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<br />Q;) <br /> <br />.. ..& ~' if <br /> <br /> <br />WATER QUALITY / QUANTITY COMMITTEE (QQ) <br /> <br />, ED <br />DEe 0 1 2003 <br /> <br />Post Office Box 2308 · Silverthorne, Colorado 80498 <br />(970) 468-0295 · Fax: (970) 468-1208 · emall: qqwater@coloradolnet <br /> <br />Cc'(oredo '1\Ia!~r 'Conservation Board <br /> <br />November 19, 2003 <br /> <br />Ken Salazar <br />Attorney General <br />Of.fj.ce of the Attorney General, State of Colorado <br />1525 Sherman Street, '7th Floor <br />Denver; CO ,80203 <br /> <br />Re,' Water Matters <br /> <br />Dear Ken~ <br /> <br />We received a copy of you ~etter to Senator Entz and Sel1ator Hoppe concerning water <br />matters. We were.pleased to see your office tal<e a leadership role in this enormously important <br />issue. From our point ofview~ the Colorado water supply crisis has been exacerbated by too few <br />leaders wh,Q are willing to take a state~wide perspective~ - <br /> <br />Northwest Colorado Council of Governments, an active participant in water resource <br />planning over the last thirty years, has learned that there are a plethora of options to meet the. <br />state's water supply needs, but institutional and political barriers frequently blocI( evaluation and <br />implementation of viable solutions. The technical issues associated with water supply plalll1ing <br />are complex, in part, because all of the ~;:easy" water projects have been built. Nevertheless, <br />there are very talented) knowledgeable people who have devoted their careers to working <br />through the complexity to develop realistic sollltions. These solutions, however, require that <br />multiple jllrisdictions and interest grollps worle together in a concentrated and coordinated effort. <br />Wolford Mountain Reservoir and Clinton Reservoir are examples of water supply SOllltions that <br />were implemented because of coordinated efforts alnong jurisdictions representing very differe11t <br />interests and points of view. You Inay be aware that there ar~ on~going water supply planning <br />efforts ill the Eagle River Basin and in the Fraser and Bltle River Basins sponsored by <br />jurisdictiollS from the east and west,s~de ofti1e continental divide4 T11ese effo11s emerged <br />without the be11efit of state sponsorship or legislation because forward-tllillking water plalUlers <br />'recognize that it is essential to sponsor cooperative effor~s that are designed to siIllultaneously <br />meet many different needs. FrOIn this experience, we welcome an opportunity to explore the <br />cOllcept of a south.lnetropoJitan water authority, or similar entity to coordinate t]1e ~fforts of the <br />lTIultiple jllrisdictions that are vying for the san1e growth and the same \vater~ Complex tech11ical <br />solutions reqtlire integrated water resource planning, <br /> <br />Y Ollr letter describes SOl11e of tl1e state-sponsored plal1nillg efforts, sllc11 as tile State\vide <br />Water Supply Investigation and the South Metropolitan Water Stlpply Study. Members of <br />Northw~st Colorado Council of Gover11ments support and participate in these, and otller state <br />