Water News Roundup – July 19, 2010

KSL: Sustainability, water conservation – In this Sunday Edition, KSL’s Richard Piatt discusses Salt Lake City’s sustainability plan with a city leader and a member of the builders association. Also, the need for water conservation is explained by two water experts.

Salt Lake Tribune: Bonneville Shoreline Trail access at Red Butte off-limits – The Bonneville Shoreline Trail remains off-limits at Red Butte Creek more than a month after a Chevron pipeline rupture disgorged crude oil into the waterway.

Water News Roundup – July 15, 2010

KSL: Chevron cited for oil spill in Salt Lake City – State regulators have cited Chevron Corp. for a pipeline leak that spilled crude oil into a Salt Lake City creek.

Washington Post: EPA seeks comment on Denver fracking study – Natural gas industry groups on Tuesday urged the Environmental Protection Agency to limit the scope of an upcoming study on the effects of a natural gas extraction process known as fracking.

New York Times: May the best flusher win – What does the Grand Canyon have in common with the world’s largest toilet? They’re both stops on the Environmental Protection Agency’s latest promotional campaign, a “We’re for Water” cross-country road trip aimed at educating consumers about water-saving behavior and products certified through the agency’s WaterSense program.

Water News Roundup – July 14, 2010

Provo Daily Herald: Canal project coming quickly – A major construction project will soon be having a big impact on north county cities.  The Interstate 15 rebuild? No, the other big effort getting under way in the region is the Provo Reservoir Canal Enclosure Project. Enclosing the waterway — a.k.a. the Murdock Canal — is a $15 million project that has been years in the making and involved a host of government agencies, including the U.S. Congress.

KSL: Public meetings kick off Murdock Canal project – A major construction project is about to get underway to enclose the Murdock Canal, the open waterway that carries water from Provo Canyon to the Point of the Mountain.  (Steve Cain, Facilities and Lands Manager for PRWUA, gets some serious facetime on KSL.  Usually they let you speak for about five seconds and then clip the take.  Steve manages to get in almost 30 seconds… go Steve!)

Ogden Standard Examiner: New reservoir ready to service two cities – A $3.2 million secondary water reservoir that becomes fully operational on Wednesday will save culinary water costs for two expanding north Davis cities.

KCPW: Lingering concerns dominate town hall meeting on oil spill – The second town hall meeting convened on the Red Butte Creek oil pipeline spill lasted more than three hours last night at Clayton Middle School in Salt Lake City.

Wall Street Journal: Water policy for NY power plants draws reliability concerns – Authorities in charge of the reliability of New York State’s power supply warn a policy to protect aquatic life could threaten the dependability of electricity supplies and increase air pollution.

Water News Roundup – July 13, 2010

Las Vegas Sun:  Vegas water agency halts ‘third straw’ tunnel work – Work has stopped on a tunnel for a new drinking water intake pipeline between Las Vegas and Lake Mead after a cavern that took two years to excavate unexpectedly filled with water.

ASCE Newsbrief:  Seattle’s price tag for clean water: $500 million – Keeping the water around Seattle clean is going to cost the city half a billion dollars over the next fifteen years.  Seattle Public Utilities will soon begin a federally-mandated, $500 million city-wide infrastructure improvement program designed to reduce storm and wastewater pollution. This will mean higher sewer and drainage bills for people, beginning next year, and for years afterwards.

KSL:  Salt Lake water ranked highly despite number of breaks – Salt Lake City’s water infrastructure suffers hundreds of breaks every year, in spite of a heavy investment from taxpayers. But a recent study shows the city is doing pretty well, by comparison.

Water News Roundup – July 12, 2010

Salt Lake Tribune:  Questions linger a year after Logan canal burst – …Today, the property still looks like a disaster zone. The hillside is a jumble of dirt and tree limbs beneath the cracked edges of the empty canal.

High Country News:  Calm before the storm – Late last month, the Western Governors’ Association, a nonpartisan organization that works with the governors of 19 western states and three U.S. territories, took a step to prepare for the impending hail with the publication of their new report, “Climate Adaptation Priorities for the Western States.”

KSL:

Salt Lake residents speak out on Red Butte oil spill – Exactly one month after Utah’s biggest oil spill in memory, the residents most affected are speaking out — but not with a single voice.

Law lets raindrops keep falling in Utah buckets – Utahns can now legally collect rainwater, and at least a few are taking advantage of the freebie.

As mentioned last week in the Daily Herald’s article on BYU joining the Western Waters Digital Library, here’s a link to the library itself – seems like a useful and searchable resource for historical photos and documentation.  I’m sure everyone already knew about the collection, but it was news to me!

Water News Roundup – July 8, 2010

Salt Lake Tribune:

Fluoridation battle rages on – Holliday Water won’t have to fluoridate its supply — at least for now.  Under a recent decision by the Utah Supreme Court, the water company will not have to fluoridate its supply, despite a 2000 Salt Lake County ordinance that requires fluoridation. The company argued that as a private corporation, it was exempt.

