S6_11-15-04

• Basin: Statewide
• Title: SWSI Phase 1 Report - Section 6 Water Needs Assessment
• Date: 11/15/2004
• Author: CWCB
• SWSI - Doc Type: Final Report

Section 6
Water Needs Assessment
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As described in Section 5, all types of water use, from
M&I to agricultural, recreational to environmental, are
expected to be significant in 2030. Using input and
feedback from the Basin Roundtables as a foundation,
SWSI examined how the future water needs of each use
and user could be met. Water providers and users,
interest groups, organizations, and individuals throughout
Colorado have identified a plethora of potential solutions
to address future needs. In many cases, water
management solutions were more numerous and further
developed for M&I uses, while agricultural, recreational,
and environmental solutions were fewer or more
conceptual in nature. This is partially a result of the
technical, planning, and financial resources available to
M&I users that allow for more detailed planning and
financial resources for implementation.
This section documents the methods employed and
results of SWSI's efforts to:
^ Catalog and characterize specific water management
solutions that are being contemplated around the
state for each type of use.
^ Identify the amount of water, by basin and subbasin,
that will be produced by projects or processes that are
expected to move forward with a reasonable degree
of certainty by 2030 - called "Identified Projects and
Processes" in SWSI.
^ Estimate the remaining amount of water needed (the
"gap" in supply) in each basin to meet 2030 needs,
assuming each of the Identified Projects and
Processes completely meets its supply goals.
^ Consider the potential implications if a portion of the
Identified Projects and Processes are not successfully
implemented.
Supply availability is discussed in Section 7. Water
management solutions that are less ready for
implementation, but could be considered for addressing
the remaining "gap" between supply and demands (after
subtracting the yields of the Identified Projects and
Processes), are described in Section 8.
Key findings of the water needs assessment conducted
under SWSI include:
^ Most M&I water providers that responded to survey
data requests indicated that they either have
identified plans or processes underway to meet their
estimated demands through 2030.
^ It is critical that the Identified Projects and Processes
are successfully implemented to meet those future
M&I needs or the gap between supply and demand
will increase.
^ While M&I demands will increase substantially by
2030, as much as 80 percent of that increase could
be met through the successful implementation of the
Identified Projects and Processes already underway
or planned for implementation by M&I water
providers.
^ Solutions for addressing agricultural, recreational, and
environmental water needs are less well-defined and
less certain in their implementation due to a number
of factors, such as funding constraints, or an inability
or mechanism for the beneficiary to contribute
financially.
^ The CWCB has one of the most proactive and
ambitious instream flow programs in the United
States. CWCB's instream flow programs have been in
existence since 1973 and have protected
approximately 8,500 miles of Colorado streams and
approximately 500 natural lake levels. The CWCB is
authorized to acquire and file water rights to protect
the natural environment to a reasonable degree. As
part of the SWSI process, many of the Basin
Roundtable members expressed the desire to explore
other mechanisms beyond CWCB's flow authorities.
^ To date, other than through CWCB's instream flow
program, there is no coordinated process or widely-
accepted method for estimating recreational and
environmental flow enhancement goals or prioritizing
stream segments or ecological areas for such
enhancement.
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S:\REPORIIWORD PROCESSING\REPORllS6 11-8-04.DOC