Short Article in Brattleboro Paper re. Mt. Snow

[Euler]

Yesterday's Brattleboro Reformer ran a short article about Mt. Snow's plans to draw water for snowmaking from the Sommerset Reservoir. Not much new information in the piece, but it did make clear that there are still substantial permitting hurdles to overcome before the project can come to fruition.

I have a love hate relationship with VT's permitting system. The strict environmental laws ensure that the state remains a beuatiful place where I love living and raising my family. At the same time the strict environmental laws make it so difficult for any development to happen that I may not have a job available here and I'll end up unable to live here and raise my family .:???:

http://www.reformer.com/search/ci_6136301

 

[drjeff]

Yesterday's Brattleboro Reformer ran a short article about Mt. Snow's plans to draw water for snowmaking from the Sommerset Reservoir. Not much new information in the piece, but it did make clear that there are still substantial permitting hurdles to overcome before the project can come to fruition.

I have a love hate relationship with VT's permitting system. The strict environmental laws ensure that the state remains a beuatiful place where I love living and raising my family. At the same time the strict environmental laws make it so difficult for any development to happen that I may not have a job available here and I'll end up unable to live here and raise my family .:???:

http://www.reformer.com/search/ci_6136301

Sometimes you just wish that the permitting folks would just use a little common sense with things. Your requesting access to a renewable resource(the water) in an amount that while on paper seems massive (close to 500 million gallons) but in the big scheme of things with the size of the body of water you'd be drawing from is literally a couple of inches from the water pool of Somerset. The resource(the water) would end up in 1 of 4 places a) return to ground water b) evaporation/sublimation (something that you'd get form the normal flow of water through Somerset/Harriman/The Deerfield/ and ultimately the CT River basin c) return of the water via melting to Somerset or d) return of the water to the soon to be returned to its un-dammed natural state Deerfield.

Additionally considering that there's already a trail used by High Country Snowmobiles from the base of the Northface that runs in almost a strait line to the banks of The Somerset, tree cutting for the pipeline would minimized also.

The level of environmental impact for this project is very, very minimal and the potential econmic upside to the Deerfield valley is quite large. Seems like a win/win nobrainer descision if you just take a step back and look at the big picture. But unfortunately some folks in power positions from time to time seem to have blinders on

 

[Newpylong]

http://www.mountsnow.com/camshot.html

New Snow Guns