Colorado Mesa University's Water Center held an event last Saturday night that drew about 300 people to see the film "The Great Divide" and discuss issues. The documentary provides a great history of water development in Colorado which ultimately impacts 18 other states in the US as headwaters run on both sides of the Continental Divide. With future populations increasing, water supplies will continue to be in greater demand and East Slope areas will likely exercise their water rights to draw more water out of West Slope basins. The need for education is the one thing that everyone can agree on and the hope is that negotiated settlements rather than legal battles will prevail.
East Coast Floods are in the news and West Coast Drought Continues
Our hearts go out to all life tragically affected by the raging floods currently focused in South Carolina. We also stay mindful of the prolonged four year drought on the west coast focused in California. Check out Pacific Institutes website on the drought and low reservoir levels.
A Walk for Water
Yesterday, about 50 people in Grand Junction took a walk for water. A 12-year old girl organized the event to raise awareness and donations for people who must walk daily for access to water. The event took place at the campus of Colorado Mesa University and it was great to see younger children inspiring college students and adults. The international group Unbound.org is sponsoring children in 12 impoverished countries. Here is the TV news broadcast about the local event.
Comments submitted on the Colorado Water Plan
Here are the comments that I've submitted on the Colorado Water Plan:
Thank you Governor Hickenlooper and the Colorado Water Conservation Board for creating the state's first strategic plan for water. The Colorado Water Plan makes great strides towards addressing problems and solutions to our obvious water deficits in the arid western United States. However, the plan needs to be much stronger with urgent actions now. For example, the Introduction (page 4) section on "Why Do We Need a Water Plan?" gives the appearance that we have a future resource problem (rather than a current problem) by projecting shortfalls out to the year 2050 of 500,000 acre-feet/year statewide.
The truth is that the western U.S. and Mexico are in serious trouble now. Coloradans depend on food from California. Due to the 4-year drought, many crops are withering and our food supply is threatened nationwide. We also depend on reliable hydroelectric supply from Lake Powell and Lake Mead. Current water demand is greater than supply so as lake levels further decline this will have a greater impact on the Colorado River - I did not see these topics mentioned in the Colorado Water Plan.
When Governor Brown in California declared a statewide emergency this year with a call to action by reducing water use by 25%, I've closely watched the response here in the Western Slope. To my surprise many people complained about the wet May and abundance of mosquitoes and weeds. To my astonishment, the Daily Sentinel quoted the Grand Junction Rockies manager concerned the rains in July discouraged attendance with the headline "Rain, Rain Go Away!" It also appears the local legislators want to fight the plan rather than conserve.
I've taken videos of businesses watering lawns in the rain, watering during the hottest part of the day instead of the evening or early morning, and over watering onto streets. Can the Colorado Water Plan provide incentives and enforcement actions for proper water use?
This May, I started a website blog at www.conserve-prosper.com to promote educational awareness and eventually the hope of a productive business to facilitate beautiful xeriscapes, conservation with water audits, and improving water supplies and quality.
The Colorado Water Plan describes an action for Municipal Water Conservation and Efficiency as, "explore a tax credit for outdoor conservation practices..." Can the plan offer tax credits now? If not, by what date can we expect incentives to go into effect? Likewise, more metrics are needed to gauge accountability.
My neighborhood in the Redlands community of Grand Junction is on Ute municipal water supply with xeriscape requirements. However, there is no enforcement and most people still want to plant grass! At my home with our drip irrigation and native plants, we use about 3,000 gallons per month in the summer while people who've planted grass may use 30,000 gallons per month or more. If people are given the choice between lawns and food, I think most rational people would agree to plant less turf. The problem is that most people have an irrational fear of 'use it or lose it.' The Colorado Water Plan could provide a much better rational for the urgency of needing to work together to solve our common problems.
Previously, I've lived in Las Vegas and Albuquerque (working as a hydrologist) - both cities are models for water conservation programs. Can the Colorado Water Plan review and adopt some of the important lessons learned from other desert communities such as lawn buyback programs?
I will be happy to provide more ideas and insights!
