Daily Smile

[{"type":"text","text":"Now let's all watch a Macaw go for a ride..."}]

Smile 12 31 23

Cowboy State Daily is Wyoming’s largest newspaper with Wyoming’s most experienced journalists. 

<title>Daily Smile: Sunday, December 31, 2023 | Cowboy State Daily</title>

Now let's all watch a Macaw go for a ride...

Daily Smile: Sunday, December 31, 2023

 Now let's all watch a Macaw go for a ride...

Heinz mark

Mark Heinz

Agriculture

The situation with the Colorado River is dire, and likely will keep getting worse if the river continues to be managed according to arcane policies, officials representing the four Upper Basin states said Tuesday.

Water-management policy needs to shift away from legal wrangling and toward the realities of water availability, or hydrology, members of the Upper Colorado River Commission said during a meeting in Denver.

The commission didn’t make any policy decisions, and plans to meet again this summer.

At issue is whether the Upper Basin states – Wyoming, Colorado, Utah and New Mexico – can keep meeting downriver demands according to water allocations drawn up under the 1922 Colorado River Compact.

The compact also includes the Lower Basin states – Arizona, Nevada and California – as well as Mexico and numerous Native American tribes.  

The headwaters of the Colorado River are in Colorado. Wyoming’s Green River is one of its main tributaries.

Wyoming and Utah share Flaming Gorge Reservoir. It’s facing a 

 in an effort to replenish desperately low Lake Powell, on the Utah-Arizona state line.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"},{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Worst Year On Record"}]

The conversation must shift from legal wrangling to managing the river according to what nature provides, commission members said.

“As I’ve been saying for years, this is a problem that needs to be settled by hydrology,” said state engineer Brandon Gebhart, Wyoming’s representative on the commission.

“This is one of the worst, if not the worst, hydrologic year on record,” he added.

Longstanding drought conditions across the West, coupled with the unusually dry 2025-2026 winter, have left ranchers, farmers and communities facing tough choices, commissioners said.

“It is dire; the pain is felt in every corner of every state in the Upper Basin, Colorado commissioner Beck Mitchell said.

In Utah, some small towns have already run out of water and are hauling it in, Utah commissioner Gene Shawcroft said.

There have been calls for a “statewide state of emergency” because of drought, he added.

Gebhart said all of Wyoming is also essentially in a state of drought.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"},{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Bad News For Ag"}]

At one point, commission executive director Chuck Cullom displayed slides showing aerial photos of agricultural areas in each Upper Basin state.

There was stark contract between widespread greenery in images from 2024, when water was relatively abundant, and those from 2026. This year's photos show far more brownish, dry land and shrunken reservoirs.

Regarding images taken along South Piney Creek in Wyoming, Gebhart said more than just a lack of green crops is at stake.

South Piney Creek ranchers might have to cut back their cattle herds because of a lack of forage, he said.

Mitchell said farmers and ranchers in the Upper Basin states are facing conditions that can’t be ignored.

“In a year like this year, they’re impacted in ways that we can’t imagine sitting in a room in Denver, trying to keep cattle alive, trying to keep crops alive, trying to make it through one more day,” she said.

On one optimistic note, it was reported to the commission projects are underway in each state to curb secondary water losses during crop irrigation. That includes installing more efficient headgates on irrigation canals, and lining canals with concrete or other materials to keep water from leeching into the ground.

Wyoming has roughly $6 million earmarked for such projects, staff reported.

Management of dams and other infrastructure in the Colorado River Basin should be managed for long-term water conservation, Mitchell said.

“When we consistently release more than what is coming into our reservoirs, we drain the system,” she said.

And this is a pivotal year for Colorado River management. Water-use negotiations and infrastructure operations were last updated in 2007, and are up for renewal at the end of 2026.

The Upper Basin can’t be managed in a perpetual cycle of diminishing returns, Shawcroft said.

The effects of drawdowns to feed the Lower Basin accumulate on long-term storage, he said.

“There’s likely to be little to no carryover storage (this year),” he said.

And there will likely be even worse water shortages next year, “Unless we have a Snowmaggedon runoff,” he added.

Green river 6 23 26

<title>Colorado River's Dire Water Picture Expected To Hit Green River Ranchers Hard | Cowboy State Daily</title>

At a meeting in Denver on Tuesday, Wyoming's state engineer said 2026 is "one of the worst, if not the worst, hydrologic years on record" due to the dire water situation in the Colorado River's Upper Basin states. He said Green River Basin ranchers will be hit especially hard.

