Laserfiche WebLink
<br />situation could be very harmful. The other concern raised today was the extra energy needed for <br />the pumping and seeing if there is someway we could work out with the agriculture section on <br />that, so we'll be addressing those problems in the next several days. <br /> <br />Tri-state will be having meetings for their REA's in May and will be discussing that will be in <br />the Tristate before May, we'll be in their lap. <br /> <br />Health <br /> <br />The Health committee is just forming. There hasn't been a standing health committee, as I <br />understand it. The first step is in identifying key players within the Water Quality Control <br />Division. We have a number of concerns one is if there will be temporary water supplies. We <br />will look at the adequacy of treatment. There could be a coordination link with the Emergency <br />Planning agencies: National Guard where ending up moving quantities of water to water <br />systems that don't have any and then also setting up temporary water treatment supplies. These <br />are extreme situations. In the past we have provided systems with temporary water supplies. <br />Where water supplies are low, water born illness can be of concern. The Disease Control and <br />Environmental Epidemeolegy Division will be a partner on this committee. Consumer <br />Protection Division has some oversight responsibilities on bottled water and the FDA also has <br />responsibility there and an oversight of the bottled water supplies, so they will be a partner. The <br />big concern of the Water Quality Control division really relates more to low stream flows or low <br />water body quantities related to discharges of pollutants and this is a year where the basic <br />assumptions that govern discharges of pollutants will be violated. There is a question of health <br />advisory and concerns about water recreational uses, water supply uses, and areas where we do <br />have discharges of pollutants. That would probably be the thing we are most concerned about in <br />the short run. The first step is to round up the right people and make sure we have a good list of <br />issues and maybe some possible legislative approaches to some of these issues that might come <br />out in our recommendations. <br /> <br />Now to summarize what we have heard todav. <br /> <br />It's the lowest snowpack on record; if we continue we will have the potential for the lowest <br />snowpack on record as of May 1. We are losing about one-percent a day at this current rate. <br />Streams are running fairly low; we are getting a lot of early calls. South Platte, Jack mentioned <br />most of the runoff on our streams has already occurred as far as the southern half of the state. A <br />lot of the irrigation reservoirs may go low to dry by mid summer, unless we get some <br />outstanding precipitation in the next few months. SPI levels across the state are low when <br />traditionally we only see different areas at any given time being low. This is kind of a strange <br />event to have everything this low in the state at one time. El Nino, more than likely we will get <br />more rain in July and August. There is no guarantee that it will happen. There is a 60% chance <br />that it will be above normal; 40% chance that it will be low. <br /> <br />Matt Knoedler/Governor's Office <br /> <br />The Governor requested in his letter that we are looking for an assessment and preparation of <br />measures that you recommend. Obviously, the assembly of these task forces chairs are key to <br />assessing the drought impact. I think it would be important probably to revisit in your areas <br />