There was so much going on this week that only a fraction of the happenings made it into blog posts. So, let’s play catch up…

Monday was the monthly meeting of the Mesa County Democratic Executive Committee. Because of a glitch in moving our E-mail provider from one program to another, notices went out late, and barely a quorum showed up. These meetings are open to all membership, although only members of the executive committee are allowed to vote on matters. Check out the newly redesigned Mesa DEMS homepage, and see what is coming up. We usually have a lot of fun when we get together.

Link to DEMS website

Thursday a group of people visited Scott Tipton’s office to ask him to reconsider his vote to support subsidies for the oil and gas industry. Several of us stood around in the rain holding signs for the press, then went up to Tipton’s office, where we met with one member of his staff while the second member hid in the men’s room. For me the most amusing part was when the staffer tried to tell us that Scott Tipton was not a typical politician because he even has the Republican leadership pissed at him. Then he asked if we had looked at his voting record, pointing out that Tipton voted against the continuing resolution. Clearly the staffer is used to arguing with members of the Tea Party because every one of us said we had looked at Tipton’s voting record. I’m afraid I was a bit unladylike when I said that he votes like an idiot.

Page A4 of Free Press Has Picture of Protesters

I'll Never Understand Republican Thinking

Democratic Petition Asking to End Big Oil Subsidies

Thursday Evening there was a State of the River Presentation at City Hall.  This presentation is now viewing at various times at Channel 12. The first speaker was Erik Knight of the Bureau of Reclamation, who told us that Colorado River snowpack is at 193% of average. Somewhat unusual this year was continued accumulation into April and May because of cool temperatures and spring storms. This is a good news bad news story. The good news is that water will be replaced in down river storage dams, like Lake Powell and Lake Mead. The bad news is that there will be flooding along the Colorado River when weather warms and the snow begins melting.

Then people who have been working on the Colorado River Cooperative Agreement Proposal discussed the proposal, and the steps needed for approval. This is a proposal that has already been in the discussion stage for at least six years, so it is a really big deal—a favorite phrase of Dick Proctor, Mesa County’s outgoing representative—to be replaced by Steve Acquafresca.

 Eric Kuhn, who has 30 years of experience watching the Colorado River then spoke, reminding us that 80% of Colorado’s water is on the western slope, while 80% of the population is on the front range. The first trans mountain diversion, back in 1871, was to quench the thirst of a growing front range population, before Colorado even became a state. The Western Slope interests in this proposed agreement included:

·         Streamflow protection and restoration (more water in streams in Grand and Summit Counties);

·         Water for future consumptive use;

·         Preserve Shoshone flow regimes (ensures water delivery downstream even if the power plant is not running);

·         Front Range conservation and reuse of water;

·         Clarity about Denver’s water service area;

·         Limits on future water projects without cooperation of all signatories to the agreement.

Jim Lockhead then spoke about the role played by Denver water in the proposed Agreement, followed by Mark Hermundstad a local water attorney discussing some of the still unresolved language and points. The final speaker was Dick Proctor, who kept reminding us it was a really big deal.

Then at the regular meeting of Friday morning bagel munchers, Glenn Miller, a geologist gave a formal presentation of the challenges and opportunities of oil shale.  He brought guests who had managed previous oil shale prototype projects on “Tract CA” and “Tract CB” in the Piceance Basin.  Short version:

·         the Piceance Basin contains more oil shale than all of Saudi Arabia in approximately 1,000 square miles running north of Parachute, Southwest of Meker and Southeast of Rangely.

·         Currently there are R & D leases that are looking for commercially feasible ways to produce the oil from the shale.

·         Upside is huge. There is as much as 2.5 million to 3 million barles of oil under each acre. In the Mahogany Zone, the average resource is ¾ barrel of oil for each ton of shale. A tone of shale is approximately 3’ X 3’ X 3’. There are 100 Prudo Bays worth of oil in the Piceance Basin.

·         Limitations include water which is governed by the Colorado River Compact, which has been in place since the 1920’s, and not in Colorado’s best interest to renegotiate. The water is needed primarily to cool the shale after it has been treated.

·         There is a “popcorn” factor. When shale is broken into tiny pieces, it takes more space than it otherwise does.

·         Spent shale has environmental problems, mostly related to leaching chemicals into the soil and/or water supply.

·         Current demonstration projects are only concerned with extracting oil, but other products, including aluminum and rare earths are also present. Miller’s opinion is that no shale should be developed until the process recovers all valuable resources contained in the deposits. The only proven methodology to do that is strip mining, which has the potential of delivering huge quantities of cement into the market place also.

No homework today. Enjoy the rest of the week-end. I plan to spend it in my garden with my dog.