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<br />Section 9 <br />Options for Meeting Future Water Needs <br /> <br />- <br />. -~'-~"-j- <br />Logan ./ <br />Mesa ./ <br />Mineral ./ <br />Moffat ./ <br />Montezuma ./ <br />Montrose ./ <br />Morgan ./ <br />otero ./ <br />Ouray ./ <br />Park ./ <br />Phillips ./ <br />Pitkin ./ <br />Prowers ./ <br />Pueblo ./ <br />Rio Blanco ./ <br />Rio Grande ./ <br />Routt ./ <br />Saguache ./ <br />San Juan ./ <br />San Miguel ./ <br />Sedgwick ./ <br />Summit ./ <br />Teller ./ <br />Washington ./ <br />Weld ./ <br />Yuma ./ <br /> <br />Source: survey by Colorado Municipal League. <br /> <br />9.2.1.2 Evaluating New Supply from M&I Water <br /> <br />Conservation <br /> <br />The ability to develop new supplies from water <br />conservation or to carry over conserved water for later <br />use is dependent on the type of water rights used. <br />The potential for conservation must be evaluated on <br />an individual M&I water provider basis, considering <br />the types of water rights owned and the return flow <br />obligations that apply to these water rights. Figure 9-2 <br />illustrates the M&I return flow cycle for surface water <br />diversions. The benefits of water conservation <br />include: <br /> <br />. Implementation costs can be significantly lower <br />than new water supply development or other <br />alternatives. <br /> <br />. There are no permitting requirements to <br />implement water conservation. <br /> <br />. Implementation is within the control of the local <br />water provider and does not require approval of <br />other entities. <br /> <br />S:\1177\BASIN REPORTS\NORTH PLATTElS9_NORTH PLATTE. DOC <br /> <br />. No new diversions are required from rivers or <br />streams. <br /> <br />. Existing water supplies can be stretched to supply <br />demands of new growth. <br /> <br />. Lesser environmental impacts than new water <br />storage development <br /> <br />. Can reduce water and wastewater treatment, <br />distribution, collection, capital, and operations and <br />maintenance costs. <br /> <br />Some of the issues involved in evaluating the net <br />available water supply produced from M&I water <br />conservation are: <br /> <br />. M&I direct flow water rights cannot be stored or <br />carried over for drought periods (absent a change of <br />use proceeding in water court), thus conserving water <br />and reducing the demand on direct flow rights may <br />not create reliable supply to meet new demands (for <br />example for new growth.) <br /> <br />. CU water rights, such as transbasin, non-tributary, <br />groundwater, or CU agricultural transfers, on the <br />other hand, can be stored. If the overall demands on <br />CU supplies can be reduced, the "saved" water can <br />be used to meet the demands of new growth, improve <br />reliability or both, if adequate storage is available to <br />carry over the conserved water for use in drought <br />periods. <br /> <br />. Many M&I water users have substantial agricultural <br />rights that provide for the diversion of the entire <br />historical amount of irrigation use as long as CU is not <br />increased and historical return flows are maintained. <br /> <br />Consumption on <br />Outdoor Uses <br /> <br />Consumption on <br />Indoor Uses <br /> <br /> <br />Figure 9-2 <br />Return Flows from M&I Use of Surface Water <br /> <br />CONI <br /> <br />9-5 <br />