West's water facing $$ crisis

Call it a not-so-harmonic convergence for water-starved communities in the West. On one hand, the 470 dams, 58 hydroelectric plans and 300 other facilities administered by the Bureau of Reclamation are inching past old age to where some are decrepit. In fact, the average age of the facilities is now more than 50 years, and many are well beyond their expected life span. Coming the other direction is suburban sprawl, which has dramatically increased the demand for more and better quality water. "There will be even greater demands placed on the West's limited water resources and Reclamation's aging projects, many of which are well beyond their designed life," said Tony Willardson, deputy director of the Midvale-based Western States Water Council. "The billion dollar question is how should Reclamation programs and projects be funded?" Water experts from across the nation testified Tuesday before the House Subcommittee on Water and Power, with most telling lawmakers that more federal assistance, not less, is needed to bring existing facilities up to standard and build new facilities to meet the burgeoning demand. Because water facilities are owned by the Bureau of Reclamation, the water associations who deliver the water to farms and homes have no collateral to offer lenders. And without collateral, there is no money to repair the water systems or invest in greater efficiencies. But if the federal government is willing to give up title to the water associations, while still committing some federal assistance, low-interest state and private water development loans could be directed at the problem....
Scorched West puts fire troops in place as heat soars With the mercury blasting into triple digits, nervous wildland fire officials are marshaling resources and monitoring conditions while hoping the remnants of Hurricane Emily will deliver a few days of rain early next week. On Thursday, half of a fleet of military air tankers - some from Colorado and others from as far away as North Carolina - will be called up and stationed in Boise, Idaho, to supplement aerial firefighting capabilities in the parched West. "We're constantly in a chess game of preparedness at this time in the national fire season, moving resources where we predict potential fire behavior," said Mike Apicello, spokesman for the National Interagency Fire Center in Boise. The national fire preparedness level jumped up a notch Tuesday, with fire activity expected to rise with the temperatures....

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