Blog — Colorado Trout Unlimited

Pace will introduce water transfer bill

By PATRICK MALONETHE PUEBLO CHIEFTAIN

Pace said Friday he plans to introduce a bill during the upcoming Legislative session that would require advanced mitigation of economic and ecological effects on originating communities when water is transferred. Read more

DENVER - It's a fight that's been lost before in the Colorado General Assembly, but state Rep. Sal Pace, D-Pueblo, said he intends to pick it again.

Pace said Friday he plans to introduce a bill during the upcoming Legislative session that would require advanced mitigation of economic and ecological effects on originating communities when water is transferred.

On the other side of the fight are the communities that would be the water's destination. And they've prevailed in the past.

Presently, a water judge can only consider senior water rights in determining whether to allow transfers. Pace said it's archaic that ecological damage is not a consideration in the process.

He pointed to Crowley County's meager average annual household income for a family of four - $18,000 - as an example of the aftermath of water transfers conducted without regard to economic or ecological impact on a region. Generally, he said, urban centers are sated at the expense of rural areas by benefiting from the transfers. Consequently, Pace's proposed legislation would require water divisions

seeking to receive transfers to reach economic and ecological mitigation

agreements with the originating communities before the transfers could be approved in Water Court.

If a mitigation agreement could not be reached, a judge would have to rule on one.

The existing law governing mitigation of water transfers - the Conservancy District Act - was adopted in 1937 and only requires mitigation when water transfers come from the Western Slope across the Continental Divide. Pace's bill would extend that mitigation requirement to all transfers between two water districts.

State Sen. Dan Gibbs, a Western Slope Democrat, is the bill's Senate sponsor. A similar bill was proposed in 2004, but it died in the House.

Pace expects opposition to the bill from water providers in populous parts of the state, such as Denver and Aurora. In the past, representatives of those water interests have argued that creation of mitigation requirements would duplicate the efforts of the Interbasin Water Committee, which oversees water transfers in the state.

Pace said he thinks both can exist to the benefit of the state as a whole.

“If this bill passes, it will be by a close margin,” Pace said. “I might have an even harder time passing it than they had when it was proposed in 2004. It will be a fight, but I'm ready for the fight.”

pmalone@chieftain.com

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There are 1 comment(s) comments to this story. The following are comments from the readers. In no way do they represent the view of our paper.

Colorado_Bob wrote on Jan 10, 2010 2:58 PM:

" Anyone who does not understand the water issues in Colorado might benefit from reading "Cadillac Desert" that shows how the government has wasted trillions of dollars on dams, irrigation schemes, and such, generally flooding areas equal to the amount of arable land "created" "

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Remembering Charlie Meyers

From Denver Post Online By Charles Gauvin: President and CEO, Trout Unlimited

It’s with a deep sense of sadness that we at Trout Unlimited mourn the passing of Charlie Meyers, one of the most influential outdoor communicators of his time, and a tireless champion for fish and wildlife and their habitat.

Charlie will be sorely missed, largely because he was the conscience of the American sportsman – he spoke truth to power eloquently and unabashedly. We didn’t always see eye to eye on every issue, but we were able to communicate candidly and openly in a way I always appreciated. Charlie also represented an old school of outdoor journalists who understood that readers deserve more than knowing where the hatchery truck will stop next; that conservation is the cornerstone to enjoying fish and wildlife, now and in the future. Let’s hope the next generation of writers lives up to the standards Charlie and many of his peers have set.

One of Charlie’s last wishes was unexpected gift – he asked that donations in his name be given to Colorado Trout Unlimited. Even in death, Charlie Meyers still put conservation first.

Godspeed, Charlie, and many thanks for your countless contributions to the cause. The fight to protect wild rivers and wild fish will go on, but we’ve lost an important voice. We hope your words have instilled the needed courage in others who have a passion for the outdoors and the will to challenge those who might try to whittle away at our sporting heritage.

