Laserfiche WebLink
~FEDERAL AND INTERSTATE~ <br />CRAIG BELL DIES - <br />It is with a sad and heavy heart that I report that Craig Bell, whose name stood <br />for the Western States Water Council, passed away in early June. Craig will always be remembered for <br />his honesty, integrity, and wo rk ethic. I will miss him, but his imprint on western water issues will <br />remain for many years into the future. My heartfelt sympathy goes out to his wife, and the rest of Craig’s <br />family. (Ted Kowalski) <br />SNOWPACK AND WATER SUPPLY ASSESSMENT WITH SNODAS AN D GIS <br />ANALYSIS - <br />The state of Colorado has a compact agreement with New Mexico to deliver a specified <br />amount of water from the Rio Grande and Conejos river systems to the state line. <br />In the past four years, the forecasted seasonal water supply has been o verestimated or underestimated by <br />as much as 24%. Riverside Technology, I nc. (Riverside) is currently working with the Colorado Water <br />Conservation Board (CWCB), the Rio Grande Water Conservation District (RGWCD), and the San Luis <br />Valley Irrigation Distric t (SLVID) to improve snowpack assessment and water supply forecasting for four <br />key water supply basins in the Upper Rio Grande basin in Colorado. Riverside has evaluated gridded <br />snowpack estimates from the Snow Data Assimilation System (SNODAS), a relativ ely new modeling <br />system developed by the National Operational Hydrologic Remote Sensing Center (NOHRSC) to <br />estimate snowpack characteristics for Colorado. <br />The SNODAS estimates snowpack characteristics and fluxes for the U.S. at a one - hour time step and a <br />one - kilometer grid resolution. Riverside developed automated GIS tools to download, process, and <br />analyze this data and make current maps. Maps are created weekly that display current snow water <br />equivalent conditions and weekly sublimation/condensation t erms that are used to asses s the change in <br />snowpack. GIS analysis is used to calculate snowpack volumes for each basin. The maps are useful to <br />visualize the spatial distribution of snow in the Upper Rio Grande basin. A time series of snowpack <br />volumes for each basin is used to assess snowmelt rates, which have been rapid for the 2009 melt season. <br />A cknowledgements: Steve Vandiver (RGWCD), Travis Smith (SLVID), Joe Busto (CWCB), and <br />Michelle Garrison (CWCB). (Tom Browning) <br />USGS 2010 STREAM GAG ING BUDGET UPDATE – <br />On May 21, 2009 the House <br />Appropriations Subcommittee on Interior and Environment interviewed the Acting USGS Director and <br />focused many of its questions on the loss of streamgages, the shifting cost - share burden on non - federal <br />cooperators and the irony of population growth and climate change impacts being concentrated in those <br />parts of the U.S. that are already facing water resource management problems. <br />During the interview, some Subcommittee members supported a suggestion that Congress fund both the <br />Cooperative Water Program (CWP) and National Streamflow Information Program (NSIP) at a faster <br />pace than proposed by the Obama Administration. Currently, the Administration is proposing full <br />funding within a 10 - year period; however, the FY 2010 budg et only called for a nominal $5 million <br />increase to the NSIP program and a $1.5 million increase to the CWP. At this level of funding, it is <br />unlikely that the Administration will ever meet its 10 - year goal. It has been estimated that a fully <br />functioning NSIP would require an annual appropriation of $110 million. In addition, the USGS would <br />need another $95 million to restore its 50:50 cost share match with state, tribal and other non - federal <br />entities. <br />3 <br />CWCB Director’s Report – July 21 - 22, 2009 – Crested Butte, CO <br /> <br />