Water News Roundup – April 20, 2010

The Spectrum: Winning water bottled in Beaver – Tushar Mountain Bottling, Inc. has two products available for purchase as proof and was an indirect winner named as “Best Bottled Water in the World” during the 20th Annual Berkeley Springs International Water Tasting contest in February. (Anybody tried the water in Beaver?  Is it all that?  Something tells me this doesn’t bode well for the aquifer.)

Ogden Standard Examiner:  Snow tonight as winter hangs on – A spring storm will blow into Utah late tonight and Wednesday, dumping 6 to 12 inches of new snow on the Wasatch Mountains, rain in the valleys, and causing hazardous driving conditions in mountain passes Wednesday evening.

Las Vegas Sun: State appoints new engineer on water issues – The state of Nevada has appointed Jason King as the new state engineer. King is an engineer and has worked for the Division of Water Resources for more than 19 years.

New York Times – Science: Calculating water use, direct and indirect – Your household water meter only tells part of the story — what was directly used for washing, cooking and other tasks. But what about the water that was used to grow the food you ate for dinner? Or to manufacture the book you bought or the gasoline your car burned?

Researchers at Carnegie Mellon University have estimated this kind of direct and indirect water use — not for households, but for American industries. Their goal was to create a tool for better assessing the impact on water use of decisions made up and down the industrial supply chain, just as one might assess cost or carbon footprint.

Technorati Tags: Beaver,bottled water,Nevada state engineer,precipitation forecast,snowpack,water footprint,water usage

Water News Roundup – April 5, 2010

Salt Lake Tribune:

Utah county leaders OK trail funds – The Murdock Canal Trail is planned for the strip left exposed once the canal — a drowning hazard in the past — is enclosed in pipe. It will include one path serving walkers and cyclists and a separate path for horses. It also will have rest areas with restrooms, picnic tables and parking lots, all for a cost of $17.3 million.

Travel perks will dry up in water districts – Your water bill still might pay for an occasional golf outing, but it no longer will go toward spousal perks that some Salt Lake County water districts once included on their travel tabs.

Salt Lake Tribune – Editorial: No Utah Lake Bridge – The proposed private toll bridge bisecting our public treasure, Utah Lake, is a bad idea that is being evaluated in an inadequate, flawed process. The bridge is neither needed nor wanted. It benefits a few developers at the expense of our health, our well-being and the lake’s viability.

Ogden Standard Examiner: Water worries ease a bit in Northern Utah – Utah’s water managers love it. After a dry fall followed by a so-so winter and now a dry spring, the snow is a welcome addition that has boosted Top of Utah’s snow pack to nudging 70 percent of normal.

Deseret News: Federal water projects impact residents – Living in a federal construction project along 400 East is fun for the kids but extra work for Jennifer Soter.

“It’s mostly muddy, and on warm days, it’s dusty,” the Springville homemaker said.

Soter’s block was among those torn up by construction crews in January to begin laying a 60-inch water pipe to carry pressurized Strawberry Reservoir water from Diamond Fork Canyon to Salt Lake County.

Technorati Tags: diamond fork pipeline,Murdock Trail,precipitation forecast,Springville,Utah Lake,Utah Lake bridge,water districts

Water News Roundup – February 16, 2010

Deseret News:

Murdock Canal Trail finally moving forward – It’s been 14 years since Utah County Commissioner Larry Ellertson first started working on the Murdock Canal Trail project.

Ecology study ordered for sports complex plan – Panned by local environmentalists, a plan to build a multimillion-dollar sports complex along the Jordan River must first pass muster with ecologists, Mayor Ralph Becker’s administration announced Thursday.

Environmentalists seek alternatives to proposed bridge over Utah Lake – Western Utah County residents may have two future options to travel east: over land or over water.  About 25 people from the Utah Lake Sailing Club, including representatives from the Sierra Club and the Utah Lake Commission, met in the Utah Lake State Park visitors center Thursday night to discuss alternatives to a proposed bridge over Utah Lake.

KSL:

Despite poor snowpack, water supply still in good shape – Many in Northern Utah woke up to a surprise snowstorm Thursday morning and to headlines about the incredible snowfalls on the East Coast.  It’s ironic, then, that snowpack numbers in Northern Utah are grim and almost certain to stay below normal the rest of the year.

KSL investigates spending by Kearns Improvement District – The Kearns Improvement District serves more than 13,000 customers — providing clean water and maintaining sewer systems.

Salt Lake Tribune:

Project to reduce mercury in lakes gets good review – Toxic mercury makes the wipers in Newcastle Reservoir too dangerous to eat.  And, while scientists might not know why the popular fishing spot is so polluted, they think they might have a means of dramatically reducing the danger levels.

Bear Lake Commission may be eliminated – A loss of funding could force the dissolution of the 40-year-old Bear Lake Regional Commission.  The cross-state commission is comprised of city and county officials from Bear Lake-area communities in Utah and Idaho. It runs on about $100,000 annually, with both states providing about half the funding.

Technorati Tags: Kearns Improvement District,Utah Lake,Utah Lake bridge,Murdock Canal,Provo Reservoir Enclosure Project,snowpack,precipitation forecast,Bear Lake,Bear Lake Commission,mercury,Newcastle Reservoir,water quality

Water Supply Outlook – 2010

On the snow forecasting front, here is a link to Brian McInerney’s Water Supply Outlook.  It’s a great, narrated PowerPoint presentation.  Brian presents his forecast every year for the National Weather Service.

Another popular snowpack assessment by Randy Julander, our esteemed Snow Survey Supervisor from the NRCS, can be found here:  Randy’s Presentation.

Technorati Tags: water supply,hydrology,snowpack,precipitation forecast

Water News Roundup – February 9, 2010

Daily Herald:

Snowpack way below normal, reservoir levels ok – Don’t let the sun, the blue sky and the comparatively warm temperatures fool you. It’s just one of the many personalities of Utah winter.

Murdock Canal trail may be in jeopardy – On Tuesday, Highland may have cast aside years of work by many cities hoping to build a 21-mile regional trail.

Salt Lake Tribune: Runoff looks lean in N. Utah – Winter storms have dumped on southwestern Utah but skimped in the north, and it appears the spring runoff, for now, will do the same.

Now that it’s (almost) legal to catch rainwater in Utah, it’s time to learn how to do it…

Water. Use it Wisely – Arizona: Harvesting Rainwater for your landscape – Rainfall amounts may be minimal here in the low desert, but harvesting rainwater to channel to your landscape plants can be well worth the effort…

Water News Roundup – January 20, 2010

KSL: Optimistic ruling won’t hurt water deal – Colorado’s top water official is optimistic that a setback to a California water conservation plan won’t derail an agreement affecting the use of Colorado River by six other states in the West.

Salt Lake Tribune:

States walk fine line with law of the river – Question: Could Wyoming or Utah block a Colorado entrepreneur’s plan to pipe Green River water to Denver?

Colorado proposal stirs water fears –  A big gulp of the little stream that splits these sagebrush prairies might take a $3 billion detour across the Great Divide and into Colorado’s bullish future.

Salt Lake Tribune – Editorial: Guv and Snake Valley – The National Parks Conservation Association commends Gov. Gary Herbert for stepping back and taking a thoughtful approach to the proposed Snake Valley water-sharing agreement with Nevada.

Ogden Standard Examiner: Water totals should be up by the end of the week – Top of Utah snow totals as of Tuesday morning were no better than a week before, which sounds odd considering how much it snowed and rained Monday.