Don’t Let Invasive Mussels Clog our Water Systems and Destroy our Lakes: Support Management Actions and Legislation to Keep Colorado Mussel Free
Presented by: Mike Preston, General Manager Dolores Water
Conservancy Chair, Southwest Basin Roundtable
If you have been to Lake Powell lately you have probably seen dead quagga mussel shells littering the shore and mussels clinging to the canyon walls. This visible evidence is the symptom of much larger problems that result when a lake is infected. The quagga mussel is one of the species referred to as Aquatic Nuisance Species (ANS).
McPhee Reservoir, the second largest surface lake in Colorado, is located within hours of Lake Powell, putting McPhee at high risk for ANS infestation. It only takes one infected boat or jet ski to infect a whole lake, and an infected lake will never recover.
Mussels will take over the aquatic life in the lake and render the fishery sterile. Mussels cause severe and repeated clogging of pipes, grates, water treatment plants, power plants and irrigation systems, right down to the sprinkler head. The result is millions of dollars annually in increased maintenance costs and much more extensive exit inspections of boats. [Click on Cost of Invasion Fact Sheet here]. Mussel infestations began in the Great Lakes in the late 1980s. Colorado recognized the threat and set up a Water Craft Inspection Program and Regulations in 2009, including inspections at McPhee Reservoir.
When energy severance tax funds that had supported Colorado inspections plummeted, prior to 2017, the legislature appropriated gap funding, supplemented by federal and local cost shares, which will continue inspections at high risk reservoirs through 2018.
The challenge going forward is legislation to provide stable funding for Colorado to continue the inspection program that has set the standard in the West. At a Summer Colorado Water Congress meeting, CWC began working with CPW to bring a draft bill to the CWC State Affairs Committee with the intent of developing a consensus bill and advocating passage in 2018.
Those of us that manage at-risk reservoirs are keenly aware of risks and costs that will be avoided if we continue to be proactive in protecting Colorado reservoirs. It is important that the benefits of keeping Colorado mussel free are understood by everyone that uses and recreates in Colorado waters. CWC is teaming up with the Colorado Foundation for Water Education to broaden the educational foundation for this long-term commitment to keeping Colorado mussel free. Please join the Webinar scheduled for noon on October 24. https://www.yourwatercolorado.org/cfwe-education/conferences-and-webinars/939-webinar-aquatic-nuisance-species-the-treat-and-solutions
To view a letter to Congress of the arrival of quagga mussel larva in Colorado's Green Mountain Reservoir click here
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Preliminary Study - SW Basin Weather Modification and Strategic Planning Effort
Cloud seeding is increasingly popular in southwestern Colorado and is used as a way to boost the amount of snow falling in the winter as well as the amount of runoff in the spring by increasing moisture levels in the clouds.
WIP spoke with Ken Curtis, Chief of Engineering & Construction with the Dolores Water Conservancy District, about their preliminary study and proposal to develop a strategic plan for Southwest Colorado Weather Augmentation. I asked Ken what the purpose and goals are of this new Strategic Planning Effort. "There are 7 local water entities, who have been putting money towards these programs for close to 40 years. We believe we can improve our technologies and practices and do better weather modification within our programs," says Curtis. There are 3 separate programs that make up the SW Colorado cloud seeding: Western San Juan Mountains Program (WSJM Program); Eastern San Juan Mountains Program (ESJM Program); West Dolores and Telluride Resort Ski Area Program (WDTR Program).
The plan will focus on program improvements and efficiencies, and assist the basin in meeting “gaps” identified in the Basin Implementation Plan by adding additional or augmented water supplies.
Cloud seeding is based on natural cloud formation in the sky. There is no weather modification program that can produce new clouds. Rather, operators target existing clouds within a narrow range of conditions that might be utilizable. Storms disperse only a small fraction of the total water that they carry. For precipitation to occur, water vapor must be super-cooled to form ice nuclei around which other water molecules can condense and fall. Weather modifiers seek to increase precipitation by seeding clouds with Silver iodide by burning them in a ground-based generator.
“When weather systems are right, which require a super cool liquid in the months of Dec – March, cloud seeding can pull an addition amount of moisture out of the clouds. That additional amount has been in the 3 – 8% range. The silver iodide must be in the right place at the right time. The bulk of study is going into a modelling effort that will better show us the best weather systems, the best clouds to seed to make more snow, therefore we hope to target those better every winter," stated Ken Curtis.
