Bear Creek mystery: Water testers seek source of E.coli contamination

October 31, 2014 · The Denver Post
By Bruce Finley, Denver Post Staff Writer
Environment, Pollution, Water

Twice a month, Metropolitan State University student biologists David Watson and Stephen Aderholdt have been slogging through contaminated Bear Creek testing the water, at work on a mystery of how its once-pure currents turned foul.

They’ve documented E. coli bacteria levels up to 19 times higher than the state health limit. “Why is there so much E. coli? Where is it coming from?” Aderholdt, 31, said on the banks on a recent Saturday.

While government agencies have done their own testing and in 2008 deemed Bear Creek officially “impaired,” expanding data gathered by the students — trained by the Environmental Protection Agency and a community group called Groundwork Denver — may be crucial in crafting a cleanup plan.

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Chatfield Reservoir water supply project OK’d by feds, faces lawsuit

October 9, 2014 · The Denver Post
By Bruce Finley, Denver Post Staff Writer
Environment, Water

Federal water engineers on Thursday launched the long-planned and controversial Chatfield Reservoir water supply project, closing a deal with Colorado sponsors.

Audubon Society opponents filed a lawsuit in federal court trying to block construction.

A reallocation of the South Platte River water that is captured in the reservoir, created in 1975 for flood control, is expected to add 2.8 billion gallons a year to water supplies.

But the project will inundate 10 percent of the premier state park.

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Iraq Kurds collect history at CU, want ‘new Israel’ Kurdistan

October 1, 2014 · The Denver Post
By Bruce Finley, Denver Post Staff Writer
International, Iraq-related

BOULDER — A Kurdish delegation in Colorado retrieving cached documents detailing Iraqi persecution say Kurdish fighters can provide the increasingly sought ground force to defeat the Islamic State — because this will help Kurds gain independence and be “the next Israel.”

But battle-hardened Kurdish forces, credited with gains in Syria, need better weapons like night vision, artillery, anti-tank, delegation members said Tuesday.

And U.S. officials must realize that trying to keep semi-autonomous Kurdish Iraq as part of a united Iraq ultimately “will fail,” said Woshiar Rasul, an adviser to the governor in Kurds’ main city Sulaymaniyah.

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