Celebrate WATER FLUENCY

Colorado Basin

Roundtable in cooperation with the

Negotiating our Water Futurein Colorado & the Colorado River Basin

Water 2012.org

OverviewColorado Water Overview (Water 2012 Speakers Bureau –

statewide education effort)

Water supply challengesIn ColoradoBasin-wide

Constraints on water useThe Colorado Basin’s predicament Statewide water planning/ seeking

solutions:•Key Players•Basin Roundtable role

•Trade-offs•How you can participate

Celebrate…because water is important for all that we do

Celebrate…because Colorado is a headwaters state

Snow falls in the mountains

Builds as snowpack

And drains in the spring and summer. Nourishing 19 states and Mexico

Celebrate… because water has shaped Colorado’s

historySince the beginnings of settlement, mining and

agriculture

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Then what’s the problem?

Population is increasing but there’s no “new” water

Many uses compete for a scarce and limited water supply

Municipal & Industrial9%

Agriculture86%

Recreation

Environment

8

Colorado’s “Gap”

Colorado River Basin Gap – it’s already here:

This year – we dodged a bullet:

Constraints on water use: Solutions must recognize existing laws and agreements

Colorado Water LawColorado River Basin Compact

Basics of Colorado Water Law:First in time, first in rightWater rights are property rights.

1922 Compact: Upper Basin states must “not cause the flow of the River at Lee Ferry to be depleted below an aggregate of 75,000,000 acre feet in any 10 consecutive years.”

Colorado Basin’s Predicament

• The 80/20 problem• Stresses• Water Planning/ Seeking Solutions

- 80% of Colorado’s population is on the Front Range.- 80% of Colorado’s precipitation falls on the Western Slope.

Result: Transmountain Diversions

Full report available at: http://www.nwccog.org/index.php/programs/water-qualityquantity-committee/

Figures from report “Water and its Relationship to the Economies of the Headwaters Counties,” commissioned by the Northwest

Colorado Council of governments.

StressesHeadwaters: Low, Flat Flows

Flows reduced by transmountain diversions.Ecosystem impacts: degraded habitat for fish, riparian

vegetationEconomic impacts: impediment to growth, tourism

Middle section: Flows depend on Shoshone Call

Water quality concerns: natural gas drilling, saline springsRapid population growth

Lower section: Flows depend on Cameo, Shoshone

Salts and selenium leach into river when water percolates through soils.

Less high-mountain water makes river saltier.

CO Water Planning - Key Players

Interest Groups Institutions

Water utilitiesFarmersIndustryEnvironmental

AdvocatesRecreation

AdvocatesLocal governments

CO Water Conservation Board (CWCB): State studies & funding

Basin Roundtables: Stakeholder groups established by the legislature for “bottom-up” planning

Inter-basin Compact Committee (IBCC): Roundtable of Roundtables

Conservation Ag to Urban

Transfers

New Projects(Colorado Basin development)

Roundtables developed preferred portfolios of these elements to fill the gap & contribute to a statewide water

plan scheduled for completion in 2015.

IBCC called for the “4-legged stool” Already planned projects (Windy Gap firming, Moffat Collection System, others) plus:

Colorado Basin Roundtable: Seeking Solutions

Assessing NeedsConsumptive needs: “the gap” inside the basin is manageableWater & energy study: appears to be enough water in the

Yampa/White Basin to support oil shale developmentNon-consumptive: mapping attributes+ flow evaluation tool

Funding ProjectsReservoir enlargementsWatershed planningStudiesProjects to address environmental and recreational needs

Planning and NegotiatingAnalyzing the GapWeighing Trade-offsNegotiating with other Basin Roundtables

Trade-off issues: Agricultural losses east of the divide generally go

up as Colorado River Water development goes down.

Agriculture on the Western Slope is highly inter-dependent with agriculture on the eastern plains.

Many are worried about risk: To eastern plains agriculture if we “underdevelop”

the Colorado.Of a “compact curtailment” if we overdevelop it.

Disagreement over how much can be saved via conservation: more regulation may be required for bigger savings.

How You Can Participate: Monitor developments via e-newsletter; sign up at

www.coloradomesa.edu/watercenter to subscribe. Attend Colorado Basin Roundtable meetings: 4th Monday

each month, 1-4pm, Glenwood Springs Community CenterTalk to your Basin Roundtable Representatives. Find the

list at: http://www.coloradomesa.edu/WaterCenter/documents/ColoBRTlist.pdf

www.ColoradoMesa.Edu/WaterCenter

Water2012.org