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<br />County Commissioners and water utility managers have foreseen the need to acquire cost- <br />effective and sustainable water supplies to meet both current and projected water demands <br />for many years. The Douglas County Commissioners formed the Douglas County Water <br />Resource Authority in 1992. In addition to water providers in Douglas County, the Authority <br />was joined by three large water providers in south central Arapahoe County that have <br />similar water supply issues to the Douglas County water providers. The charge of the <br />Authority is to evaluate alternative water development strategies and to provide direction <br />that will lead to the implementation of cost-effective, reliable and sustainable water sources <br />for the future. <br /> <br />This chapter describes the baseline information for water demands and water sources used <br />by the water districts and towns in the South Denver Metropolitan Area. Figure l.l depicts <br />the Study Area and the water providers that are included in the South Metro Water Supply <br />Study. <br /> <br />2.2 Population and Land Use <br /> <br />2.2.1 General Population Growth Patterns - Douglas County and south-central Arapahoe <br />County lie in the South Denver Metropolitan Area and are characterized by very high rates <br />of growth in residential and commercial real estate. Douglas County covers an area of 840 <br />square miles with urban growth being directed to incorporated towns and Primary <br />Urbanization Areas (PUAs) (Reference 2.1). Figure 2.1 is the Douglas County <br />Comprehensive Master Plan Land Use Map and indicates the subdivisions and incorporated <br />towns that will be served by municipal water systems. This figure also describes the <br />preserved and conserved open space areas as well as state parks and federal national forest <br />lands. <br /> <br />This area of the state exhibited very low levels of urban development up through 1980 but <br />has been the focus for intensive development since that time. In the Douglas County <br />incorporated areas, year 2000 saw a residential construction growth rate of 13.4 percent. The <br />addition of 8,128 homes and 19,668 people in that one year surpassed all previous growth <br />records. Forty-eight percent of the new homes were constructed in PUAs while 35 percent of <br />new homes were built in incorporated towns. Over 3.57 million square feet of new <br />commercial construction was begun in Douglas County in 2000. <br /> <br />In Douglas County, the 1990 census identified a population of60,391 while the 2000 census <br />identified a population of 176,733 or an increase of 191 % over that decade. For the period <br />from 1990 to 2000, Arapahoe County overall saw a 24.6 % increase in population to <br />487,967 persons. The development patterns of the three member districts from Arapahoe <br />County participating in the South Metro Water Supply Study are more representative of the <br />Douglas County growth rates than those of Arapahoe County as a whole. <br /> <br />Page 2-2 <br /> <br />41 <br />41 <br />41 <br />41 <br />41 <br />41 <br />41 <br />41 <br />41 <br />41 <br />41 <br />41 <br />41 <br />41 <br />41 <br />41 <br />. <br />. <br />. <br />. <br />. <br />. <br />. <br />. <br />. <br />. <br />. <br />. <br />. <br />. <br />. <br />. <br />. <br />. <br />. <br />. <br />. <br />. <br />. <br />. <br />. <br />. <br />I <br />