Colorado
$600 million water system underway to circumvent radioactive elements in southeastern Colorado
Construction is underway for an ambitious water delivery project in southeastern Colorado that is overdue by 60 years and, despite pledges totaling almost a quarter billion dollars, is not even half paid for.
But if successfully completed, the pipeline system will bring drinkable water to 50,000 residents who live in an area where water quality suffers from naturally occurring radioactive materials.
Currently, the water quality in the Arkansas Valley between Pueblo and Lamar is generally poor. The surface water there often contains harmful organisms and pollutants, according to the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation. The possible solutions for these communities – facilities treating water via reverse-osmosis, ion exchange and filtration, or bottled water – are more expensive and problematic for the locals than the project’s current $600 million price tag, in the agency’s opinion.
Digging underground wells would be a solution, but for the harmful amounts of uranium and radium. These are radionuclides, a class of chemicals where the nucleus of the atom is unstable. These are natural products from ancient marine sediments which the river cuts through.
In addition, the established irrigation systems have contributed to contamination. A 2021 study found agricultural development along the river, which uses diverted river water and shallow wells for irrigation, drains dangerous sediments back in the river.
“This shallow return flow groundwater system eventually discharges directly to the surface flow of the Arkansas River and its tributaries,” wrote the study’s participants.
These elements are concern for other downstream users as well. Kansas authorities have measured increasing levels of uranium in the Arkansas since 2012 just across the Colorado state line in Coolidge.
Ground was broken in 2020 for the Arkansas Valley Conduit. That year, Congress appropriated $28 million toward it. This supported the $30 million the Bureau of Reclamation had received over the previous nine years.
RELATED Construction Begins On Pipeline To Deliver Water To 40 Colorado Communities (2020)
The funding faucet has gradually opened since, with money flowing forth in larger amounts:
- From 2021 through 2023, Reclamation funded $31.5 million for the AVC through regular appropriations.
- In 2022, the AVC received $60 million from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.
- In 2023, the AVC received $100 million from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.
RELATED Colorado’s U.S. Senators celebrate funding to secure clean water for part of southeastern Colorado (2022)
In mid-January, Colorado congressman again pleaded with the sitting president for continued funding.
A 2016 congressional report put the total cost of the project then at $400 million. But the Colorado Water Conservancy Board’s latest estimate is $600 million. That 2022 estimate takes into account the Bureau of Reclamation’s projected 2035 completion date, but the conservancy board pointed out a possible expedited completion of the main pipeline, called the trunk, and hoped to finish work at the end of 2028.
The trunk line will extend from water treatment plants immediate east of Pueblo Reservoir. It will be 30 inches in diameter at this early stage. Much of the trunk will lie adjacent to State Highway 50 for 130 miles. By the time it reaches Lamar, it will be 16 inches in diameter.
Between those two points, about 100 miles of spur line, or smaller delivery line, will bring water directly to 39 local water systems. Final designs for the spur lines are expected to be approved at the end of 2024.
Work began last spring on the trench for the trunk line.
It is hoped the system will deliver 7,500 acre-feet of water per year.
The project was initially approved in 1962 as the eastern portion of the Fryingpan-Arkansas Project. President John F. Kennedy celebrated the legislation in Pueblo that summer.
For the next 18 years, the federal government and its partners built five major dams, 22 water tunnels, 16 diversion dams and three power plants.
The plan to construct lines beyond Pueblo Reservoir fell apart when it was determined the local agencies could not fund 100 percent of that build.
Going forward, the feds and local plan to split the costs. The current formula: federal government 65%, local and state agencies, 35%. That 35 percent will be repaid by the project’s beneficiaries over 50 years.
Colorado
Colorado mother says Lakewood crash killed son, left 2 of her children critically injured as driver is arrested
A mother is grieving after a crash in the Denver metro area last weekend left her son brain-dead and two of her other children fighting for their lives.
Lakewood police say 22-year-old Andrew Logan Miller has been arrested in connection with the crash, which happened Dec. 6 around 7:30 p.m. near Kipling Parkway and West 6th Avenue.
Police say Miller was driving an SUV southbound on Kipling Parkway at a high rate of speed when it collided with a bus carrying a wrestling team from Central High School, which is located in Grand Junction in Mesa County.
Sixteen people were taken to hospitals.
Among the injured were three siblings who were riding inside the SUV.
On Friday, their mother, Suleyma Gonzalez, identified them as Julio Gonzalez, 18, Analelly Gonzalez, 17, and Christopher Gonzalez, 14.
Analelly and Christopher remain in critical condition. Julio will never wake up.
“I didn’t want to believe it, until they had to do the second testing where they didn’t find blood going through his brain,” she said. “My other two are in comas.”
Gonzalez said doctors ultimately declared Julio brain-dead.
She describes her children as disciplined students and ROTC members with plans for the future.
“Two of my kids were going to graduate this year,” she said. “No drugs. No alcohol. They were good kids.”
Gonzalez confirmed that Miller, who was driving the SUV at the time of the crash, was her daughter’s boyfriend.
“I know he loved my daughter,” she said. “I don’t think he did this on purpose or intentionally. It was an accident.”
Police say the investigation is ongoing, but believe speed played a major role in the crash.
Miller was arrested Wednesday night and is facing multiple charges, including:
• Vehicular assault (7 counts)
• Speeding 40 mph or more over the limit
• Reckless driving
• Child abuse (2 counts)
• Reckless endangerment
“My kids know when you get in somebody’s car, there’s always a risk. Always,” she said.
Julio’s organs will be donated. He’s on life support, while the hospital searches for matches.
“He wanted to give to the world,” she said. “Now that I can’t get him back, we want to give life to somebody else.”
Miller is currently being held in the Denver County Jail and is awaiting transfer to the Jefferson County Jail. His bond and court appearance have not yet been announced.
Lakewood police say the investigation remains active.
Gonzalez, a single mother of five, says her focus now is on her surviving children and getting clarity.
“I just want answers.”
DENVER, Colo. (KKTV) – The Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division announced Thursday a lawsuit against the Colorado Secretary of State for failure to produce state voter information.
Secretary of State Jena Griswold claims the DOJ sent a “broad” request for the voter registration rolls on May 12.
Griswold says her office complied with the request and “shared the publicly available data consistent with applicable law.” However, the lawsuit against Griswold says that her office did not respond to the letter.
Griswold sent a letter in November signed by several Secretaries of State to the DOJ and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) requesting clarification on how the data would be used, but she claims neither replied to the questions in the letter.
The lawsuit goes on to allege that DOJ attorney Eric Neff followed up by emailing Secretary Griswold on Dec. 1, requesting Colorado’s Statewide Voter Registration list.
Griswold said this request asked the office to share unredacted voter data, including a voter’s full name, date of birth, residential address, and complete state driver’s license number or the last four digits of their Social Security number.
Griswold responded by email on Dec. 3, stating, “We received your request. We will not be producing unredacted voter files or signing the MOU,” the complaint alleges.
The lawsuit cites the Civil Rights Act, which gives the United States Attorney General the power to demand the production, inspection, and analysis of the statewide voter registration lists.
The DOJ is requesting a judge to declare that Griswold violated the Civil Rights Act and to order her to provide the current electronic copy of Colorado’s statewide voter registration list.
Griswold’s office released the following statement:
The DOJ released the following statement regarding the lawsuit:
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