Metro & South Platte Minutes from 10-11-06

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Colorado Water for the 21 st Century Joint Meeting of Metro Roundtable and South Platte Basin Roundtable October 11,2006 4:00 - 7:40 PM Denver Merchandise Mart Doug Scott and Bill Jerke jointly chaired the meeting. Phyllis Thomas, a University of Phoenix doctoral student, asked the members to participate in a survey concerning collaboration and trust. Eric Hecox reported that COM was selected as the contractor to provide technical assistance for the Roundtables. Eric is the project manager with respect to task orders. Procedures for this technical assistance have not yet been finalized. The first available money from the Water Supply Reserve Account (per SB-179) may be available in January 2007. The joint working group submitted a draft of the Criteria and Guidelines, which may be approved within the next few weeks by the CWCB and the IBCC for allocating grant money for various tasks. A report to the legislature for the Basin Roundtable process is due by October 31. Most of this report is being prepared by the CWCB staff. They are working on reports of the activities by each basin roundtable. Rick McLoud gave a presentation on the Chatfield Reservoir Reallocation project. Chatfield has 210,000 acre-feet of existing flood control capacity, of which 20,600 acre-feet can be potentially reallocated to other purposes. This space will be divided among a large number of participants. The re-allocation would increase the current 9-foot water level fluctuations at Chatfield to a total of 21 feet. Studies related to environmental and recreation impacts are about % completed. About $3,000,000 has been spent on this project to date by the federal government, the CWCB, and participants. Cost of the reallocated storage space is projected to be $6,000 per acre-foot, but that is only a guess because mitigation costs are unknown at this time. John Hendrick reported on the South Metro Water Supply update study that was conducted by the South Metro Water Supply Study Board. The focus of the study was an inventory and an analysis of the future reliability of Denver Basin groundwater. Such groundwater currently serves 85% to 90% of the south metro population. The study indicates that Denver Basin aquifer costs will increase and productivity will decrease, eventually making such water uneconomical for future use. The South Metro Water Supply Authority was formed in August 2004. There are five directors from East Cherry Creek Valley, Parker, Centennial, Castle Rock, and a director from other smaller entities. The Authority seeks to Page 10f2