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00630 than needed on 31 days, That is one,third of OUr SUllllner. In 1995, we would have varying degrees of short- ages of water on 69 days, equal to more than two full summer months, A water use schedule like that being used this year can spread the shortage equal. ly over the summer, but it is clear that the situa. tion will get progressively worse without the Foot. hills Treatment Plant and additional storage capac- ity, Drought periods will only aggravate a bad situation. Even if construction of the Foothills Plant can be started in early 1978, immediately after the Environmental 1mpact Statement (EIS) is finished and approval is received from the Bureau of Land Management to build the plant, the earliest possible relief will come in 1981, four years from now, A decision by the federal government that the Foot, hills Plant cannot be built, however, will require entirely new efforts to build treatment facilities at another location, and the water shortage could not be relieved until the mid to late 1980's, or perhaps much later, The adopted population projections of the Denver Regional Council of Governments indicate that there will be 2,350,000 people in the metro- politan Denver area in the year 2000, a nearly 50% increase over 1977, The bulk of these people would be served by the Foothills Treatment Plant as it is expanded in increments of 125 MGD to a maximum of 500 MGD, The additional three incre. ments need not be built, however, if the actual population turns out to be significantly lower than forecast, Building the first 125 MGD facilities, how. ever, is essential immediately to meet existing water supply needs, The three Denver system treatment plants - Kassler, Marston and Moffat - have a combined capacity of 520 MGD, That capacity has been approached at least once each summer since 1973 on peak use days, The added 125 MGD Foothills facilities are needed to avert exceeding treatment capacity and using treated water reserves main. tained as a safety factor. Economic Factors The cost of building the Foothills facilities is escalating at approximately $700,000 per month, or about $1,000 per hour, based on figures from the Engineering News Record Construction Index and the Handy.Whitman Index of Water Utility Construction Costs, recognized authorities in the construction industry, It is a well documented fact that these sources show that construction costs have been rising rap. idly for the last 44 months, Applied to the original construction cost estimate of $65 million for 125 MGD and the delays experienced, the cost, if autho. rized immediately, would exceed $133 million, This inflationary cost must be horne by customers Page 4 ~ COGnotations - July 1977 of the Denver Water Board through higher rates and charges, This cost is not borne by state or federal agencies but is a cost to local citizens, The availability of additional treated water will provide benefits to the economy in two direct ways, first, during the construction period, and second, when the Foothills Plant is operating, Several hundred people will be err,ployed during the three year construction period of the first 125 MGD phase, presumably 1978-1981. This would reduce unemployment by 1% or about 400 jobs, based on a January 1977 unemployment figure of 38,000 for the five.county area, Construction of the additional three 125 MGD increments would require an additional 1,350 manyears in three 1-3 year construction periods through 2001. Between 1978 and 1981, 400 families or individ. uals would have average annual incomes of $16,000 from employment at the foothills construction site, Altogether, for the first 125 MGD phase, about $133,539,000 in 1976 dollars would be spent over that period, most of it in the local economy for salaries, wages, supplies and equipment, The multi- pliereffect would create additional jobs and economic prosperity, but the number cannot be accurately estimated, The additional three increments of 125 MGD each will result in an expenditure of another $131,084,000 in 1976 dollars over the succeeding tw€nty years, concentrated in three separate con- struction periods, Though this amount is about equal to the cost of the first phase, the economic effect is less because it would be spread over anum. bel' of construction years, 5 to 8 years altogether. Once the 125 MGD plant is finished and operat- ing, 25 persons will be permanently employed, This would increase to 35 persons when the plant is fully expanded to 500 MOD, Though the num. bel' is small, their employment would be steady, which contributes to stable family life and a stable economy. While the construction jobs would end with opening the plant, a certain amount of the addi- tional treated water would be available to indus. trial and commercial concenlS \vhich provide jobs for family breadwinners, Statistics are not available, but it is clear that jobs are not possible without a reliable water supply, Partially because of the inadequacy of treatment capacity caused by the Foothills Project delays, the Denver Water Board, acting in a prudent manner, has instituted a limitation oD water taps for new homes for 1977, The limitation could extend into 1978 and beyond, This causes an economic hardship on construction firms, contributing to the boom- bust nature of their industry, and the unemploy. ment situation will be adversely affected by the layoff of home construction workers, Thus, instead of having jobs to build Foothills and jobs to build homes, several hnndred workers will not have jobs, Funds to bnilcl the first 12G MGD facilities are