Water News Roundup – August 26, 2010

Salt Lake Tribune:

State explores private management of state parks – The chairman of a board looking at the potential for privatizing state government functions would like to see Utah privatize a handful of state parks to see if they can be run more efficiently than they are now.

Lake Powell slobs foment revolt – Each summer I do penance at Lake Powell for the environmental sins of its visitors. This summer was no exception as I volunteered to work on a houseboat called the Trash Tracker. Our job: picking up debris in 108-degree heat along 100 miles or so of the 1,900-mile shoreline.

Ogden Standard Examiner:  Artificial catfish nests being placed in Bountiful lake – As a pelican swoops overhead and the cattail sways along the shore, Eric Stephenson lowers a love nest into the water.

Times Free Press:  Hot river forces costly cutback for TVA – The Tennessee Valley Authority has lost nearly $50 million in power generation from its biggest nuclear plant because the Tennessee River in Alabama is too hot.

Water News Roundup – August 24, 2010

Deseret News: Lake Powell ruled mussel free zone – The Utah Division of Wildlife Resources has officially ruled Lake Powell mussel-free three years after a false positive detection.

Salt Lake Tribune: West can lead the new energy economy – The West, with its wealth of wind, solar, geothermal and other clean, renewable energy resources, is poised to lead the nation toward a new energy future.

The Hill: EPA unveils strategy to modernize clean water programs – The Environmental Protection Agency on Friday floated a draft strategy to improve water quality nationwide, one that bluntly recognizes that today’s pollution sources are often difficult to target with traditional Clean Water Act controls.

New York Times – Science: Levels plummet in crucial reservoir – Water levels in Lake Mead, the Colorado River reservoir, fell sharply again this summer and are nearing an elevation that would set off the first-ever official water shortage on the river, The Arizona Republic reported last week.

Indian Point nuclear plant’s toll on river stirs debate – Just beneath the wind-stippled surface of the Hudson River here, huge pipes suck enough water into the Indian Point nuclear plant every second to fill three Olympic swimming pools.

Water News Roundup – April 12, 2010

Salt Lake Tribune:

Sides gear up for new water fight – Ranchers, county governments, conservation groups and the Goshute tribe are crafting protests against a Nevada water utility’s new applications to pump Snake Valley water to Las Vegas, a conservation group said.

Utah’s first N-plant won’t float without water rights – The former uranium boomtown of Green River sits along I-70 in eastern Utah, 100 miles from the closest city. Now it may become the Western outpost of America’s nascent nuclear renaissance. Blue Castle Holdings, a three-year-old, politically connected startup, wants to build a nuclear power plant there — Utah’s first, and the first in the West since 1987.

Salt Lake Tribune – Editorial: Wilderness bill – An act of Congress to set aside 26,000 additional acres of wilderness in the Wasatch Mountain canyons east of the Salt Lake Valley could benefit water users. It could also benefit its sponsor, Utah Rep. Jim Matheson, whose vote against health care legislation has made him unpopular with some Democratic voters in the 2nd Congressional District.

Las Vegas Sun: Las Vegas can’t handle another era of unimpeded growth – A report by the Sonoran Institute, an Arizona-based nonprofit think tank, says that if the Las Vegas Valley’s population grows to capacity using the Bureau of Land Management acreage designated for development, even the most stringent water conservation measures won’t be enough to ensure that everyone has enough H2O.

Technorati Tags: groundwater management,Nevada,nuclear power,Snake Valley,Water Conservation,water/energy nexus,watershed protection,wilderness designation

Water News Roundup – February 4, 2010

Salt Lake Tribune: Green River power plan generates big questions – A fledgling company’s plan to build a 3,000 megawatt nuclear power plant near the Green River in eastern Utah is generating more questions than answers.

Deseret News: Utah groups challenge uranium mill’s plan to divert groundwater – Two Utah-based conservation groups have filed a challenge in Colorado Water Court to three applications for groundwater that flows into the Dolores River.

Utah Water News wants to let you know that February 12th is RIDE UTA FREE day in support of Governor Herbert and Mayor Becker’s ‘Clean Air Challenge‘!  If you happen to be out and about that day, take advantage of a free bus, Trax or Frontrunner ride.