"The goal is to move forward with remote generators which tend to be larger and can be put up higher in the mountains, replace more manual generators. Remote generators are one of the technologies we are trying to focus on, how best to use it and where to use it. That will be the transition the local funders are looking at," added Curtis.
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Another Successful Water 101 - 201 Seminar
The Water Information Program would like to thank all of the wonderful speakers that presented at the seminar!
Retired Supreme Court Justice Greg Hobbs once again treated the audience with his knowledge, passion and poetry, speaking about Colorado's water history and the laws that were initiated through the Colorado Doctrine of Prior Appropriation, and at the Water 201 he and Bruce Whitehead, Executive Director at Southwestern Water Conservation District, gave an overview of Interstate Compacts.
Other presenters included Marc Miller of U.S. Bureau of Reclamation and Kara Hellige of U.S. Army Corps of Engineers offering the Federal Water Agencies perspectives. The State water agencies were represented by Joe Crabb and Melissa Schneider from the Colorado Division of Water Resources; John Stulp the special Policy Adviser to the Governor for Water and Chairman of the IBBC spoke about the Colorado Water Plan; Justin Osborn from the Wells Group spoke about water issues for Realtors in the Southwest; Deputy Dave Huhn – Agriculture and Water Law Specialist with the Montezuma County Sheriff’s Office shared some engaging stories from the law enforcement perspective; and Justin Ramsey from Pagosa Area Water Sanitation Conservancy District offered their local perspective on water issues. District and Rod Proffitt – President, San Juan Water Conservancy District.
Steve Harris of Harris Water Engineering and John Simpson - Colorado Division of Water Resources spoke in depth on the Water Court process.
It was a very informative program with a variety of interesting presenters! If you have not attended this seminar, don't miss it next year. Location to be announced.
  
Justice Hobbs Bruce Whitehead Steve Harris
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EPA and the Army Seek Input in the Review of the Waters of the U.S. Rule
The EPA is pursuing a multi-phase process to repeal and replace the 2015 Clean Water Rule that would redefine the extent of federal jurisdiction over “Waters of the U.S.” Implementation of the Rule throughout the country was stayed by the U.S. 6th Circuit Court of Appeals.
The U.S. Supreme Court is being asked to review whether the 6th Court had the authority to do this. The first phase of repealing the Rule (notice and comment) is complete. EPA is currently conducting a series of 10 outreach sessions (teleconferences) to gather recommendations to revise the definition of “Waters of the U.S.” They have established a docket to be included in the administrative record of the regulation revising the definition of "Waters of the United States" under the Clean Water Act.
Written recommendations must be received on or before November 28, 2017. Submit your recommendations, identified by Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OW-2017-0480, to http://www.regulations.gov.
More information can be found here.
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Proposed Legislation to Extend Cost sharing for Fish Recovery Programs
Participants in the San Juan and Colorado Recovery Programs are seeking an extension of funding for the recovery of endangered fish at the current funding levels until 2023. These two Recovery Programs provide ESA compliance for about 2,500 water projects in the Upper Basin of the Colorado River system, including the Animas – La Plata Project.
The amendment to the legislation is needed to insure continued utilization of hydropower revenues for full annual base funding through 2023. Without the reauthorization, the two recovery programs face losing a significant portion of their annual base funding, which provides for instream flow identification, evaluation, and protection; habitat restoration and maintenance; management of nonnative fish impacts; endangered fish propagation and stocking; research, monitoring, and data management; public information and involvement; program management; and operation and maintenance of capital projects.
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As Precious as Blood - The Western Slope in Colorado's Water Wars, 1900-1970 - By Steven C. Schulte
As Precious as Blood explores the ideas, strategies, and motives that stimulated Colorado's Western Slope's attempts to maintain an adequate water supply. The diversions of water from Colorado's Western Slope to meet the needs of the rest of the state has been a contentious issue throughout Colorado's history.
Slow to build its necessary water infrastructure and suffering from a small population, little political power, and distance from sources of capital, the Western Slope of Colorado has struggled to maintain its water supply in the face of challenges from Colorado's Eastern Slope and even different states. Schulte explains the reasons, rationalizations and resources involved in the multi-million dollar dams and reclamation projects that divert much needed water to the Front Range and elsewhere.
As Precious as Blood gives context for one of the most contentious legal, political, and economic periods in the state's history. Schulte puts a human face on Colorado's water wars by exploring their social and political dimensions alongside the technical and scientific perspectives.
The WIP lending library has more than 200 water-related books and movies available for checkout. Stop by to find a book or DVD of interest to you. Want to write a review? We'll share it in the newsletter!
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