Colorado River's Dire Water Picture Expected To Hit Green River Ranchers Hard

Employee kate meadows cropped

Kate Meadows

Government & Politics

During a lengthy meeting that grew contentious, the Kemmerer City Council on Monday approved an ordinance establishing regulations for a possible man camp inside city limits.

The ordinance allows for the conditional use of a temporary workforce and short-term housing hub of no more than 50 dwelling units. 

Multiple residents of the Antelope Ridge subdivision made their plea clear: not in my backyard.

City officials said opponents were putting the cart before the horse, as no man camp is guaranteed.

 groundwork’s been laid,” Kemmerer Mayor Robert Bowen said after the vote, which followed about two hours of public discussion. “That doesn’t mean it will ever happen. But if it does we have guidelines in place.”

Developers are proposing a temporary hub to house workers who will build the TerraPower nuclear power plant near Kemmerer.

The city of about 2,400 people is bracing for explosive growth with the first-of-its-kind sodium-cooled nuclear power plant under construction, 

Cowboy State Daily has previously reported

Multiple companies have been eyeing properties to house workers when the plant comes online sometime around 2030.

What the man camp looks like, what it will cost to build and where it is located would depend on who is awarded the contract, Bowen previously told Cowboy State Daily.

[{"type":"text","text":"He estimated the project is being considered by five to seven bidders."}]

proposals according to their interest in a particular piece of land, what has drawn the most attention from residents is an undeveloped city-owned property between the justice center and the Antelope Ridge subdivision.

[{"type":"text","text":"Bowen said one developer has shown interest in that land."}]

[{"type":"text","text":"Public Pushback"}]

Multiple residents of Antelope Ridge pushed back against the proposed ordinance Monday, citing concerns such as property value impacts, taxpayers bearing costs of infrastructure buildout, noise and safety if a man camp were to be built.

[{"type":"text","text":"The land in question is about a quarter-mile from Antelope Ridge."}]

Jannetta West, who lives in the subdivision, said a man camp so close to her neighborhood would threaten the community’s safety and infrastructure.

She urged council members to reject any proposals for the site near Antelope Ridge.

“Please don’t let the dollar signs cloud your moral and ethical judgment,” she said.

Several residents asked how property taxes would be affected by the TerraPower plant and potential man camp.

Brett Burt, also a resident of  Antelope Ridge, said to the council, “I don’t know if you’re going to respond to me or if this is just me saying words.”

[{"type":"text","text":"He paused, seeming to await an answer."}]

After a brief silence and the mayor beginning to respond, Burt called his questions rhetorical before asking why temporary workforce housing was not discussed by the city during the two years TerraPower was working through its project permitting.

He also posed a question other residents echoed: why not keep the project and temporary workforce housing on the same site?

Burt also asked: “Are you entertaining a data center? That’s a separate issue but I know most of us don’t want that either.”

Antelope Ridge resident Kodi Seamons questioned why the ordinance focused on a potential man camp specifically within city limits. She also wondered why the facility would have to be so close to an established neighborhood.

Seamons said she had reached out to a specific council member with those questions earlier. She did not name the council member.

“The response I received was, 'It’s none of your 

she told the council. “Respectfully, when a project has the potential to impact my neighborhood, my property value, my quality of life and the future of my community, it is my business. It is the business of every resident who lives here.”

Residents deserve the opportunity to ask questions without being dismissed, Seamons added.

“We deserve the opportunity to understand why decisions are being made,” she said.

[{"type":"text","text":"She also said asking questions is civic participation."}]

A resident who identified himself as Mike, who also lives in the subdivision, spoke multiple times, first stating the city has no way of regulating the type of temporary housing that could come in.

“We’re not ready for temporary housing inside city limits,” he said. “We don’t know how to do it yet. We have a huge project coming and one of the first things we do is possibly irresponsibly put temporary workforce housing right next to a neighborhood.”

[{"type":"text","text":"City-Owned Property"}]

Residents asked whether a man camp on city property showed a conflict of interest.

“The city is in direct competition with private entities,” Mike said. “We are all watching who votes to allow a man camp when we have no way to regulate it yet.”

Bowen clarified that the city did not put in a bid for a temporary workforce hub to be built on city-owned property.

[{"type":"text","text":"“We were approached by a contractor,” he said."}]

[{"type":"text","text":"He added that other in-town properties are also possible."}]

That’s when the meeting grew more contentious.

