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<br />Statewide Water Supply Initiative <br />Foreword <br />November 15,2004 <br />Page 2 <br /> <br />But with the help of hundreds of Coloradans, that is what the Statewide Water Supply Initiative did, and the <br />end result is invaluable. For the first time, we know: <br /> <br />. How much water Colorado will need in 2030, basin by basin; <br />. What is being done to address our water needs, statewide and by basin; <br />. How much we are short, and where we are short; and <br />. What is being done, and what more can be done, about the shortfall. <br /> <br />This information will provide the critical foundation for local water providers and other decision-makers to <br />ensure that we take the necessary steps to provide Coloradans with a safe and reliable water supply. <br /> <br />The Initiative raises serious issues. What will we do to address the impact oflosing more than 400,000 acres <br />of irrigated farmlands that will be taken out of production as water is transferred from agricultural to <br />municipal use? What will we do about the dozens of smaller, rural water providers that don't have the <br />financial and planning resources they require to plan and build much needed projects? What steps can be <br />taken to protect the rapidly depleting and non-renewable groundwater upon which many Colorado <br />communities rely? How can we ensure protection of our natural environment? These and other issues will be <br />important for state and local decision-makers to address. <br /> <br />This report does not provide all the answers. No single study can answer questions that have been challenging <br />the best minds of the state for decades. But what SWSI does is provide a common foundation from which all <br />Coloradans can work together to forge solutions that meet all of our needs. <br /> <br />SWSI is not an end - it is a beginning. The next phases of the Initiative will explore issues that reach across <br />river basins and will examine in more detail opportunities to develop and protect our water resources. But <br />even beyond these next phases, SWSI should continue well into the future, not as a state-sponsored study, but <br />as a forum for collaboration and cooperation that brings together all water users across all regions of the state <br />to map out our water future. It is this kind of approach that offers us the best hope for our future. <br /> <br />~ -:::...-t< <<....-,/t -1---"'1. vj/.--- <br />j <br /> <br />/)./?/ d' (":,., ~~~ <br />. -- <br /> <br />Russell George <br />Executive Director <br />Colorado Department of Natural Resources <br /> <br />Keith Catlin <br />Chair <br />Colorado Water Conservation Board <br />