Denver cuts water use in drive to convert wasters to savers
Denver resident Peggy Chiu has squelched water waste in her four-person household: Xeriscape instead of lawn, low-flow toilets and washer, turning off taps while brushing.
Denver cuts water use in drive to convert wasters to savers
Denver resident Peggy Chiu has squelched water waste in her four-person household: Xeriscape instead of lawn, low-flow toilets and washer, turning off taps while brushing.
She and her husband, Kevin, honed water-saving habits while working in Honduras. When they rinse fruit or refresh the dogs’ water dish, they catch the wastewater and pour it on plants.
Denver uses sewer scope to detect blockages in wastewater system
Denver’s wastewater system endures the municipal equivalent of a continual colonoscopy — snaking robot cameras inspecting every turn of the massive sewer system. Last week, the examination prevented a catastrophe.
The cameras caught two exceptionally large blockages that threatened to back up sewage and foul the Sand Creek greenway.
Aquifer wells in Douglas County challenge renewable-water strategies
CASTLE ROCK — Deep wells are being drilled to tap 1.5 million acre-feet of water under the Greenland open space in Douglas County, a potentially game-changing project at a time when south-metro communities are scrambling to reduce their dependence on underground aquifers.
Risk of lawsuits preventing cleanup of abandoned mines in Colorado
MONTEZUMA — Colorado mining authorities have dug through a mountainside and reopened the dark granite shaft of an abandoned mine that turned deadly — trying to find options for dealing with one of the West’s worst environmental problems.
The Pennsylvania Mine, perched above timberline, discharges an acidic orange stream moving 181 pounds per day of toxic metals into Peru Creek and the Snake River, which flow into Denver Water’s Dillon Reservoir.
The poisoning of the watershed has gone on for more than 60 years.
Court blocks Sterling Ranch development citing water supply
A judge has reversed Douglas County’s approval of the $4.3 billion Sterling Ranch development of 12,050 new homes.
The reason: failure to line up enough water.
County commissioners are livid, vowing an appeal
Feds prepare to open South Park for drilling near metro water source
FAIRPLAY — The federal Bureau of Land Management is preparing to open South Park — metro Denver’s main water source — to oil and gas drilling.
But Aurora Water, local authorities and conservationists are pushing back, demanding careful planning before any land is leased.
Hickenlooper to Obama: Colorado faces gap in water supplies
Driven by drought, Gov. John Hickenlooper is urging President Barack Obama and federal engineers to speed decisions on proposed water projects designed to sustain urban growth.
Wildfire: Red slurry’s toxic dark side
The hundreds of thousands of gallons of red slurry that air tankers are dropping on Colorado forests to shield mountain houses from wildfires has a downside: It is toxic. Laced with ammonia and nitrates, it has the potential to kill fish and taint water supplies.
Federal authorities say they’re implementing new rules prohibiting application of fire-retardant chemicals within 600 feet of waterways. Air tanker pilots and crew commanders now are required to carry maps that identify sensitive terrain — such as areas where greenback cutthroat trout and Pawnee montane skipper butterflies are monitored as sentinel species.
Colorado wastewater project at risk from Suncor refinery toxic plume
An underground plume of toxic petrochemicals spreading from Suncor Energy’s oil refinery in Commerce City is complicating a $211 million upgrade at the adjacent Metro Wastewater Treatment Plant — work that must be completed on schedule to meet water-quality requirements.
A journalist and lawyer, Bruce Finley has investigated local, national and international issues with on-site reporting in more than 40 countries. In his position as a staff writer for the Denver Post, he is focusing on environment-related news including water challenges, the oil and gas boom and wildfire.