Detecting oil leaks – In coordination with local, state and federal officials, Chevron has made all the right moves in responding to last month’s oil pipeline leak in Salt Lake City.  Chevron and city crews were on scene quickly, equipment materializing out of nowhere. Within hours of the discovery, the leak was stanched and the cleanup launched.

Open house on Murdock canal plan –  The Provo River Water Users Association is sponsoring an open house to discuss plans to enclose the Murdock Canal in a pipe and create a trail system over the canal right-of-way. The open house is on July 13 at 6 p.m. at Orchard Elementary School, 800 E. 1035 North [in Orem].

Provo Daily Herald:  BYU contributes to digital water policy library – Brigham Young University’s Harold B. Lee Library is one of five research libraries that helped complete a content expansion project for the Western Waters Digital Library.  Founded in 2004, the library is an online public resource that provides information about water issues in the western United States.

High Country News:  Monkey wrenchers keep on keeping on – When the news spread last year about Tim DeChristopher’s impromptu act of civil disobedience in Utah, I thought: Somebody is finally reviving the lost art of environmental monkey-wrenching.

Stories about hydro-fracking and groundwater contamination…

Wyoming Trib: Monitoring wells nearing completion – The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has almost finished drilling two monitoring wells to test for pollution in a central Wyoming community where residents suspect chemicals related to gas drilling have contaminated their well water… Area residents say chemicals related to a process called hydraulic fracturing, or “fracking,” may have polluted their wells. Fracking involves pumping water, sand and chemicals underground at high pressure to open fissures and improve the flow of oil or gas.

AWWA:  Fracking bill may face uphill battle – Democratic Reps. Diana DeGette, Maurice Hinchey and Jared Polis introduced a bill in June to reverse a 2005 measure excluding hydraulic fracturing, used to enhance extraction of oil and gas, from regulation under the Safe Drinking Water Act.

Women and Water – A Tribute

Via Michael Campana’s personal blog ‘Waterwired’…

 

I love the quotes Dr. Campana uses at the end of his posts, so I’m hoping he won’t mind if I borrow his.

"Water is personal, water is local, water is regional, water is statewide. Everybody has a different idea, a different approach, a different issue, a different concern. Water is the most personal issue we have." — Susan Marks

Water News Roundup – July 6, 2010

I’m back from what could possibly be described as the most awesome Fourth of July EVER!  Ahhhh…. welcome back to the water news work week.

Salt Lake Tribune has a bunch of stories that will be posted as soon as they manage to get their website up and running (doh!)

KSL: Insider details state’s issue with energy study – Utah officials spent $200,000 in federal and state funds to have the study done. But when it was finished a few months ago, they sidetracked it and refused to vouch for it — after it ran into a wall of opposition from industry.  The study blames Utah power plants for 202 premature deaths each year and for health and water costs up to $2 billion annually.

An interesting study of how irrigation method possibly contributes to or limits groundwater E. coli contamination…

Science: Keeping feces on the farm – Think dairy farm, and your mind may wander to images of cows grazing dewy green pastures, as glistening silos and red-walled farmhouses slumber in the distance. But something sinister is lurking in the grass: cow feces crawling with disease-causing Escherichia coli bacteria. A new study, however, reveals that these bacteria are much less likely to enter  groundwater and cause illness if farmers spray their fields with water rather than flooding them, as is traditional.

Great Salt Lake News Roundup – July 1, 2010

KCPW: Great Salt Lake Advisory Council begins work – The newly formed Great Salt Lake Advisory Council held its first meeting this morning, bringing together for the first time a permanent advisory body to represent the many disparate groups who have a stake in the lake’s future.

Deseret News: Gov. Gary Herbert wants ‘more holistic’ approach in determining Great Salt Lake’s future – On a typical day, the Great Salt Lake is a smooth mirror, a shimmering, flat calm. The real turbulence is above the surface as people from several walks of life fight for their divergent interests focused on and along the massive pool.

Ogden Standard Examiner: Great Salt Lake council seeks balance – The Great Salt Lake is getting a little more attention these days with its very own advisory council.  Gov. Gary Herbert kicked off the first meeting of the Great Salt Lake Advisory Council on Wednesday at Antelope Island.

Here are the newly appointed members of the GSL council:

Acting chairman: Leland Myers of the Central Davis Sewer District, representing publicly owned treatment works

Jay Hardy, Box Elder County commissioner

Louenda Downs, Davis County commissioner

Jan Zogmaister, Weber County commissioner

Julie Peck-Dabling, Salt Lake County open space manager, representing Salt Lake County

Dan Tuttle, lobbyist, representing Tooele County

Carlton Christensen, Salt Lake City councilman, representing municipal government

Dave Livermore, Utah director of the Nature Conservancy, representing conservation interests

Jeff Richards, president of the Utah Waterfowl Association, representing migratory bird protection areas

Nicol Gagstetter, manager of sustainable development for Kennecott Utah Copper, representing the extractive industry

Don Leonard, representing the brine shrimp industry/aquaculture

Light n’ Fluffy News Roundup – June 30, 2010

I’ll have to wait to watch ‘Gasland’ until it’s out on video, but Michael ‘Aquadoc’ Campana provides a synopsis for those that haven’t seen it…

AWRA Blog: Review of ‘Gasland’ – If you saw Joshua Fox’s documentary Gasland on HBO last Monday night (check to see if it is still being shown) you know that one of Fox’s most compelling visuals is a flaming tap, such as the one shown here from the review in the New York Times.