“You’re elected to represent us and you’re not doing so," someone shouted from the audience.

“Anything else I say could be offensive so I won’t say it. Let’s just move on,” Bowen replied. “I think we’ve said enough for tonight. Anything else could get escalated. So we’ll just call it good where it’s at.”

Then, Bowen invited audience members to make additional comments on the record, in front of the microphone.

[{"type":"text","text":"Several did, including Braden Seamons."}]

“These people are being backed into a corner by the people that are supposed to represent us,” Seamons said. “We don’t need a man camp anywhere in this town.”

Seamons asked how the city could guarantee anyone living in a man camp in town was vetted.

The mayor said the city itself can’t vet the people who live in a man camp.

[{"type":"text","text":"“That’s not our place,” he said."}]

“If you can’t do it, then why should we put it in our backyard?” Seamons asked.

[{"type":"text","text":"Temporary Housing Not Guaranteed"}]

Bowen reiterated that a man camp was not inevitable.

“This is all conceptual,” he said. “This is not guaranteed. This ordinance gives the ability to have man camp in city limits. It does not guarantee that it is coming.”

Resident April Burt fired back, “Saying, ‘it may not happen’ is like saying, ‘it can happen'.”

To the assertion the city is not ready for it, the mayor said, “This is the ordinance that gets us ready.”

Housing conditions and choices that workers make could render a temporary housing hub unnecessary, he said.

He laid out projections that of the 1,600 workers expected on the project site, 15-25% are expected to stay in RVs. Another estimated 25% will stay in local housing because they’ll bring families.

[{"type":"text","text":"The is for sole workers, Bowen said."}]

“Realistically, we’re looking at about 400 people in a 

 not the scary 1,600 that’s being kicked around.”

Bowen also reiterated the hub will be built on-demand, to accommodate workers as needed. He assured community members the council is not talking about building a 1,600-person man camp.

“Our housing might catch up to where they don’t even need this,” he said.

He also rebutted other concerns, saying everything is a big “if” right now.

Considerations of temporary workforce housing have been in progress for years by TerraPower, he said. They just haven’t been brought to the city council until recently.

“I guarantee they were talking about this five years ago,” Bowen said. “This didn’t catch them off-guard. They’re way too invested, way too high-profile, too professional to have been caught at the last minute with, ‘Oh no, Kemmerer doesn’t have enough 

"We have to be angry about this,” Burt said. “We have to keep coming to these meetings. I’m really sad that we feel we are not being adequately heard.”

Kodi Seamons agreed, adding, “We’re scared because you will not give us a guarantee that a man camp won’t be there (near Antelope Ridge subdivision). “It feels like you’re putting dollars above our families.”

[{"type":"text","text":"Workers are Coming"}]

[{"type":"text","text":"Bowen said that, man camp or no,  workers are coming."}]

“Regardless of where they’re going to live, they’re coming,” he said. “Just because we say we may not pass an ordinance to allow a hub within the city limits, they’d still be coming. They are coming, whether they stay in the hub or stay in the house next to you.”

[{"type":"text","text":"“How about in your backyard?” someone from the audience shouted."}]

[{"type":"text","text":"“I have plenty of room,” the mayor replied."}]

City leaders said that the ordinance was to create rules around a potential man camp within city limits. Should any specific projects materialize, each project would follow a required advertising and discussion process, and also include further opportunities for the public to be heard.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"}],"text":"Still, residents did not back down."}]

“On record, we would like to hear that you guys would support your constituents in that we don’t want temporary housing on that (Antelope Ridge) property and we don’t want the city of Kemmerer to be in direct competition with other potential properties for this man camp,” the man who identified himself as Mike said.

[{"type":"text","text":"Neither Bowen nor council members directly responded."}]

After another 20 minutes spent discussing specific provisions of the ordinance, the council voted unanimously to approve it.

Terra power 6 23 26

<title>Kemmerer Lays Groundwork For Possible Man Camp As Residents Object | Cowboy State Daily</title>

During a lengthy meeting that grew contentious, the Kemmerer City Council on Monday approved an ordinance establishing regulations for a possible man camp inside city limits. "The groundwork’s been laid,” Kemmerer Mayor Robert Bowen said after the vote.

Kemmerer Lays Groundwork For Possible Man Camp As Residents Object

Headshot of Cowboy State Daily's general assignment reporter, Clair McFarland.

