Demand_Forecast

• Title: SWSI Water Demand Forecast
• Date: 8/6/2004
• SWSI - Doc Type: Supporting Documents

state. The Drought Survey 2000 water use data totals by basin are below the
preliminary SWSI M&I estimates for 2000 for each basin.

The USGS preliminary estimates of 2000 M&I water use in Colorado were
obtained. The total USGS estimate is 1.216 million acre-feet for 2000
compared to the SWSI preliminary estimate of 2000 water use of 1.195
million acre-feet. The USGS estimates by county, when aggregated by basin,
provide basin estimates that are lower than the SWSI estimated 2000 water
demand for some basins while higher in others.

A number of independent water demand studies from entities throughout
the state were reviewed. These demand studies are listed in Appendix D.
Many of these independent studies provided estimates of future increases in
water demands without documenting the base year demand. Thus, a
comparison of base year, or total water demand estimates is not possible. To
the extent possible, one study was selected to represent each basin as shown
in Table 12. Few of the selected studies covered entire basins and many
studies had base years other than 2000. Given these differences, one would
expect that the SWSI water demand estimates would exceed the base year
water demand estimates from the selected independent studies. One study,
that conducted by the Colorado Farm Bureau in 1996 provided a statewide
estimate of water demand of 1.0 million acre-feet for the year 2000.

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IV. Preliminary SWSI Water Demand Estimates