Sincerely,
Bill Dam
News from the 2015 Colorado River District Water Seminar
At the annual Colorado River District water seminar held on September 10th, we heard numerous speakers discuss the essential need to conserve. The western U.S. is close to a crisis as the demand for water is greater than the supply! As Lake Powell and Mead reservoirs decline, we are approaching the minimum levels needed to generate hydroelectric power. Water availability affects rural and urban areas, agriculture, and the environment. These issues are interconnected and we must work together to resolve our conflicts.
Here is the Grand Junction's Daily Sentinel article on the conference.
People in Australia can buy and sell shares of the nation's water supply!
Here is an NPR story about the Australian model for conservation and trading water stocks!
How Precious is Water? Just ask the Navajo Water Lady or contact me!
Here is an amazing CBS news story about the struggles of the Navajo People who rely totally on groundwater. No running water and indoor plumbing. They must store water outside. Luckily many Navajo people have a saintly woman to deliver water they call the Water Lady.
Can you imagine what life must be like relying on only 7 gallons of water per day? That is like only flushing a standard toilet twice per day. That's it - all you get for drinking, cooking, washing, etc!
Click here to see the full story!
When I worked for the U.S. Geological Survey on the Navajo Reservation conducting surveys of water resources, we found that groundwater was in very deep formations and the quality of water changed depending upon location. Water is very precious - especially on the reservation!
For more information on the water quality of San Juan Basin aquifers, check out some of my old USGS reports (there are over a dozen) or contact me at info@conserve-prosper.com.
Geochemistry of the San Juan Basin
Conservation "Shade" Balls added to protect Los Angeles reservoirs
Yesterday, Los Angeles completed a $36 million project to deploy 96 million plastic balls on a reservior to conserve water and protect water quality. Estimates are that the balls will save 300 million gallons per year and comply with new EPA standards for preventing sunlight reacting with chlorine in drinking water that produces carcinogens.
Here are some news clips:
Will Mesa County comply or fight the Colorado Water Plan?
The Colorado Water Plan proposes a reduction of 400,000 acre-feet of water by the year 2050. In the more familiar terms of gallons, 1 acre-foot of water equals 325,851 gallons; therefore, 400,000 acre-feet equals 130 billion gallons!
How can Coloradans save this much water in the future as one of the fastest growing states (recall they legalized pot sales) and climate change makes for more extreme weather conditions including severe droughts?
To save this much water Colorado would need to reduce the population, based on my calculations, by over 3 million people! So the fight will be over water for people vs. Mesa County agriculture - we have prolific orchards for grapes, peaches, and many other fruits.
This blog is promoting active conservation as does the Colorado Water Plan. Mesa County does encourage voluntary dry landscaping in land use planning. However, in my opinion we need to have much more conversation statewide on how we are going to meet the needs of the state and downstream users.
Do you want to save money on electricity bills?
There are many ways to save money on electricity bills. The simplest and most important thing we can do is replace the central air filters often. Are you using Energy Star appliances and LED lighting?
In our area of the Redlands, Colorado, people like to see the night sky and many people make an effort to turn off lights at night. Not only can we see the stars, we are also saving money and helping to reduce pollution from electric generation!
An energy audit to find where hot or cold air is being lost is available to homes and businesses, so give us a call to find out how you can save money at Conserve & Pro$per LLC (970-260-8915).
Open comment period on Colorado Water Plan until September 17th
The Colorado Water Plan is open for public comment for about six (6) more weeks. Here a brief description provided by the Colorado Water Conservation Board:
People love Colorado: our population ballooned from 1 million in 1930, to over 5 million today, and is projected to grow even faster in the future. So how do we ensure that we are able to preserve what we know and love about our state alongside population growth? When it comes to our water, Colorado’s Water Plan has answers. This plan offers a strategic vision: a productive economy that supports vibrant and sustainable cities, productive agriculture, a strong environment, and a robust recreation industry. How can we achieve this vision for Colorado water? This plan provides the strategies, policies, and actions by which Colorado can address its projected future needs in a manner consistent with this vision. This plan will be accomplished through collaboration with basin roundtables, local governments, water providers, and other stakeholders. It represents a set of collaboratively developed policies and actions that all Coloradans and their elected officials can support and to which they can adhere.
