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Appendix I <br />Overview of Relevant Funding Programs <br />2001's $2.88 billion to Fiscal Year 2002's <br />$2.055 billion. <br />Overall, the ongoing and upcoming EPA initiatives and <br />regulatory actions emanating from CWA implementation <br />will likely be a focus of water project operations, <br />agricultural conservation program application, and to <br />address water quality issues in many parts of Colorado. <br />programs have significantly changed in recent years <br />(particularly since the 1996 Farm Bill). While the <br />economic incentives and the production control elements <br />remain, there has been increased focus on <br />environmentally-based conservation of species habitat, <br />wetlands, and grasslands/rangelands. <br />Local Entities <br />U.S. Department of Agriculture: Rural <br />Development <br />Looking beyond the traditional action and regulatory <br />agencies impacting water management and <br />infrastructure development for potential agency partners <br />is important to supporting comprehensive water resource <br />strategies. For instance, the USDA Rural Utilities Service <br />(RUS) oversees $750 million annually in grants and <br />loans for development of water projects in rural <br />communities, and for rural, agriculturally-based <br />communities. <br />The USDA RUS Water Programs Division oversees four <br />programs providing technical and financial assistance for <br />development and operation of safe and affordable water <br />supply systems, as well as sewage and other waste <br />disposal facilities: <br />^ Water and Waste Disposal Loans and Grants <br />^ Emergency Community Water Assistance Grants <br />^ Technical Assistance and Training Grants <br />^ Solid Waste Management Grants <br />Rura! Economic and Development Loan Proqram <br />This Rural Business Cooperative Service program <br />provides zero interest loans and grants for water <br />infrastructure projects that are critical to economic <br />development in rural areas (less than 20,000 residents). <br />U.S. Department of Agriculture: Farm Bill <br />Conservation Title Programs <br />Farm Bill Conservation Title programs may also provide <br />federal funding assistance where water quality, habitat <br />conservation, and watershed protection are an integral <br />part of a community's or region's resource management <br />plans. The USDA directs a number of programs <br />designed to provide farmers with economic incentives to <br />alter cropping patterns for environmental benefit. <br />Originally conceived as the Soil Conservation Service, <br />and focused on preventing overworking farmland and <br />creating a dustbowl and for checking production, these <br />~~ <br />The list of local entities in Colorado that currently provide <br />for water project financing includes municipal utilities, <br />conservancy districts, and conservation districts. The <br />largest and oldest of the state <br />- utilities is Denver Water, an <br />~ independent agency from the City of <br />~ Denver servicin over 1 million <br />~7ENVE~i '~u/~~~it g <br />people in the Denver metro area. <br />Denver Water operates from a Water Works Fund, which <br />is separate from the City's general fund, and received <br />receipts of $220.3 million in 2002 (Denver Water 2003). <br />The agency owns 2,552 miles of water mains, 18 <br />pumping stations, 34 underground reservoirs, and draws <br />water from 13 surface reservoirs owned or leased by the <br />utility.~o <br />Conservancy districts were created in 1937, in part to <br />allow agricultural and municipal users to pool resources <br />to build water facilities. Conservancy districts are created <br />by petitions from local residents within the district area, <br />with boards that are appointed by districtjudges. The <br />focus of conservancy districts tends to be on specific <br />local needs, and the role of the districts includes the <br />construction and operation of water projects. <br />Conservancy districts have the authority to levy taxes <br />and to use the power of eminent domain (Quillen 2001). <br />The first conservancy district formed was the Northern <br />Colorado Water <br />Northem Colowdo Water Conservancy District <br />~ (NCWCD), which <br />- - was created to <br />Conservancy DistricF contract with the <br />BOR to build and <br />operate the Colorado-Big Thompson Project - a massive <br />transmountain system that delivers 220,000 AF of water <br />annually east across the continental divide.~~ NCWCD <br />generated over $20 million in revenue from property <br />~~ Denver Water website (www.water.denver.co.gov/ <br />aboutdw/aboutdwframe. html) <br />~~ NCWCD website (http://www.ncwcd.org/project&features/ <br />cbt_main.asp) <br />~J~~a <br />Statew~itle Water Supply Inii'iative <br />S:\REPORTWPPENDICESWPPENDIX I FILESWPPENDIX I OVERVIEW OF RELEVANT FUNDING PROGRAMS.DOC <br />