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MSC IECA Monthly News & Updates
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2015 MSC IECA Winter Conference Recap
The 2015 Winter Conference was held on November 5th for the Mountain States Chapter of the IECA. For the third year in a row attendance topped 160 people! It was held once again at the Police Protection Agency, or PPA building at 2105 Decatur St, in Denver. There was a wide variety of topics and speakers during the day beginning with Barry Fagan from the Alabama Department of Transportation as the morning keynote. Barry is known nationally as a top flight speaker and has presented at the Annual International conference. His topic of "The Art of Managing Stormwater" was a think outside the box eye opener to solving issues in a new light. You can follow him at stormwatertools.com.
Topics covering MS4's, FHWA, CDOT, Compliance in the oil and gas industry, EPA and CDPHE were all there. Some of the case studies of the Williams Canyon Project, the administration of the CSEP program by the AGC and Plugging and reclaiming abandoned wells by the COGCC. An overview of successful stormwater management programs rounds out the field and we end with the topic of Mining Water and the Environment, with Stuart Sanderson the executive director of the Colorado Mining Association providing the lunch time keynote.
We also would like to thank the 20+ Vendors in attendance. Vendors help tremendously with the associated costs of putting one of these conferences on and we would be in a world of hurt without them!
Most of all a big thank you to YOU for attending and making it a successful event!
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2016 MSC IECA Current Board Members
Jim Bowlby - President
Ron Whiteman - Membership Vice President
Opal Forbes - Administrative Vice President
Bill Ronbinson - Treasurer
Kathy Kaiser - Secretary
Greg Baptist - Utah Representative
Brian Roche - New Mexico Representative
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Upcoming Events
Ralph Carr Judicial Center - Colorado Supreme Court Building
Colorado Supreme Court Library
Denver, CO
January 26th, 2016
As we move into 2016 we are getting ready for our first General Membership meeting for the Mountain States Chapter. We have arranged a tour of the Ralph Carr Judicial Center, also known as the Colorado State Supreme Court Building. And as our guide we will have none other than Justice Greg Hobbs. Justice Hobbs has been very active in water rights in the state of Colorado for over 25 years. He has written many books and was heavily involved with the recent PBS show "The Great Divide" which chronicles Water Rights over Colorado's history. Justice Hobbs retired from the Court in August of 2015.
This will be an hour and a half tour and discussion from 10:30 to Noon on Tuesday January 26th 2015. The Ralph Carr Judicial Center is located at 2 East 14th Avenue, between Broadway and Lincoln Streets fronting the south side of downtown Denver's Civic Center. IMPORTANT NOTE ABOUT PARKING! Parking is available at the Art Museum Annex 12th and Broadway or surrounding surface lots.Be sure to bring change and pick one of the two hour meters.
IMPORTANT NOTE ABOUT ARRIVAL TIME! You need to be in front of the building (as seen in image above) no later than 10:15 to allow security screening. We will start promptly at 10:30. The front of the courthouse is a four story building with the pillars in front.
You are allowed to bring cameras and silenced cell phones into the building. We will host lunch after in the cafeteria.
Justice Hobbs wanted me to pass on these comments to you -"I look forward to engaging your members with the Learning Center and other features of the courthouse, and of course we can talk about water law, history and culture, along with the workings of local, State and Federal Government!"
There is no cost to members and $10 for non-members to cover the cost of lunch. The attendance is limited to 30 people, so check out the MSC website for registration right after January 4th.
The Colorado Supreme Court Library is located in:
The Ralph L. Carr Colorado Judicial Center (Map)2 East 14th Avenue
Denver, CO 80203.
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IECA Annual Environmental Connection Conference
San Antonio Convention Center
San Antonio, Texas
February 16-19, 2016
This is IECA's premier educational event for the erosion, sediment control and stormwater industry. Environmental Connection combines intense, full and half day training courses with topic-focused technical sessions and the largest expo of its kind.
Over 4 days, Environmental Connection provides peer-reviewed education, products and technology which address four educational tracks:
- Erosion and Sediment Control
- Stormwater Management
- Surface Water Restoration
- MS4 Management
6 Reasons Why YOU Should Attend Environmental Connection:
Meet new people: There's an expected attendance of over 1,500 of the industry's brightest minds. Connecting with new faces will help you in your career.
Get top-notch education: You can learn from over 130 presentations of the latest case studies and topic-focused technical sessions.
Build business relationships: We have numerous networking and social opportunities so you can make connections with future clients or even connect with potential employers/employees.
Stay credible: Earn Professional Development Hours (PDHs) by attending technical sessions.
Stay ahead of the curve: Keep up-to-date in today's newest technologies in erosion and sediment control products and services at our two-day expo.
Support a cause: Attending conference helps to show your support for IECA, which is a non-profit organization that provides education, resource information and business opportunities for professionals in the erosion and sediment control industry.
General Meeting & Mixer
All attendees from California, Arizona, Nevada, and Hawaii are invited to the Chapter's meeting to be held at EC'16 in San Antonio, TX on Wednesday - Feb. 17, 5:00 pm - 6:00 pm.
The Western Chapter Board will give a brief update; there will be plenty of time to network with fellow Western Chapter members and for us to get primed for the evening event, "A Texas Home Compaņero" that immediately follows the Chapter Meeting. Compaņero includes music by "The Sons of the Hydroseeders and the Daughters of the Purple Sage": the Western Chapter has sponsored a special song, "That Thing of Guar."
The Compaņero is promising to be a lot of fun and the Chapter Meeting is a perfect warm up!
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State of Colorado Landmark Water Plan
The State of Colorado adopted a landmark $20 billion water plan in November to try to accommodate rapid population growth by conserving more, reusing more, storing more, and sharing more water between farmers and cities, and by diverting less from the west slope to the eastern population centers across the mountains (Denver Post. November 20, 2015). State officials emphasized a practical consensus that emerged after a decade of river basin negotiations. The Colorado Water Conservation Board assembled the Colorado Water Plan after viewing 30,000 submissions. The plan prioritizes everyone using less, protecting against loss of irrigated crop land as suburbs expand, and building more reservoirs to capture more water as permitted under the interstate compacts. The Water Board was comprised of Western Slope and Front Range rural and urban stakeholders. The Water Plan was approved in November 2015 but the success will be judged over the years ahead.
The Water Plan relies heavily on conservation, but will it be enough?
In a recent study, a focus should be placed on measuring and reducing reservoir evaporation in an effort to meet Colorado's growing water supply demands, according to a study by the University of Colorado Boulder ( mountainwestnews.org. December 28, 2015). The report, unveiled on Monday, focused on conservation, a popular theme touted by water managers across Colorado. The conservation push is featured in the statewide plan finalized in November that aims to map the future of water in the state. Supply shortfalls are expected by 2050 or sooner in the state, with results that could lead to agricultural dry-up and fish and wildlife extinction, as well as increased demands and pressure on municipalities. Colorado's Water Plan calls for achieving 400,000 acre-feet of municipal and industrial water conservation by 2050.
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MSC IECA | MOUNTAINSTATESIECA.ORG
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