Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Mapping And Water Use topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Weed board shows preliminary mapping of Russian olive and outlines large illustrative water‑use figures to support grant bids
Summary
Staff presented EDDMapS and county mapping showing roughly 50,000 mapped acres of Russian olive (projected to 60,000–70,000 when mapping is complete) and used a University of Colorado study range to illustrate potential water‑savings that could support grant applications, while members flagged the need to validate large estimates.
Staff demonstrated county mapping via EDDMapS and internal trackers, showing the spatial distribution of invasive species and release sites for biological controls. Staff said about 50,000 acres of Russian olive have been mapped so far and predicted a final county estimate of 60,000–70,000 acres once mapping is complete. The staff member linked those acreage estimates to an illustrative water‑use calculation based on a University of Colorado study, saying a mature Russian olive can pull between roughly 32 and 200 gallons of water per day and that aggregated estimates can be a persuasive basis for funding requests.
Board members noted the potential for large numbers to attract funding but warned they would undergo scrutiny. One member expressed skepticism about the magnitude of the water‑use numbers; staff responded the figures are conservative and that specialist studies would be needed to produce defensible, peer‑reviewed estimates. Staff and members discussed pursuing projects on public property (for example with Duchesne City) to obtain empirically measured flows to strengthen grant applications.