Not only is Colorado River water in great demand in the western U.S., there are statewide conflicts between the East Slope (including the Denver area) and the West Slope (including Grand Junction). Currently, over a half a million acre-feet of water is diverted each year from the West Slope to go to the East Slope according to news reports. Future diversions will need to increase as the population is booming in the Denver area which will continue to put more pressure on West Slope to conserve.
In my opinion, rather than West Slope supporters demanding that no more water be provided to East Slope users, which will be a losing battle due to voter populations, the entire state needs to adopt strict conservation measures taken by many other cities. For example, the tremendous waste of water in the West Slope is astounding to me after having lived in Las Vegas. Here is an updated video taken at the same location as shown on the July 17th blog where the mortuary business watered grass during a rain storm! I've also noticed they routinely water at 9:30 am and 5:00 pm. By contrast, the City of Grand Junction Parks and Recreation sets irrigation to occur between 10 pm and 6 am to limit loss by evapotranspiration and growth of disease. Rain moisture sensors are used to obtain the proper amount of irrigation water. So far, the business has not responded to my email offering them free advice on proper irrigation techniques.
Today's paper says 'Colorado is out of the drought' -- so does that mean we have plenty of water to waste?
Today's newspaper in Grand Junction, Colorado front page headlines:
"State out of drought, experts say
Wet weather won't last meteorologists reminds us"
Despite the headlines, the local water managers say, "...in a desert, water is gold and that's still true, drought or no drought..."
Look for yourself how some people treat this precious resource - I caught this video this morning at of all places, I kid you not, a mortuary! Look how the water is spraying around onto the pavement and into the air to evaporate. One problem is overpressurized sprayers in an attempt to cover such a large area of grass. Here are some great tips to correct irrigation problems from the Alliance of Water Efficiency.
"Are ya takin' a Submarine shower or a Hollywood shower?"
Growing up my Dad would tell us kids if he heard the shower running for more than a minute, "Are you taking a Submarine shower or a Hollywood shower?" He spent his career in the Navy so he knew all about taking quick showers. He would tell us to get wet, turn the shower off, lather up, and rinse. I think the record time for the family was 30 seconds of water use. Usually we felt good to get a minute in the shower. Now a Hollywood shower obviously lasted longer - 2 or 5 minutes. So there is an immediate savings in time for people on the go but how much money can you save by conserving heated water? As water rates continue to rise faster than inflation: save water, time, and money!
Test your shower flow rate - at our house the shower allows about 6 liters/minute or 1.6 gallons/minute of water to flow out. So a 1 minute shower per day uses this amount but doing the math for a month (48 gallons) or a year (584 gallons) per person really adds up. Likewise a 5 minute shower would use about 240 gallons/month and 2,885 gallons/year for each person in our family.
EPA recommends to buy shower heads with the WaterSense label that use less than 2 gpm.
Here is information from the EPA website:
Water–Efficient Showerheads
Showering is one of the leading ways we use water in the home, accounting for nearly 17 percent of residential indoor water use—for the average family, that adds up to nearly 40 gallons per day. That’s nearly 1.2 trillion gallons of water used in the United States annually just for showering, or enough to supply the water needs of New York and New Jersey for a year!
WaterSense Savings
The average family could save 2,900 gallons per year by installing WaterSense labeled showerheads. Since these water savings will reduce demands on water heaters, they will also save energy. In fact, the average family could save more than 370 kilowatt hours of electricity annually, enough to power a house for 13 days.
On a national scale, if every home in the United States installed WaterSense labeled showerheads, we could save more than $2.2 billion in water utility bills and more than 260 billion gallons of water annually. In addition, we could avoid about $2.6 billion in energy costs for heating water.
Baseball manager wants rain to go away - Tell him "Rain is a Good Thing!" 50-50 chance of rain for the 2015 All Star Game in Cincinnati!
The 2015 All Star baseball game will be held in Cincinnati tomorrow night. I read that there is a 50% chance of rain for the game. If it does rain, will people cheer or complain? Perhaps it is understandable that some people do not like rain delays, but in the spirit of our "National Past Time" representing all of the United States (or perhaps the World), let's think about all the places where rain is needed and sing "Rain is a Good Thing."
