DENVER - The river that supplies water to much of the West and recreation to outdoor lovers has its own holiday. Today is Colorado River Day, and people are celebrating the river and reminding others of its importance to the region.

State Rep. Joe Salazar, D-Thornton, is one of at least 40 elected officials who have signed a pledge calling on Gov. John Hickenlooper and the Colorado Water Conservation Board to take steps to protect and maintain the river.

"It's important to me," Salazar said, "because we have to muster up the coalition and the force to protect the Colorado River, since the Colorado River is so vital to so many industries."

Colorado is in the process of developing a statewide water plan. The pledge is being delivered today to state leadership, asking for greater investment in infrastructure for more efficient water delivery, conserving municipal water use and modernizing water storage systems.

The Colorado River was originally called the Grand River, but was renamed on this date in 1921.

It's about balancing everyone's needs with a goal of making sure there's enough water to go around, said Karn Stiegelmeier, a county commissioner in Summit County, where many of the headwaters for the Colorado River are located.

"To have a future where we have enough water for everyone, for cities as well as for rivers, we need to have high conservation measures in our municipalities," Stiegelmeier said, as well as in the way we develop land in the future."

Salazar said everyone can take steps to protect the Colorado River.

"Try to conserve water as much as possible," he said. "We are in a huge drought period here in the state of Colorado, and it's incumbent upon all of us to conserve water as much as possible."

The Colorado River and its tributaries run through seven states and supply drinking water to 36 million Americans. The river irrigates more than 60 percent of Colorado farmland. According to the Department of the Interior's Colorado River Basin Study, demand on the river's water already exceeds supply, and the need is expected to grow in the next 50 years.

More information is online at coloradoriverday.com.


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West Virginia environmental groups are suing the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, arguing the agency failed to consider residents' health when it gave the stamp of approval for the creation of four valley fills on a thousand-acre surface mine in Raleigh County.

Vernon Halton, executive director of the nonprofit Coal River Mountain Watch says the region experienced severe flooding in the 1990s and early 2000s, and says more valley fills, which involve dumping rocks, minerals and waste into nearby waterways, will put their lives at risk.

"It's going to permanently endanger the people whose homes are in the valleys below, he explained."

According to Environment America, valley fills permanently bury headwater streams and reduce water quality. More than 2,000 miles of headwater streams have been buried due to mountaintop removal.

Haltom added that communities continue to grapple with health challenges unparalleled outside of the coalfields.

"Higher rates of cancer, higher rates of heart disease, higher rates of birth defects, higher rates of other diseases, and most of them can be linked to the airborne dust that people are forced to breathe," he continued.

Research has shown breathing in toxic dust promotes the growth of lung cancer cells in people living in communities near mountaintop removal. Coal is mined in 22 of West Virginia's 55 counties, according to federal data.

A Knoxville environmental group is raising concerns over federal budget cuts and their effects on jobs at the Y-12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge.

The Trump Administration briefly laid off workers at the complex but called them back the next day.

Tanvi Kardile, coordinator for the Oak Ridge Environmental Peace Alliance, warned the cuts, including layoffs at the Department of Energy and National Nuclear Security Administration, are troubling. She advocated shifting jobs from weapons production to environmental cleanup, citing ongoing efforts to address groundwater contamination, though she pointed out cost overruns and major concerns remain unaddressed.

"One of these cuts we feel should be the uranium processing facility, which is being constructed to replace, all these old, deteriorating buildings at Y-12," Kardile explained. "The budget for that keeps skyrocketing.
And this is one of the largest construction projects in Tennessee history."

Kardile emphasized the uranium processing facility is estimated to cost $10.3 billion and will not be complete in 2031. Initially, the project was expected to cost $6.5 billion and be finished by this year.

Kardile added her group is hesitant about Trump's statement expressing his intention to initiate nuclear arms reduction negotiations with China and Russia. The future of the U.S. nuclear weapons program remains uncertain as a result.

"Who knows if reduction talks will happen or how successful they'll be, especially with some other energy initiatives that he supports, such as discrediting climate change, promoting fossil fuels and drilling," Kardile outlined. "It doesn't seem like the administration will take many initiatives to protect the environment."

Kardile argued it is crucial for Tennesseans to push for greater accountability from the Department of Energy on the rising cost of Y-12 and collaborate with lawmakers to find the best path to allocate their tax dollars and protect public health.

Ohio is seeing a growing number of solar energy projects, including the first utility-scale installation in Dayton, which will help power a key water treatment facility.

Cities across the state are also working together to expand clean energy access. The five-megawatt solar array in Dayton will be built on a brownfield site, which is also a repurposing project for land that had been burned and has limited use because of contamination.

Robert McCracken, energy manager for the neighboring city of Cincinnati, said it is amazing to be able to produce energy to help with energy resiliency anywhere in Ohio.

"There is a lot of great work happening in the sustainable energy field throughout the state of Ohio," McCracken observed. "That's happening in large cities and small towns."

It is expected to provide 38% of the Miami Water Treatment Plant's electrical power needs and cut consumer energy bills by keeping water rates low. The City of Dayton serves as the principal water source for an estimated 1.5 million people in southwest Ohio.

McCracken pointed out local governments across Ohio recognize the importance of clean energy and are working collaboratively on solutions.

"It's become ever more important for all of those cities throughout Ohio ... to be working together to figure out how we all can advance the projects that we're working on that can benefit residents and businesses in each of our local communities," McCracken contended.

The project supports Dayton's climate emergency commitment to cutting carbon emissions at city facilities through renewable energy. McCracken emphasized Ohio cities remain dedicated to sustainable solutions, benefiting the environment and local communities.


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