In the Rockies today, water continues its run at the top of its page.
In Colorado, the Chaffee County Commission approved Nestle's application for a 10-year deal to pump groundwater out of a riverside aquifer and ship it to its Denver bottling plant.
The deal comes with a list of 44 conditions the company must meet.
The Nevada-Utah deal on Snake Valley groundwater will be voted on today by the Southern Nevada Water Authority, in a rare "up-or-down" vote on whether to continue the preliminary work on the project.
Utah lawmakers aren't happy about the deal, although 52 percent of the Clark County residents recently polled in Nevada said they approve the deal; outside that county, only 13 percent of those polled approved of it.
Today in Headwaters News' Western Perspective, Luther Probst, executive director of the Sonoran Institute, writes about the National Landscape Conservation System.
The Sonoran Institute's recent report "Western Landscapes in the Crossfire: Urban Growth and the National Landscape Conservation System," lays out the challenges and threats to those lands, and makes recommendations about how to address those challenges.
We invite you to read the column and send us your comments.
Rockies today
Interior Dept. finds mercury in every fish tested
Fish taken from 291 streams in the nation tested positive for mercury, even those taken from isolated waterways, a finding that Interior Secretary Ken Salazar said indicates the urgency to address mercury emissions.
USA Today; Aug. 20
Colorado county commission OKs Nestle's water request
The Chaffee County Commission approved Nestle's application to use 200 acre-feet of water — about 65 million gallons -- annually from an aquifer near Buena Vista for its bottled water facility in Denver, and the Colorado county commission attached 44 conditions to the 10-year permit.
Denver Post; Aug. 20
Utah lawmakers unhappy with Snake Valley water deal
Utah Department of Natural Resources Executive Director Mike Styler briefed members of the Utah Legislature's Natural Resources, Agriculture, and Environment Interim Committee on the proposed Snake Valley water deal with Nevada, and several members of the committee said they weren't happy with the deal because it was too heavily weighted in favor of Nevada.
Salt Lake Tribune; Aug. 20
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Poll: Clark County residents like Nevada-Utah water deal
Clark County, home to Las Vegas, is on the receiving end of a water deal under consideration between Nevada and Utah to ship groundwater from the Snake Valley to the Nevada city, and a recent poll found 52 percent of the 400 Clark County residents questioned in favor of the deal; the Southern Nevada Water Authority meets today for an up-or-down vote on the proposal.
Las Vegas Review-Journal; Aug. 20
Colorado U. conducts 2nd annual 'WaterBlitz' in RMNP
Hundreds of volunteers, rangers and researchers fanned out across Rocky Mountain National Park in Colorado on Wednesday to collect water samples for the University of Colorado's second annual WaterBlitz, a program designed to track changes in the park's watershed.
Boulder Daily Camera; Aug. 20
BLM in talks with Nevada ranch over possible wild horse sanctuary
The Winecup Gamble Ranch in northeastern Elko County is in talks with the Bureau of Land Management to create a wild horse sanctuary in the Nevada county.
Elko Daily Free Press; Aug. 20
Montana investigates illegal killing of giant grizzly bear
A rancher discovered the decaying carcass of a grizzly bear known as "Maxiumus" due to its enormous size on Aug. 12 near Dupuyer on the Rocky Mountain Front; the bear had been shot and Montana and federal wildlife officials are investigating the illegal killing of the bear.
Great Falls Tribune; Aug. 20
As cost of living goes down, Colorado's minimum wage may follow
Colorado is one of 10 states--including Arizona, Montana, Nevada, Oregon and Washington--where the minimum wage is linked to inflation, and since the cost of living has gone down 0.6 percent from July 2008 to July 2009, minimum wage workers in that state may see their wages go down as well.
Seattle Times (AP); Aug. 20
Opinion
Lack of fence at Alberta landfill 'poison' for bears
If Alberta wildlife officials were as aggressive about keeping attractants--such
as the unfenced landfill near Conklin--inaccessible by bears as they are about removing bears drawn to such attractants, perhaps the province wouldn't have to deal with such shameful events as the killing of 12 bears, drawn to the unfenced landfill.
Edmonton Journal; Aug. 19
Montana park officials made right decision on grizzly bear
Glacier National Park officials tried again and again to dissuade the grizzly sow from haunting campsites and shadowing hikers on trails in the Montana park, and their decision to remove the 17-year-old bear and put her cubs in a zoo was the only decision they could make.
NewWest.net; Aug. 20
Beyond the region
U.S.'s first geothermal energy project off to a rocky start
The U.S. Department of Energy awarded AltaRock Energy $6.25 million last year for the nation's first crack at developing geothermal energy at a site in Northern California, but the project is off to a slow start--due in part to the cap rock that has proved nearly impossible to penetrate, and concerns that such drilling could trigger seismic activity after a similar project in Switzerland did just that.
New York Times; Aug. 20
Company seeks permit for solar-energy project in Washington county
Teanaway Solar Reserve has applied for a permit to build a 75-megawatt solar farm on privately owned timberland in Washington state's Kittitas County.
Yakima Herald-Republic; Aug. 20
Device allows consumers to make biofuel at home
The inventors of the E-Fuel MicroFueler said the device, which can turn organic feedstock, such as waste wine and beer, into biofuel for vehicles, will pay for itself in about two years, when the federal government's $5,000 tax credit is added into the computation.
Los Angeles Times; Aug. 20
Oregon to side with mercury emitter in federal fight
Ash Grove Cement Co. said it would have to shut down its cement plant near Durkee if it is forced to comply with new federal rules on mercury emissions, and Oregon said it will ask the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to give the Oregon plant--the largest emitter of mercury in the nation--a waiver to allow it to keep operating.
Portland Oregonian; Aug. 20
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