New lake planning on stealing western slope water from Green.

[Juan De Confluence]

Hey guys,

Here is a link to the satellite photo on the official website for the Res.
Rueter-Hess Reservoir - Satellite Photo

It is in between I-25 and the town of Parker, approximately due east of castle pines.

The reason that the flaming gorge diversion is a preferred solution is that it is proposed as a privately financed enterprise. Therefore it may not be necessary to ask voters to approve a huge bond proposal. Also, the flaming gorge reservoir already exisits, so there would not be any additional Dam building involved. All they need to do is build a pipe from flaming gorge to Parker!!

The alternatives are worse in my opinion, and include pumpback schemes on the Yampa, Gunnison, and the Colorado river return (AKA Big straw). For some light reading on the topic you can find a draft report on the alternatives here: Look at the last report at the top Colorado's Water Supply Future - Colorado Water Conservation Board

The surface water of Colorado belongs to all of us, not to the basin where it falls, and the economic prosperity of the whole state is closely tied to what is happening on the Front Range. Conservation is of course the best solution, but will not meet the water supply needs alone. Agricultural transfers are another solution that needs to be explored more fully before we start siphoning the west slope.

We are lucky that AW has a full time staff member working on these issues in CO, Nathan Fey. Please support AW so he can continue his work...

regards
jon

[Palo Duro]

It will make a nice lake fill it full of fish put some homes around it, man ohhh man someone ( company) going to make some money.

Water is the most importain resourse we have. (Conservation) is required. Im sure some of you have seen a list on alt-energy?

Just sayin,,,,

[Andy H.]

Originally Posted by cemartin

I wonder if any of these guys have considered confined aquifer storage as a better option in lieu of building a big pond with high evaporation rates. Just seems very costly in terms of the environment and efficiency. Thanks for the word.

Parker Water & Sanitation Dist. (PWSD) has considered Aquifer Storage and Recovery (ASR). Though surrounded by some of the most prolific aquifers in the South Metro area, PWSD just happens to sit in a location where the aquifers are generally poor producers. For example, a couple of years ago they drilled a $1M+ well that only produced about 50 gallons per minute (gpm). This is pretty lousy production compared to nearby wells that pump about 500 - 1000 gpm from the aquifers. The tight geology limits the PWSD's ability to get water into or out of the aquifers, particularly when high flow rates are needed to meet summer "peak" demands.

Until they can obtain "renewable supplies" (surface water) to fill the reservoir, PWSD is actually planning to pump their wells during the winter months and store groundwater in Reuter-Hess reservoir, then drain the reservoir during summmer to meet their peak demands. This will subject the "mined" groundwater to substantial evaporation losses but is the only way they can meet the peak demands with water from their wells. PWSD says they will also eventually use ASR to the extent they can, but ASR is just not a good option for them due to the nature of the geology underlying their district.

-AH

[Waterwindpowderrock]

Originally Posted by cayo 2

Agreed ,conservation and efficient use over another diversion. Where exactly is it?

Caleb,I can totally understand why you hate [major understatement] the f'ing traffic on I-70,but the water belongs to everybody not you or even necessarily Colorado.People gotta' live somewhere,but they shouldn't be so wasteful of resources.Doesn't your pet creek steal it's water from the Williams Fork.Not trying to pick a fight,you're cool .I hate the sprawl as much as anyone.

Actually, I've got nothing against Denver in particular, I think we should wipe nearly EVERY city off the map!!!!

The issue imo is the way of life of people in general, they're parasites that destroy their surroundings instead of living with them. I would like to think that people on this site are less prone to this behavior than most, but in any city, this unsustainable way of life becomes more obvious.

The point about the water... is EXACTLY my point, it belongs to the people downstream, the fact that we keep stealing more & more is just plain wrong.

W. fork gets its water from Jones pass, Urad, and Berthoud. The water that comes from William's fork gets diverted into the Vasquez tunnel, then pumped over to Gross res. (I got to know the guy that runs the diversion house @ Williams fork, the tunnel system is CRAZY!!!!)

EVERYBODY on here should read Cadillac desert if you have the time, great book about the stupidity of cities in the west.

btw, didn't take it as picking a fight at all. I tend to be a bit extreme in my responses, but this one I thought was pretty mild...

[FrankC]

All new housing developments and commercial properties in CO should be without sprinkler systems. Makes me sick to drive by the endless Kmarts and Home Depots with their vast green lawns pissing away water in a semi-desert environment.

As for the farmers. Pay them a couple million each for their water rights. It make no sense to be growing crops in the treeless plains of Colorado.

[teleboater5.13]

If you remove the water rights from ag lands what do they have left...DEVELOPMENT RIGHTS.

I definatly do not want to see a pipeline from the Green to CO and know that there are other options that can fulfill these needs (like other reservoir expansions, sorry but we have to give somewhere).

However if you remove the water rights from ag lands the only thing left for these farmers and ranchers is to sell their land to developers for subdivisions. I don't know about you all but the last thing I want to see is some of the biggest sections of open lands in CO to be given to subdivisions. We need to find water sources that do not detract from the current working landscapes we still have. Would you rather eat good, healthy food produced locally or get factory farmed meat from Tyson and veggies shipped in from around the world?

[mjpowhound]

I went to a Colorado River Coalition seminar once and was surprised to learn that of all the water in the S Platte drainage (including diversions), only 15% of that is used for residential use, and of that 15%, half was for outside use (ie lawns). I hate sprawl and especially lawns, but it seems to me there is a lot more opportunity with agriculture than residential.

You get a lot more bang for your water buck with produce than with meat. Something to think about as you plug your nose while driving by another factory farm in eastern CO.

[Droboat]

[QUOTE=Juan De Confluence;165469]
"The surface water of Colorado belongs to all of us, not to the basin where it falls"

Perhaps, but if it does, it is only by function of the corrupt history of the creation of a Western water regime which reversed centuries of prohibitions on trans-basin diversions.

Just because "first to exploit" may be the rule imposed by the current regime does not mean it will remain so. The continuing enslavement of remote river basins to serve distant purposes will end, someday.

Great Lakes Environmental Law Center: Transbasin Water Diversions

[benpetri]

I love how they are building an empty reservoir without water rights and its supposed to be paid for by future growth (tap fees) from houses that don't exist yet, and those houses are to be bought by people who haven't moved to Colorado yet.

Can you say stock market bubble? Its precisely these kinds of schemes that landed us in this economic mess. They're going to run out of money long before they get close to flaming gorge. Just don't let them get a big federal bailout.

[Nathan]

If there wasn't water rights to fill the reservoir how did it get permitted? The article seems to be leaving something out.