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Colorado River Water Conservation District Statewide Water Supply Initfative Interests Statement Page 12 of 11 Programmatic Biological Opinions Description: A programmatic biological opinion (PHO) is in place for the Colorado River~ This PHO provides a measure of regulatory compliance with the Endangered Species Act and a measure of regulatory certainty for existing and future water depletions, including in...basin and out-of-basin diversions, to the Colorado River above the IS-Mile Reach~ A comparable PBO is nearing completion for the Yampa River and the Little Snake River. Additional PBOs need to be completed for the other basins of the River District: Gunnison, White, Green~ River District Interests vis a vis SWSI: 1. SWSI should recognize the need for completion of PBOs in the Gunnison, White, and Green River basins. 2. SWSI should recognize that PBOs are 'developed using consensus process. Statewide Water Development Allocation Description: The stated goal of the SWSI is to develop, rank and recommend alternatives to meet identified water supply needs -- an admirable goal, and an admittedly difficult task. It is critical though that the study also acknowledge that many areas of the State cannot reasonably identify their long-term water supply needs because those areas simply have not had the enormous population growth experienced by the Front Range. The constraints placed on Colorado's water development by interstate compacts and environmental demands mean that, at some point in the not-too..distant future, there may be no additional water available for consumptive use or to meet recreational demands. To ensure the future well-being of the entire State, it is therefore important that the SWSI also recognize the need to protect to a reasonable degree, the currently unidentified future water demands in areas beyond the Front Range. River District Interests vis a vis SWSI: 1. The SWSI should study potential methods to ensure adequate protection on both an inter- basin (encompassing more than one Water Division) and an intra-basin (within one Water Division) basis. For example, the White River basin should not have to bear all of the State's Colorado River compact delivery obligation in the future simply because that area has not developed as quickly as the main stem of the Colorado River.. Likewise, future water needs on the West-Slope should not be sacrificed to serve the recent explosive growth on the Front Range. SWSI Process Description: Contrary to the initial stated process to be used for SWSI, the second round of basin roundtable meetjngs have begun to focus on examining and recognizing specific projects, rather than first identifying and agreeing upon objectives, problems, and solutions to problems. A focus on projects puts the horse before the cart and, we believe, wifllead