and thriving; no community suffers disproportionately from the impacts of pollution; and the Great Lakes are a healthy place for people and wildlife to live." Los Angeles Times; 2/22/10
Key to saving Barnegat Bay is on land, scientist says
Southern New Jersey is home to one of the most pristine natural areas on the East Coast — 115,000 acres of protected forest and marsh in Atlantic, Burlington and Ocean counties. So why is Barnegat Bay, the estuary just north of the Jacques Cousteau National Estuarine Research Reserve, so polluted? Melanie Reding tried to answer that question Saturday during a lecture at the Long Beach Island Foundation for the Arts & Sciences. Reding spoke on the health of the bay for the group’s weekly Science Saturday program. Reding works with the Institute of Marine and Coastal Sciences at Rutgers University, which has been studying that question extensively in the past decade. To get at the answer, she compared Barnegat Bay to the nearby Great Bay at the nexus of the three counties. Press of Atlantic City; 2/21/10
Scientists, Amish to fight Chesapeake Bay pollution
The latest effort to clean up one of America's most polluted waterways is focusing on an unusual target — two dozen mostly Amish farmers. Federal and state environmental officials are working with Lancaster County, Pa., farmers to stop cow manure from draining during rainstorms into a nearby stream. That stream flows into the Chesapeake Bay, which has remained highly polluted despite $6 billion spent over the past 25 years to clean it up. It's all part of a nationwide effort being led by the Obama administration to introduce — and then enforce — tougher consequences for polluters. "We think of what's happening in Lancaster County as a showcase," says John Hanger, the head of Pennsylvania's environmental protection department. "It marks a real change in how we do things." USA Today; 2/19/10
US shale extraction technique under investigation
US oil and gas shale production - seen as a vital contributor to US energy needs - is under investigation due to environmental fears over extraction techniques. The US House Energy and Commerce Committee this week launched an investigation into the potential effects of the hydraulic fracturing technique used to extract oil and gas from unconventional sources such as shale deposits. On February 18, committee chairman representative Henry Waxman and subcommittee chairman representative Edward Markey sent letters to eight oil and gas companies that use hydraulic fracturing to extract oil and natural gas from unconventional sources in the US. The committee is requesting information on the chemicals used in fracturing fluids and the potential affect of the practice on the environment and human health. Risk.net; 2/22/10
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INTERNATIONAL
India's Holy Ganges to Get a Cleanup
More than a million devout Hindus bathed in the Ganges River Friday, braving the risk of terrorist attack, stampede and petty crime for the chance to wash away the sins of a lifetime and open the gateway to heaven after death. But perhaps the greatest threat to the devotees who flocked to Haridwar, India, on one of the most auspicious days of the triennial Kumbh Mela festival, was the water itself. The river is intensely polluted with sewage and industrial waste. Water-treatment facilities have been unable to keep up with India's rapid growth, often held back by a shortage of funds and other resources. Now, the spiritually cleansing waters of the Ganges are about to get some cleaning of their own. The Indian government has embarked on a $4 billion campaign to ensure that by 2020 no untreated municipal sewage or industrial runoff enters the 1,560-mile river. Wall Street Journal; 2/13/10
Water everywhere, but not enough to drink
With so much attention fixed on global warming, terrorism and energy supply, the issue of dwindling water reserves and inequitable distribution is often overlooked. Big business has raised eyebrows by wading into the water issue with efforts to improve the situation, in a field that has traditionally been the preserve of non-governmental organizations (NGOs). The pressing issues surrounding water can broadly be divided into two main areas: access to clean drinking water and sanitation and the inefficient use of water by agriculture and industry. Swiss firms, such as food giant Nestlé and agrochemicals specialist Syngenta, are increasingly taking a lead role in tackling wasteful water usage that threatens to increase global demand by an unsustainable 40 per cent in 20 years’ time. But not everyone is happy to see big business getting involved in schemes such as the United Nations CEO Water Mandate and the World Economic Forum’s (WEF) Water Initiative. Swissinfo.ch; 2/19/10
Around the Mountains: Shrinking ice provides less buffer to drought
Professors have been out to the towns on both sides of the Continental Divide in Canada recently to talk about the shrinking of glaciers. It is, they say, a serious challenge, as the hydrological cycle that local communities have come to depend upon will be changing. But ice in both places has been shrinking—with much more rescission likely. At a forum in Golden, B.C., Kindy Gosal, director of water and environment for the Columbia Basin Trust, explained that the glaciers matter because “they are our banks and reserves of water. And really, we don't have a good idea what's happened in those bank accounts of water and what the future impacts might be as those bank accounts become depleted, or how fast we're depleting their funds. Summit Daily News; 2/20/10
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Many thanks to Loretta Lohman at npscolorado.com for compiling many of the news articles in this report.
NOTICE: In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving this information for research and educational purposes.
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