BOARD00055 ‎(2)‎

• Board Meeting Date: 11/13/2006
• Description: IBCC Director's Report - Interbasin Compact Committee Annual Report to the House of Representatives Com. On Agriculture, Livestock, Natural Resources, and Senate Com. On Agriculture, Energy, Natural
• Board Meetings - Doc Type: Memo

2.5 Metro Basin

2.5.1 Procedural Accomplishments

The Metro Basin Roundtable meets regularly on the
second Wednesday of each month. Mr. Doug Scott was
elected Chair of the Metro Basin Roundtable and as a
representative to the IBCC. Mr. Gary Thompson
appointed to serve as recorder and Mr. Chips Barry was
elected as the second representative to the IBCC, as
required by Section 37-75-104(b)(II) of the Act. The
Metro Basin Roundtable elected five non-voting at large
members.

As required by Section 37-75-1 04(a)(I) of the Act, the
Metro Basin Roundtable adopted bylaws and established
basin goals on December 7,2006. The Metro
Roundtable has formed a Groundwater Subcommittee
and a Needs Assessment Subcommittee.

2.5.2 Metro Basin Educational

Accomplishments

The Metro Basin Roundtable received presentations on
SWSI, water conservation issues, the Denver Water
Integrated Resources Plan, beliefs and values of water
providers, and economic and population forecasting in
Colorado. The presentations received by the Metro Basin
Roundtable are available on the Colorado Water for the
21 sl Century section of the DNR website.

2.5.3 Metro Basin Needs Assessment

Accomplishments

An Interim Water Supply and Needs Report for the South
Platte Basin and Denver/South Metro Counties was
prepared utilizing information from the SWSI Report as-
required by Section 37-75-104(c)(II). The report was
distributed and presented to the South Platte Basin
Roundtable at the July 12, 2006, meeting. Mr. Rick
Brown of CWCB and Mr. Kelly DiNatale of CDM
presented on how the information for the SWSI Report
was developed.

$:\IBC Support\Report fa leglslature\Sectlon 2 final.doc

Section 2
Reports From Basin Roundtables
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2.5.4 Major Water Issues in the Metro

Basin

Based on the findings in the needs assessment, the
Basin Roundtables are tasked with identifing major water
issues in their basin and proposing projects or methods
to meet those needs. The major water issues in each
basin as identified during SWSI served as a starting point
for the Basin Roundtables to further develop and refine
their own list of major water issues. Following are some
of the major issues in the South Platte Basin identified in
SWSI:

. Colorado's most diverse and industrialized basin.
Agriculture is still a dominant water use but rapid
changes are occurring and the impacts to rural
communities are a key concern.

. Competition for water is fierce and it is unclear how
much competition there is for the same water
supplies.

. The lack of any new major water storage in the last
20 years has led to reliance on non-renewable
groundwater in Douglas, Arapahoe, and northern EI
Paso (EI Paso County is in the Arkansas Basin)
Counties. Explosive growth in these counties coupled
with the lack of surface water supplies led to the
creation of multiple small water districts and makes
coordinated water development a challenge and less
efficient especially in light of limited renewable
surface water supplies.

. Water reuse and conservation are major components
to meeting future water needs but this will put added
pressure on agriculture as return flows diminish.

. The urban landscape is very important to the
economy and an important component to quality of
life.

. Transfers of agricultural water rights to M&I use will
continue to be a significant option for meeting future
needs.

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