Water News Roundup – January 19, 2010

Salt Lake Tribune:

Snake Valley pumping hard to monitor – The Southern Nevada Water Authority proposes pumping groundwater from five desert basins in the Great Basin, including Snake Valley on the Nevada-Utah border, and piping the water south to Las Vegas. Under the proposed water-sharing agreement for Snake Valley, a monitoring plan is offered as a mechanism to control excessive adverse impacts.

10 reasons not to give Utah water to Nevada – Utah’s tourism slogan is “Life Elevated.” Perfect irony, because what is most elevated in Utah is our air pollution — the worst in the country this week and hardly a boon to tourism.

N. Utah water outlook is dim but could brighten – As of this week, the water outlook in chilly northern Utah doesn’t look so hot.  On the other hand, southern Utah’s snowpack is above average and likely to stay that way until spring.

Storms could change the snowpack picture – Monday’s crowd at Solitude Mountain Resort lent credibility to ski area advertisements touting lift lines so short resort officials don’t even know how to spell “kroud.”

KCPW: State gathering public input on nuke plant water deal –  The Utah Division of Water Rights held a public meeting last night to gather input on a proposal that would allow the states first nuclear power plant to be built. Those opposed to the project say it will harm the Green River.  But Aaron Tilton, CEO of Blue Castle Holdings, which owns the project, says theyre misguided.

MSNBC:  EPA offers Florida water pollution limits – The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on Friday proposed the first numeric limits in the nation for farm and urban runoff polluting Florida’s waterways, limits supporters say could set precedent and lead to similar federal standards in other states.

Water News Roundup – January 13, 2010

KSL: Hearings open on nuke power plant – Some in Green River would welcome a nuclear power plant for the jobs it could create.

Salt Lake Tribune: Hearing on proposed Utah nuke plant zeroes in on water needs – A proposed nuclear power plant that could be built just outside this Emery County town in southern Utah would provide more than 1,000 long-term, high-paying jobs.

Deseret News: Water hearing today for proposed Emery County plant – Protests sparked by a plan to divert river water for a new nuclear reactor in Emery County will be reviewed at a hearing Tuesday.

Drought Monitor:

Water News Roundup – January 11, 2010

Salt Lake Tribune:

More dreary days ahead – The prospect of more pollution-filled days along the Wasatch Front next week is worrisome.  First, snowpack totals in northern Utah are about half of normal, causing water managers grief.

Herbert pulling back on water deal – Hand-delivered letters from elected officials in Salt Lake and Millard counties to Gov. Gary Herbert this week apparently have persuaded him to delay signing a Snake Valley water-sharing agreement between Utah and Nevada.

Salt Lake Tribune – Editorial: Don’t sign, Governor – Gov. Gary Herbert apparently has decided to sign off on the proposed Snake Valley water agreement with Nevada. We join the Utah Medical Association, officials of Salt Lake and Millard counties, and members of the Snake Valley Aquifer Advisory Council in urging him not to do it.

KSL:

Water watchers wishing for more snowpack – Utah’s water watchers are warning that this winter is stacking up to be a relatively mild one, which means a meager snowpack. With no big storms on the horizon, the chances of turning that around are slim.

Governor delays signing Utah-Nevada water-sharing pact – Gov. Gary Herbert has delayed signing a water-sharing agreement between Utah and Nevada for Snake Valley.

Deseret News: Water hearing set for proposed nuclear power plant – Protests sparked by a plan to divert river water for a new nuclear reactor in Emery County will be reviewed at a hearing next Tuesday.  The plan calls for the diversion of 53,600 acre-feet of water for use at the nuclear facility planned by Blue Castle Holdings.

New York Times – Environment: Water conservation could limit suburban lawns – …But now a 2006 state law, designed to conserve water by altering landscaping practices, is taking effect, and the changes that began three decades ago are likely to accelerate. One proposal being considered in Menlo Park could restrict lawns on new or reconfigured landscapes to no more than 500 square feet per dwelling unit or to no more than 25 percent of the landscaped area, whichever is larger….