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Colorado River Water Conservation District Statewide Water Supply Initiative Interests Statement February, 2004 Introduction The Colorado Water Conservation Board is undertaking a Statewide Water Supply Initiative (SWSI). SWSI is a comprehensive examination, basin-by-basin, of water needs throughout the statef The objective of the study is to develop, rank and recommend alternatives to meet identified water supply needs. The Colorado River Water Conservation District sits in the midst of the lion~s share of the water supply issues facing the state~ These include existing and possible future transmountain diversions from the Upper Colorado Ri ver Basin to the burgeoning demands of the Front Range and east slope of Colorado, stretching from Fort Collins to Pueblo, and possibly including a new transmountain diversion from the Gunnison Basin.. In addition, and closely related to the issue of transmountain diversions, the River District is actively engaged in assessing, developing, and acquiring water supplies to satisfy West Slope water needs. In years past, the River District has focused primarily on trying to minimize transmountain diversions and absent that, seeing that impacts are appropriately mitigated. More recently, the River District has pursued collaborative efforts that result in benefits to the West Slope. Examples of these include the construction of Wolford Mountain Reservoir, and the Upper Colorado Study (UPCO) and the South Metro Water Supply Investigation (DODGeO), which are just now entering the "solutions" phase. SWSI can be viewed as both a threat and an opportunity to the River District.. A threat in that SWSI could result in a reconnnended water supply alternative that is contrary to and, in effect, trumps a consensus...based solution that might otherwise come from one of our collaborative efforts. But SWSI also represents an opportunity for the River District to further its interests, both with respect to transmountain diversions and our need to develop water resources for in-basin needs. In fact, we have already raised OUf concerns with SWSI upsetting current collaborative efforts and the CWCB and the study consultant have assured us that SWSI will not interlere and will complement these planning efforts. The purpose of this paper is to explicitly identify the Ri ver District's interests as they might apply to SWSI~ This is done both basin-by-basin and River District...wide. It is hoped that this will serve to allow the various River District staff and board members who are participating in the study, whether on the basin roundtables or as members of the public, to consistently and effectively communicate the River District's objectives and interests~ The interests identified below are consistent with existing Board direction and policy.