Salazar Unveils Oil and Gas Reforms

From the TU website

The new reform package replaces Bush's 'anywhere, anyhow' drilling policy, Salazar says.

January 6, 2010
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By David Frey

Taking aim at the Bush administration's approach to oil and gas leasing, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar unveiled a slate of reforms on Wednesday intended to better protect land, water and wildlife and reduce the number of protests filed by environmental groups and others at odds with leasing decisions.

"The previous administration's 'anywhere, anyhow' policy on oil and gas development ran afoul of communities, carved up the landscape, and fueled costly conflicts that created uncertainty for investors and industry," Salazar said on Wednesday.

The package of reforms arose in part from an examination of controversial gas leases in Utah, many of which were close to national parks and archeological resources. After studying those parcels last year, Salazar removed many from leasing and required further studies for others.

The reform package won praise from some environmental and sportsmen's groups but criticism from industry supporters who say the new rules will only bring further delays to companies already hit hard by falling fuel prices.

"Secretary Salazar's misguided proposal couldn't come at a worse time for this economy," said Colorado state Rep. Josh Penry, a Republican from Grand Junction, where gas jobs have vanished from what had been a once-booming gas patch. "These rules will destroy jobs and reduce domestic energy production at a time when Colorado and America need a lot more of both."

The reforms call for interdisciplinary reviews that look at site-specific considerations for individual leases, including in some cases, site visits to the individual parcels. They call for greater public involvement in individual lease sales and in developing area plans where intensive drilling is anticipated. While the rules will still allow industry to recommend lease areas, they will emphasize leasing in already-developed areas and call for careful planning in new areas.

The reforms also seek to limit the use of categorical exclusions, which fast-track leases on sometimes controversial sites.

"For too long, leasing has occurred with minimal thought given to the impacts on fish and wildlife, water resources, and hunting and fishing opportunity," said Chris Wood, Trout Unlimited's chief operating officer. His group called Salazar's reforms a "good start, but said Interior needs to do more to rein in industry's impacts on public lands.

"It's a good start toward reining in what can only be described as unchecked oil and gas extraction that has already taken a toll on the important places for hunters and anglers in the West," said Brad Powell, energy director for TU's Sportsmen's Conservation Project, but he said they fall short of more comprehensive reforms that are needed.

Salazar said the new rules will bring order and certainty to the leasing process. Industry groups have complained that leasing has become too bureaucratic and unpredictable, but Salazar said past practices too often left leases tied up in litigation for months.

In 1998, he said, just over 1 percent of gas leases on public land were protested. Ten years later, that number grew to 40 percent.

Salazar shrugged off criticism that the reforms would bog down industry. Of 43.6 million acres of federal land that have been leased, Salazar said, only 12 million acres are in production. Last year, the administration offered 9 million acres for leasing.

Follow David Frey on his Web site, www.davidfrey.me, and on Twitter, @davidmfrey.

"In the prior administration, the oil and gas industry essentially were the kings of the world," he said. "Whatever they wanted to happen essentially happened. This department was essentially a handmaiden of the oil and gas industry. We brought that to an end because the resources the department oversees are resources that belong to the American taxpayer."

The Independent Petroleum Association of Mountain States blasted what it called additional red tape that would slow down drilling.

IPAMS Director of Government Affairs Kathleen Sgamma called it a "bureaucratic command-and-control system in which government bureaucrats – rather than scientists with expertise in natural gas and oil development – dictate where energy development should occur."

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“Our resource is at a critical tipping point,” said Manager Underbrink Curran. “We should all argue that if the predictions that are made in the EIS are not good, and are not solid and do not work out like is being predicted, people have to come back and re-look at it. And we, and Denver and the Corps and everyone needs to sit down and say: How are we going to fix this resource? This is critical, not only to Grand County, but to the state of Colorado.”

“This is a grave situation,” said County Commissioner Nancy Stuart. “In my opinion, it's the life and death of our rivers. So we really need to think about the statements that we make, and I'm putting faith in the Corps that they will listen.”

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