Clair McFarland

Opinion

CSD Columnists

The Wyoming Supreme Court on Tuesday denied a 

 for an order appointing a special prosecutor to investigate Secretary of State Chuck Gray for handing sensitive voter data to the federal government.

The high court also denied the attorney, George Powers’ request that it order Wyoming Attorney General Keith Kautz to recuse himself from this investigation since Kautz’s office has reportedly counseled Gray on the voter data transfer.

Powers hasn’t shown that Kautz has an outright duty to do the things Powers is asking the court to make him do.

A writ of mandamus, the kind of court action Powers filed against Kautz on June 2, is a mechanism by which a court can order a public official to complete some duty. But it only applies where that duty is absolute, clear and indisputable.

“We find Petitioner has not cited any ‘absolute, clear, and indisputable’ law specifically requiring these actions,” said a Tuesday order signed by Wyoming Supreme Court Chief Justice Lynne Boomgaarden. “As such, Petitioner is not entitled to mandamus relief.”

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"A Little Backstory"}]

The U.S. Department of Justice last year urged Gray to hand over unredacted voter rolls bearing driver's licenses or partial social security numbers.

Gray did so, public records indicate. He’s since said repeatedly that Kautz’s office advised him in this, and approved the release.

Powers started filing public records requests with Gray’s office, and he asked for information about the extent of the Attorney General’s counsel.

[{"type":"text","text":"Gray claimed attorney-client privilege."}]

In April, Powers filed a criminal complaint urging Kautz to have a judge appoint a special prosecutor to investigate Gray. Powers pointed to a state law calling voters’ drivers’ licenses and partial Social Security numbers private. Wyoming has another umbrella statute, making election officials who violate election law open to being charged, potentially, with a felony crime.

Kautz told Powers in May the complaint would be handled in accordance with his office’s rules and prosecutorial ethics.

[{"type":"text","text":"Four weeks passed."}]

Powers filed the writ of mandamus against Kautz, urging the state’s highest court to intervene.

Last week, Kautz countered that writ, announcing in a court filing that he arranged for two special prosecutors to investigate Gray based on Powers’ complaint: one in his office behind a privacy mechanism called a “Chinese wall,” and another tied to a county prosecutor’s office.

Both special prosecutors declined to charge Gray with a crime, Kautz’s filing says.

Gray in a Tuesday text message called Powers' writ action a political witch hunt and "an attempt to damage my Congressional campaign" in which he also claimed "the Left and the media" were involved. 

Gray is running for Wyoming's lone U.S. House seat in a crowded GOP primary against nine other contenders. 

Gray said more than 20 states have complied with the DOJ's "lawful request." 

"Powers (sic) claims and filings has (sic) been nothing more than lawfare and weaponization of the legal system by leftists and the insider media," Gray said. "I applaud the Supreme Court's common-sense decision to dismiss this case, which was nothing more than a continued and orchestrated effort to harass, intimidate, and demonize me for our work on election integrity. I have and will continue to stand for the truth, and I will continue to comply with the law and advance election integrity and voter list maintenance, which is pivotal to our elections."

Several states, including red states, have refused to hand the sensitive voter data to the federal government, and the DOJ has sued them for it. A case in Utah, which sits within the same federal circuit as Wyoming, is ongoing, among others. 

Nine federal courts have sided against the DOJ and dismissed its cases so far. 

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"None Of This Answers Our Questions"}]

Ryan Semerad and Rob Shively, who are also Wyoming-based attorneys, represented Powers in his writ.

Semerad told Cowboy State Daily on Tuesday the dismissal leaves the issue in the dark.

“Sunlight is the best disinfectant,” Semerad said. “I’m sure we’d all like to know how this happened, who did it, and what it was they reasoned and concluded. Because right now, we just don’t know who did what; and we don’t know what they looked at; and we certainly would like to know.”

Cowboy State Daily submitted a public records request to the Wyoming Attorney General’s Office last week for the special prosecutors’ reports in the Gray complaint.

The office declined to disclose those, calling them nonpublic attorney work product.

“Disclosure would reveal the thought processes of attorneys and special prosecutors and potentially confidential source or investigative information,” says the denial email from the office’s public records office.

Powers also submitted a public records request to the Attorney General’s Office last week, he told Cowboy State Daily on Friday. An attached copy of Powers’ June 17 public records request shows that it is much more extensive, requesting instructions and directions given to special prosecutors as well.

As of Tuesday, the AG’s office had acknowledged that it had received that request, and it said it would produce any responsive, disclosable records within the lawful deadline, Semerad said Tuesday.

