Monday, March 18

The Crestone Eagle is a nonprofit monthly newspaper serving Crestone and the San Luis Valley

Conservation

Rio Grande fish species make move from Baca to Medano

by John Livingston, Colorado Parks and Wildlife , Southwest Region  Public Information Officer MOSCA, Colo.—A decades-long effort to establish new populations of imperiled Rio Grande chub and Rio Grande sucker fish in Colorado’s San Luis Valley led to a historic day on the Medano Ranch of Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve. Colorado Parks and Wildlife (CPW) collaborated with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) and National Park Service (NPS) this fall to translocate a population of Rio Grande chub and sucker from Crestone Creek in the Baca National Wildlife Refuge to Big Spring Creek in the Medano Ranch.  More than...

Safeguarding the Sangre Wilderness: Proposal would protect 110,000 acres along Crestone/Baca region 

By Anya Kaats. In 1992, Congress passed The Sangre De Cristo Wilderness Act, designating 220,803 acres of land as protected wilderness along the mountain range. In 2000, with the passing of The Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve Act, another 50 square miles of land was converted to designated wilderness. Since then, several other tracts of land have been added, but 110,000 acres of land on the east side of the San Luis Valley (SLV) has yet to be officially designated and is “needing closure,” says Christine Canaly, long-standing director of the San Luis Valley Ecosystem Council (SLVEC).  In a...

Our water, climate & stream flow

Within the past 25 years climate in the northern San Luis Valley has changed significantly. As shown by data herein, rising temperatures and falling precipitation are impacting our snowpack, rainfall, stream flow; and indirectly, groundwater levels, vegetation, and fire danger. This article looks at long-term trends in the above parameters, and what we can expect in the future; warmer, drier, and windier conditions. Temperature’s a risin’ Since 1900 Colorado average temperature has risen 2.5°F, with 2/3 of the rise occurring since 1975. In the SLV mean annual temperature rose 2°F since 1913 (Fig. 1). Roughly 2/3 of this rise occurred rapidly...

Douglas County votes no to expend federal funds on RWR water export proposal

Douglas County Commissioners issued a decision in a work session held on May 24: “The Board of Douglas County Commissioners has made the decision, based on objective legal recommendations from outside counsel, that American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds are inapplicable to the RWR proposal and that RWR has significant additional hurdles to overcome in order to demonstrate not only a “do no harm” approach, but also a “win-win” for Douglas County and the San Luis Valley. “That said, Douglas County welcomes ongoing discussions with RWR, should they be able to provide new information or otherwise overcome these hurdles.” Commissioners...

Governor opposes RWR water export plan, US Senators Bennet & Hickenlooper concur, invoking Wirth Amendment

Governor Polis joins other Colorado elected officials in opposing the proposed water export plan by Renewable Water Resources (RWR). Polis has issued a statement that he is: “against any inter-basin transfer without local support of impacted communities. This is a proposed inter-basin transfer with deep concerns and opposition in the San Luis Valley and the governor is opposed.” Polis joins Colorado Attorney General, Phil Weiser, who has already expressed strong opposition to the trans-basin export. Last week, US Senators Michael Bennet and John Hickenlooper issued a statement opposing the RWR proposal and invoking Public Law 102-575, also known as the Wirth Amendment....

Governor Opposes RWR Water Steal

The attention on a $600-million proposal to pipe water from the San Luis Valley to Douglas County is gaining attention — of the negative kind — from Gov. Jared Polis and other policymakers at the state Capitol. Polis, in a statement to Colorado Politics, took a position last week on the proposal from Renewable Water Resources (RWR) that would ferry as much as 34,000 acre-feet of water from a confined aquifer in the San Luis Valley to Douglas County. Through a spokesman, Polis said he is "against any inter-basin transfer without local support of impacted communities. This is a proposed...

Nebraska Governor announces $500 million plan to claim water in South Platte—why this concerns the SLV

In a January press conference, Nebraska Governor Pete Ricketts announced that Nebraska would invoke its right to divert water from the South Platte River amid concerns that Colorado’s plans for the river could reduce water flows into his state by as much as 90%. The governor revealed a $500 million plan that could include canals to feed into a reservoir to store water for Nebraska’s use. The South Platte River is one of two major tributaries of the Platte River. The South Platte River originates in the Rocky Mountains and flows through central Denver along US Interstate 76 into Nebraska,...

Renewable Water Resources proposes selling SLV water to Douglas County—SLV opposition organizes

RWR’s proposal to Douglas County is, for an initial payment of $20 million, to build a pipeline that would bring 22,000 acre-feet of water from the San Luis Valley aquifer to the Front Range. If Douglas County agrees, the $20 million would come from ARPS stimulus money. Struggling with water scarcity, changing climate, and aquifer depletion, San Luis Valley residents object to the proposal. A formidable group has organized around the belief that there is no water available to move outside the San Luis Valley. Protect Our Water–San Luis Valley lists as members: 15 local water districts and entities; 22 cities...

Safeguarding the Sangre Wilderness: Proposal would protect 110,000 acres along Crestone/Baca region 

By Anya Kaats. In 1992, Congress passed The Sangre De Cristo Wilderness Act, designating 220,803...

Our water, climate & stream flow

Within the past 25 years climate in the northern San Luis Valley has changed...

Douglas County votes no to expend federal funds on RWR water export proposal

Douglas County Commissioners issued a decision in a work session held on May 24: “The...

Governor opposes RWR water export plan, US Senators Bennet & Hickenlooper concur, invoking Wirth Amendment

Governor Polis joins other Colorado elected officials in opposing the proposed water export plan...

Governor Opposes RWR Water Steal

The attention on a $600-million proposal to pipe water from the San Luis Valley...

Nebraska Governor announces $500 million plan to claim water in South Platte—why this concerns the SLV

In a January press conference, Nebraska Governor Pete Ricketts announced that Nebraska would invoke...

Renewable Water Resources proposes selling SLV water to Douglas County—SLV opposition organizes

RWR’s proposal to Douglas County is, for an initial payment of $20 million, to...

What has the SLV Ecosytem Council been doing to protect your public lands in 2021? —Lots!

For over two decades, the San Luis Valley Ecosystem Council (SLVEC) has loyally advocate...

Federal government declares water shortage on Colorado River—Water cuts expected for western states

Lake Mead has dropped to its lowest level since 1937, when the reservoir first...

Rebalancing the SLV water budget through shared sacrifice Persistent drought affecting water use & planning

In March of this year, well operators in the Rio Grande Water Conservation District...

San Luis Valley Wetlands: Critical stopover habitat for bird migration and the ‘kidneys’ of the Earth

Each spring and fall, thousands of feathers slice through the brisk San Luis Valley...

Water user laws tighten as water table drops

When Hal Simpson, the state water engineer, shows up in the Valley to talk...
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