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WATER BRIEFS Missionee Immersible or Esther Vincent, the assignment to update the District's water conservation plan also held a huge challenge. First, she'd have to figure out exactly what water conservation meant. Vincent, a Water Resource Engineer, spent about six weeks in late 2004 talking with District staff members and compiling information. The plan is required by Reclamation every five years and describes the District's resource management and conservation - related activities. It also includes District goals and obstacles it may face. From Irrigation Management Services she learned about ongoing studies as well as efforts to improve efficiency on farmland. From the Public Information Branch came details about water festivals and public outreach about the source of the areas water, as well as how best to conserve at home. Seepage reduction, canal lining and water accounting were all topics from Operations and Maintenance. Everywhere, it seemed, was some connection to water conservation. "For me, it was instructive," Vincent said. "It gave me an overview of what everyone was doing. It showed me how everyone's jobs fit together, how everything we do is interconnected. Things ' make more sense when you see how the pieces fit together." The definition of water conservation was more elusive. "It definitely made me reflect," she said. "I tried to include everything that relates to water conservation. I tried to look at water conservation from all angles." For a copy of the report, contact the District's Records Department, (970)532- 7700. n information management JA system being implemented at the District has already begun to win awards. Hummingbird Enterprises recognized the District's Geographic Information Systems and Information Technology departments for their innovative use of Hummingbird software. IT staff members Joe Clark and Sean Blue were in Miami in February to accept the award. The new system, which is now undergoing tests by the IT and Records departments, allows employees to link records and documents — such as contracts and engineering plans — to NCWCD's geographical information system. The 141 WATERNEWS APRIL 2005 integrated system, once it's going full speed, will simplify how the District manages, publishes and shares information. The District contracted with Denver -based 5280 to install the $700,000 -plus system. For instance, if someone wanted to review the rights -of -way documents for a section of the Southern Water Supply pipeline, it would have meant a visit to Land and Allotments for the documents, Engineering for specifics about the pipeline and GI'S to locate the section. The process of tracking down all the appropriate documents would likely have taken days. Once the new system is fully online, one visit to Records will yield the information electronically in minutes. sually, citizen petitions are em- ployed to get a species onto the endangered species list. More than a year ago, the Coloradans for Water Conservation and Develop- ment, along with the state of Wyoming, initiated the process to officially delist the Preble's meadow jumping mouse. In January, 13 months after its submis- sion, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service accepted the petition and took the first steps to delist the mouse. The public is allowed to comment until May, although a final decision isn't expected until 2006. CWCD is a non profit corporation that promotes respon- sible conservation and the development of water resources. Among its members: the Denver Metro Chamber of Com- merce, the Colorado Farm Bureau, and Colorado Association of Home Builders. If the mouse is delisted, CWCD spokeswoman Jeani Frickey Saito said it would "free up water development along the Front Range." The 7 -inch mouse's endangered spe- cies listing in 1998 sparked a storm of controversy from Cheyenne south along the I -25 urban corridor to Colorado Springs. Protecting its habitat meant delaying, shelving or redrawing water storage as well as residential and com- mercial construction. The estimated cost is in the hundreds of millions or dollars. In an unpublished genetic analysis, paid for by Wyoming, USFWS, the De- partment of Energy and the Denver Mu- seum of Nature and Science, a Colorado geneticist concluded that the Preble's wasn't a distinct species. But the USFWS said that until it issues a final decision, the mouse will continue to be protected under the Endangered Species Act. SEND COMMENTS TO: Field 8upervi- sor, Colorado Field Office, Ecological Services, 755 Parfet Street, Suite 361, Lakewood, Colorado 80215. The Web site is www.fws.gov Click on endangered species.