As for the high court’s denial of Powers’ writ petition, “None of this answers our deeper question, which is, ‘What happened; who did the investigating how did they investigate?’” said Semerad. “It also raises more questions too.”

Supreme court chuck 6 23 26

<title>Wyoming Supreme Court Declines To Appoint Prosecutor To Investigate Chuck Gray | Cowboy State Daily</title>

The Wyoming Supreme Court on Tuesday denied a Cheyenne-based attorney’s request for an order appointing a special prosecutor to investigate Secretary of State Chuck Gray for handing sensitive voter data to the federal government.

Wyoming Supreme Court Declines To Appoint Prosecutor To Investigate Chuck Gray

Headshot of Cowboy State Daily's Feature Reporter, Andrew Rossi.

Andrew Rossi

Public Lands

Another hydrothermal explosion has rocked Yellowstone National Park, only 100 feet from the pool that 

The Yellowstone Volcano Observatory confirmed that a hydrothermal explosion occurred around 5:09 a.m. June 13. When geologists went to evaluate the area the next day, they found a 21-foot-wide pool filled with boiling, silty water, a 60-foot fissure, and water spouting 30 feet into the air.

It was an unexpectedly dynamic event in Biscuit Basin, which has been closed since a similar explosion occurred at nearby Black Diamond Pool in July 2024.

“Black Diamond doesn't seem to have been affected by this event in a major way,” Mike Poland, scientist in charge of the Yellowstone Volcano Observatory, told Cowboy State Daily. “That’s a sign that these are very shallow events that impact individual features in a very explosive thermal basin.”

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Big Blow Up"}]

The observatory detected the explosion as soon as it happened. It was even captured on the camera installed in Biscuit Basin to monitor Black Diamond Pool.

When geologists got to the basin the next day, they found several significant changes. For one thing, there was the new 21-foot-wide crater filled with boiling water, which Poland wasn’t surprised to see.

“That’s pretty standard for Biscuit Basin,” he said. “It has a lot of high-temperature water.”

What was more surprising was a 60-foot-long fissure and several new vents.

“All of these vents were draining water into the Firehole River, and geologists found near-boiling waters in most of these vents,” Poland said. “They were draining enough water that the river itself turned a milky-white color for many miles downstream.”

Based on the scene, Poland said the event was a “relatively small” hydrothermal explosion. It occurred in an area with no existing thermal features.

After weeks of observation, the water-filled crater has shown some geyser-like behavior. Water was seen rising as high as 30 feet.

Poland was interested in the longevity of this behavior and all the new features in Biscuit Basin. It’s too early to say whether they’ll be long-lived or peter out over time.

“It’s completely unknown at this point,” he said. “Maybe that (spouting) was caused by a release of the pressure accumulated beneath the surface, or maybe this new pool will end up being a geyser-like feature. Clearly, there was a lot that went on the morning of June 13.”

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Predicting The Unpredictable"}]

Hydrothermal explosions are caused by water rapidly converting to steam. The rapid phase change from liquid to gas releases an enormous amount of energy, as evidenced by the incident at Black Diamond Pool on July 23, 2024.

“It’s a pressure-cooker situation,” Poland said. "When water turns to steam, it expands over 1,000 times. When that happens in a confined space, the space can't hold the rapid expansion of steam and can cause explosions.”

Biscuit Basin has been closed to the public since that day, but sophisticated equipment has been installed so geologists can monitor ongoing activity. Black Diamond Pool has 

 since then, but nothing as significant as the July 2024 event.

wasn’t significant by Yellowstone standards

, Poland is excited about what can be learned from it. It might help him and other geologists, hydrologists, and volcanologists predict the unpredictable.

“One of the problems with studying these explosions is that you really don't know where they're going to occur,” he said. “If you put out a monitoring station, you’re never guaranteed to catch an explosion, and we don’t know of any precursors that might indicate an explosion is imminent.”

This hydrothermal explosion occurred 400 feet from temperature sensors and sophisticated stations installed to monitor seismic and acoustic activity in Biscuit Basin. With this event and “a year’s worth of data,” Poland hopes they might find a potential precursor.

The Yellowstone Volcano Observatory confirmed Tuesday that a hydrothermal explosion occurred in Yellowstone's Biscuit Basin that created a 21-foot-wide pool filled with boiling, silty water, a 60-foot fissure, and water spouting 30 feet into the air.

Daily Smile: Sunday, December 31, 2023

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