MAY 14th, 2019: Ribbon-Cutting Ceremony to honor an amazing story unfolding right now in the Middle South Platte River Alliance community. It's all about how a huge, $3.5 flood-recovery project came to happen despite all odds. It's about great progress for Colorado's river environment. And about a win-win in an agricultural community. With an unusual collection of players who don't often collaborate, the largest ditch company working with the feds, the state, and a local river coalition to build a new structure that accommodates fish and boats too. Click HERE for more details about government & agriculture collaborating on river project.
MAY 21st, 2019: Reg. 84 Stakeholder meeting (9:00 - 11:00 a.m.) | CDPHE Main Campus, Room C1A. Attend a stakeholder process regarding the use of reclaimed water to irrigate commercial and noncommercial crops. The stakeholder process runs from October 2018 through May 2019. During the process several work groups have been formed. Work groups collaborate to develop information to present to the commission during the rulemaking in October 2019. Your participation and input is encouraged. Visit the Regulation 84 stakeholder website HERE.
2019 Request for Water Process. In January, the Colorado Water Conservation Board and Colorado Water Trust opened up the second year of their Request for Water Process. The Request for Water Process streamlines and enhances an existing CWCB program that provides benefits to water right owners for using their water rights to help keep rivers and watersheds healthy. The Request for Water Process website has the details and resources to answer your questions HERE. Contact the Water Trust at (720) 570-2897 or send an email to RFW@ColoradoWaterTrust.org with specific questions. The deadline for submitting preliminary water right offers is June 30th, 2019.
The April 2019 Drought Update, a summary of the drought information presented at the April 25, 2019 Joint Water Availability & Flood Task Force Meeting will be posted on the CWCB website. All of the presentations from the meeting can also be found on the CWCB website.
MAY 2019 WATER QUALITY CONTROL COMMISSION - HEARING NOTICES
The following Notices of public triennial informational hearings have been posted on the commission’s website HERE.
"The Basic Standards for Groundwater" Regulation #41 (5 CCR 1002-41);
"Site-Specific Water Quality Classifications and Standards for Ground Water" Regulation #42 (5 CCR 1002-42);
"Dillon Reservoir Control Regulation" Regulation #71 (5 CCR 1002-71).
FY2019 Section 319 nonpoint source project funding
Colorado Drought Plan Visualization Story Map - The Colorado Water Conservation Board has launched an interactive dashboard displaying drought vulnerability at the state and county level based on Colorado's 2018 Drought Plan. The platform is an Esri Story Map that provides visual summaries of Colorado drought risk by sectors, using images and graphs to allow users to interact and engage with data. Find it HERE.
MSI continues to work with the EPA and the Colorado DRMS to assess the type and extent of mining contamination within the Cement Creek and Animas River drainages. MSI field staff monitor draining mine sites within the Bonita Peaks Mining District on a monthly basis. Understanding the snow pack, maintaining local weather stations, monitoring stream gauges, and sampling seeps and springs in the area all contribute to understanding the interaction between groundwater, the region's complex geology, and the mining legacy of the BPMD. Learn more HERE.
Clean Water Act regulation requires wastewater utilities across the state and the country to reduce the temperature of any wastewater they discharge to a threatened stream. The idea is to protect fish and aquatic habitats that are in danger of overheating due to a combination of the warm discharges and shrinking streamflows related to climate change and drought. Read more HERE.
Help Middle Colorado Watershed Council’s project with a 5 minute survey! The Integrated Water Management Plan (IWMP) is an on-going project-identifying plan that needs your support! Do you recreate on the river at all? Fish? Swim? Boat? Riverside picnic? Take their river users survey to begin to help quantify just how much waterways are used for recreation and enjoyment. Want to learn more about the IWMP? Visit this quick Post Independent column HERE.
Center for Health & Environmental Justice is exploring the possibility of working on a national campaign around water contamination. Several bills related to clean water have been introduced last year. These relate to testing school pipes, testing and repairing pipes within HUD housing, and testing and repairing older pipes in cities and towns that need new infrastructures. They are monitoring water related legislation that will be reintroduced this year. CHEJ would like to understand better where and what water concerns people in the network have in terms of drinking water, infrastructure and contaminated water sources. Please let them know whether or not there is a water related issue in your community, even if you are not working on it at this time.
Colorado Water Trust thanks their RiverBank Sponsors! Their Annual RiverBank Celebration is on June 11th at the Denver Botanic Gardens this year - check out all the cool benefits sponsors receive HERE! Would your company like to get your name out as supporter of healthy Colorado rivers, too? Click HERE to learn about sponsoring RiverBank.