Several major league baseball teams are taking steps to conserve water due to the drought.
Here in Grand Junction, Colorado, the general manager of the GJ Rockies - a rookie team of the Colorado Rockies, is complaining about the rain! Although we've received about 7 inches of rain so far this year (only 2.5 inches more than normal), the story in the paper this weekend was:
Rain, rain go away: Wet weather postpones another GJ Rockies game
According to The Daily Sentinel, rain postponed GJ Rockies games three days in a row. But the teams made the best of of it, "with card games, music, and even a little dancing in the clubhouse."
At the All Star Game, can we make a request for hearing the hit song:
"Rain is a good thing” by Luke Bryan
Which is the Most Endangered River in America?
Of all the rivers to choose from in America, can you guess which one is the most in danger of running dry? Here is a hint, it currently flows through nine (9) National Parks. Let National Geographic show you how and where this mighty river is drying up. For us in the arid west, we all can all help by conserving water: taking shorter showers and installing drip irrigation with native plants. Conservation Colorado and other groups have many activities and events to join.
CBS news reports that not only is this river drying up in America, groundwater depletion is occurring at an alarming rate - an estimated thirteen (13) trillion gallons in a decade. Obviously this is not sustainable.
Does this river make it to the ocean? No, not in the past 50 years - see what affect this is having on the people and the environment as documented by Alexandra Cousteau in a short film Death of a River. She says it would only take increasing the river flow by 1% to enable the river to return to the ocean.
The Nature Conservancy partnered with government scientists to conduct a pulse flow experiment to return water flow to this endangered River!
In future blogs, let's explore how we can contribute to the campaign of returning rivers to the ocean! Contact us at ConserveProsper@gmail.com to find out how we can join together to take action now.
Having a blast while it lasts
This boy is getting drenched by sprinklers while jumping on a trampoline.
Will Las Vegas run out of water?
While the demand for water increases and supply decreases due to droughts and other causes in the Colorado River basin, Las Vegas is a model for water recycling that many other cities will need to follow in the future. Water recycling is a process to collect and treat waste water that is returned to Lake Mead. The lake supplies 90 percent of the valley’s water and is in critical condition due to 15 years of drought dropping the lake to 38 percent of capacity.
So to help make sure Vegas can continue to quench it's thirst, the Southern Nevada Water District proposes to build a 250-mile pipeline from rural northern Nevada to claim groundwater from the Spring Valley. Efforts to take water from Utah farmers were thwarted.
So it's a very safe bet that Vegas will have adequate water supply but prices will continue to rise. You get billed for every gallon of water you use so think about shutting off the water while you brush your teeth. It’ll save you some money!
Drought in western U.S. affecting 58 million people! Where are we on the Hydro-Illogical Cycle?
© National Drought Mitigation Center
Western U.S. Drought Map and Hydro-Illogical Cycle
According to the National Drought Mitigation Center: "drought is a protracted period of deficient precipitation resulting in extensive damage to crops, resulting in loss of yield." The current drought will affect over 58 million people directly: "Record heat and dryness over the region this week as well as over the last month has quickly deteriorated conditions in many areas after a wet May."
As the map clearly shows, California -- which seems to be getting most of the media attention -- is not the only state where the effects of the drought are being felt.
The Hydro-Illogical Cycle depicts drought as a slow-moving natural disaster which may not get much attention until extreme conditions cannot be ignored any longer.
The Water Cycle and Why We Must Conserve
Nature's water cycle is very important to understand and is being broken due to many causes which we will explore in future blogs.
Grass is Dead - What to do? Don't paint the dirt green! Plant Lavender or other native plants.
How do you feel about people painting their dirt green? I've got to see this to believe it -- check out this Wall Street Journal article.
So where does this painted dirt go when it does rain - out to ocean or San Francisco Bay?
In Grand Junction, we love lavender - the wonderful aroma, calming essential oil, and we even have lavender ice cream which is delicious and meditative!
Here are some links to the upcoming festival and how to grow lavender:
5th Annual Lavender Festival of Western Colorado on July 10-12, 2015