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As we emerge from the wettest spring in some time with a relatively large snow pack, it's easy for the droughts of past years to become a distant memory, but perhaps it is wise to remember how tenuous is our water supply. And sometimes it is useful to obtain a perspective from other than real estate interests. The following was excerpted from articles by Nathan Fey of Salida on the website of American Whitewater, "a national non-profit organization with a mission "to conserve and restore America's whitewater resources and to enhance opportunities to enjoy them safely." For more go to http://www. americanwhitewater.org
In 2005 the Colorado Legislature created the Interbasin Compact Committee (IBCC) and nine roundtables across the state to further evaluate statewide water supply and demand at the basin level. The IBCC organizes to negotiate diverting water between basins. These Basin Roundtables are charged with refining the SWSI 1 report by quantifying consumptive and non-consumptive water needs and identifying water projects scoped to meet projected future demands. In Colorado consumptive water use includes all withdrawals from surface or ground water supplies to be put to beneficial use, including agricultural, municipal, and industrial needs. Non- consumptive uses include recreational and environmental needs, including Instream flow rights, Recreational In-channel Diversions, and needs for threatened or endangered fish and riparian life.
The Basin Roundtables and the IBCC present any proposed water project in the state to the Colorado Water Conservation Board. Each basin roundtable screens for projects or programs that benefit multiple users, and balance competing needs of a shared water source.
The 2003 Big Straw Referendum A would have given the Colorado legislature $2 billion to build dams and divert more water to the Front Range. After it lost handily, the Colorado Water Conservation Board (CWCB) created SWSI. SWSI Phase I determined that Colorado will have 20% less water than the amount needed (the 20% Gap) based on projected population growth.
"SWSI's findings so far have bolstered Western Slope concerns about possible new attempts at water grabs by the Front Range. It is projecting that Colorado's cities and industrial users will need an additional 708,000 acre-feet of water by 2030, as the state population grows from 4.3 million in 2000 to an estimated 7.1 million people." Aspen Times, August 27, 2004
SWSI Phase II created four technical roundtables that now meet regularly:
1) Water Efficiency (Agricultural, Municipal, & Industrial (M&I),
2) Alternative Agricultural Transfers to Permanent Dry-up
3) Prioritize and Quantify Recreation and Environment Needs
4) Addressing the 20% M & I Gap.
In addition to these technical roundtables, the Interbasin Compact Committee (IBCC) was created. The IBCC organizes nine additional roundtables to meet and negotiate diverting water between basins. Critical decisions will be made within these roundtables that will determine whether many rivers and streams in Colorado have sufficient flows for paddling and other river recreation, fish, wildlife, local economic benefits, and municipal needs.
In response to the ever-increasing demand for water in Colorado, water managers are moving forward with projects aimed at developing new water supplies for Denver and the Front Range. Several of the proposed projects involve billion-dollar schemes to move water across the continental divide, from the Upper Colorado River Basin to the S. Platte basin. While these larger proposals are several years from realization, smaller water projects are moving closer to implementation.
One such project, the Northern Integrated Supply Project (NISP), will provide 16 Front Range cities with 40,000 acre-feet of new water to meet increased demand over the next 50 years. NISP, coordinated by Northern Colorado Water Conservancy District, must undergo an environmental review by the US Army Corps of Engineers as required by the National Environmental Policy Act.
After review, the US Army Corps of Engineers identified three potential alternatives to no-action. Of the three, the 16 NISP participants preferred the Glade Reservoir and the South Platte Water Conservation Project. The preferred alternative includes building a new reservoir to store water underutilized in the Poudre River, a larger tributary to the South Platte River basin.
When Instream supplies are legally available, NISP will divert water from the Poudre River near the mouth of Poudre Canyon, into Glade Reservoir inundating the valley one mile north of highways 287 and 14. NISP's conditional water right for Glade Reservoir will be in priority usually in periods of peak spring run off or large rain events, and will divert a maximum of 1000 cubic-feet per second. Water stored in Glade reservoir will be delivered to the 16 participants via new pipelines or water exchanges.
In addition to Glade Reservoir, NISP will create Galeton Reservoir Northeast of the City of Greeley. For NISP to take full advantage of Northern's year-round water rights and meet consumptive needs, both reservoirs are necessary.
Growth in Colorado is clearly challenging our water supply, but fortunately the challenges are being addressed. Twice in recent years, the University of Denver has convened Strategic Issues Panels to address the Colorado water supply. As can be seen at htt p://www.du.edu/issues/reports/index.html the highlights of numerous recommendations include conservation and cooperation between urban and agricultural water consumers. Recreational water uses like rafting and kayaking are fun and consume almost no water, but their danger requires conscientious attention to safety. Similarly, consumptive water use for agricultural, industrial and domestic uses, fundamental to the quality of life in Colorado, requires aggressive management by both the public and private sectors.
12:46 PM - Jul. 29, 2008 - {0} -
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