Colorado River District: Water Education Video Page – Great collection of videos that discuss their topics clearly, intelligently and even humorously!

Water News Roundup – June 29, 2010

Deseret News:

Dreams fulfilled despite spill – When 33,000 gallons of Colorado crude oil broke loose from a Chevron pipeline two weeks ago, it swept a path of havoc and destruction from the edge of scenic Red Butte Garden miles west to the Jordan River.

Provo River dam alterations allow June sucker to spawn farther upriver – When the Fort Field Diversion dam was built on the lower Provo River in the early 1900s, it was designed to rechannel some of the water for irrigation.

Water News Roundup – June 28, 2010

Salt Lake Tribune:

Utah anglers may have to buy stream access – State fisheries managers want to overcome Utah’s newly restricted stream access by charging $3 to $5 extra from participating anglers and using the money to pay private landowners for walk-in access.

Quick note for summer field crews in Utah – if its in Centerville, it might be where you’re working too.  Watch your step!

Large marijuana plot discovered in Centerville – Police destroyed a clandestine plot of more than 12,000 marijuana plants near Centerville on Sunday.

Deseret News: Health officials brace for war against ‘crypto’ – Few things could bring more welcome relief and fun to a hot Utah summer day than spending time at a community swimming pool or a local water park.

And just to prove that the ol’ adage about whiskey and water still stands… HA!!!

Missoulian: Stevensville man accused of shovel assault – An apparent fight over opening a headgate one hour early left one man with a cracked tooth and another facing a felony charge of assault with a weapon. (HT: actively moving water)

 

Water News Roundup – June 24, 2010

KSL:

Restored songbird habitats proving fruitful along Provo River – Some Utah songbirds lost their freedom, briefly, Wednesday. Bird experts captured them on the fly in an effort to figure out if they’re thriving or declining.

Water quality officials visit one-of-a-kind wastewater facility – You can golf, hike, or even ride horses in Eagle Mountain, but taking a tour of the waste water facility is something you won’t find in any tourism brochures. However, it’s exactly what workers with Utah’s Division of Water Quality wanted to do Wednesday morning.

Salt Lake Tribune: Utah Lake’s June sucker making rapid recovery – The removal of a Provo River dam is paying dividends for the endangered June sucker.  Biologists say the fish are taking advantage of an extra mile of spawning grounds above the Fort Field diversion dam.

Water News Roundup – June 23, 2010

A perfect day for streamflow measurements in the morning!

Deseret News:

Open houses planned for Provo canal project – A series of three open houses is planned next month to explain the details of a $150 million project that will enclose the entire Provo Reservoir Canal.

Restoration project could pave the way for Jordan River Parkway Trail segment – Bikers, walkers and roller bladers may have to wait a few years, but action that could eventually pave the way for a new segment of the Jordan River Parkway Trail was launched Wednesday.

KCPW: Chevron reopens Red Butte pipeline – Chevron has reopened a 13.75 mile segment of pipeline that’s been shut down since it leaked 33,000 gallons, or about 800 barrels, of crude oil into Red Butte Creek earlier this month.

KSL:

Gasoline seeps into Emery county groundwater – For several weeks, residents in Ferron in Emery Countyhave complained of the smell of gasoline in their homes coming through their floor drains.

Lab results say pipeline effects diminishing, but still a danger – Utah water-quality officials say the toxic effects of a pipeline oil leak in a Salt Lake City creek are diminishing but still endanger aquatic life.

Water News Roundup – June 22, 2010

Salt Lake Tribune:  Oil flows again as probe points to why sensors failed – Black gold began flowing Monday through a mended canyon pipeline into Chevron’s refinery — and its coffers — even as a federal petroleum engineer pointed to a power surge as the likely reason sensors failed to detect the Red Butte Canyon oil spill.

KSL: Restoration project in the works for Jordan River – Officials will restore a section of the Jordan River to a more natural condition. Rocky Mountain Power gave its approval for the project along 550 yards of the river in West Jordan.

KCPW: Chevron spill impacting life in Red Butte Creek and beyond – Oil-soaked geese were one of the most visible signs of the Red Butte Creek pipeline spill, but it also affected what lives below the surface. KCPW’s Elizabeth Ziegler focuses on wildlife, in the first of a series on the spill.

Ogden Standard Examiner: Support sought for Jordan River plan – This summer, Davis County commissioners will be asked to financially support the creation of the Jordan River Commission, an agency designed to steward river development.

New York Times: A new panorama at the Hoover Dam – Generations of photo albums are filled with images of children squinting in front of the enormous canyon here, one of the greatest engineering feats in America’s history.