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<br />. Planning helps to communicate the value of water and water conservation to the <br />municipality and/ or district including the following potential benefits: <br />o Extending the water supply <br />o Improving system reliability <br />o Reducing non-point source pollution <br />o Increasing stream flows <br />o Creating positive public relations <br /> <br />Planning - Challenges <br /> <br />. Having reliable, accurate, available data upon which to base planning efforts is always a <br />challenge. <br />. Customer attitudes and behaviors can be slow to change or accept water conservation - <br />plan anyway. <br />. Resources can be widely dispersed and hard to fmd. <br />. There may be legal impediments to implementing some water conservation measures and <br />programs - such as some types of water rate structures, xeriscape (depending on zoning <br />and covenants), land use regulations, etc. <br />. Internal politics and attitudes may create resistance to effective water conservation <br />planning, if appropriate individuals and/ or departments cannot be engaged. <br />. Climate change impacts and implications may affect the nature and need for water <br />conservation planning. <br />. A better understanding of customer water use around the 2003 drought needs to be <br />developed (e.g., determine if customer demand has changed permanently). <br />. Some water billing software may not allow for tiered rate structures, monthly billings, <br />and/ or water budgets. <br />. Regional water conservation planning in Colorado may be needed in some areas, especially <br />in those areas with multiple districts and overlapping jurisdictions. <br />. A complete understanding of the regional water system with respect to water conservation <br />impacts - e.g., return flow impacts, water quality effects, etc. - is not currently well <br />understood. <br />. The use of saved water needs to be better evaluated and weighed with respect to improving <br />system reliability, supporting growth, etc. <br />. The value of water conservation must be balanced with evaluation of other water resources <br />management programs including creation and/ or expansion of available storage, instream <br />flow needs, return flows, etc. <br />. Smaller communities have a particularly acute need for fmancial support from the CWCB <br />to assist in their planning efforts. <br /> <br />Implementation Successes <br />Once a plan is in place, implementation can be focused on those measures and programs that will <br />support achieving the identified goals. Examples of implementation issues that have been identified <br />are: <br /> <br />. Start water conservation programs with meters on all customers. <br />