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
availability) feasible. Agricultural users generally cannot
pay the cost of acquiring or developing new supplies
without subsidy of the water development costs.
Therefore, agricultural shortages will not be
addressed through the Identified Projects and
Processes (this section) and the Options for
Alternatives development (Sections 8 and 10) for all
basins unle~~ requested threugh the SWSI process.
As a result, agricultural shortages have only been
addressed in those basins where agricultural users have
indicated the potential for acquiring or developing new
supplies. In addition, agricultural users in the San Juan
Basin under the Dolores Water Conservancy District are
in the process of purchasing existing supplies and a
reservoir from another irrigation company to irrigate an
additional 4,000 acres. In the Yampa Basin, the
agricultural Roundtable members indicated the potential
to irrigate an additional 20,000 to 39,000 acres, if storage
and delivery systems can be permitted, financed, and
constructed.
6.1.3 Potential Approaches to Defining
Environmental and Recreational
Flow Enhancements
Since its implementation in 1973, CWCB's Instream Flow
Program has been successful filing water rights to
protect the "minimum stream flows or natural lake levels
or volumes necessary to preserve the natural
environment to a reasonable degree." The recent
addition by the State Legislature that granted the CWCB
authority to secure instream flows that "preserve or
improve the natural environment" provides an opportunity
to further enhance flows in Colorado's rivers and
streams. In addition, through the SWSI process,
programs that go beyond CWCB's minimum flow
requirements could be implemented where legally,
technically, politically, and economically feasible.
Recreational and environmental water needs are
generally in-channel flow-based and non-consumptive.
These uses have not traditionally been a major part of
water planning. Today, much of the work done to
address these flow-based needs is tied to agricultural or
M&I projects, and much of it is done solely for mitigation
of those project impacts. Roundtable and public
participants in SWSI expressed significant interest in
enhancing flows for recreational and environmental
needs beyond legally mandated mitigation levels.
Potential solutions were identified, such as RICDs, re-
operation of existing facilities for flow enhancement, or
dedicated or multi-use projects. For example, Elkhead
Reservoir enlargement in the Yampa Basin will provide
for water supply needs as well as a storage pool for
releases for endangered species. Wolcott Reservoir in
the Colorado Basin, if constructed, is intended to address
endangered species needs through the 15-mile reach in
the lower part of the Colorado River in Colorado and
water supply is another example of a project that can
serve multiple needs.
While flow enhancement for environmental and
recreational uses was identified by many SWSI
participants as being important, few Identified Projects
and Processes, aside from river compact deliveries and
the CWCB's instream flow program, directly address flow
enhancements beyond statutory legal requirements. In
support of future options with multi-benefit approaches,
several groups provided input to SWSI as to how the
state might consider developing a framework for setting
goals for these flows. Environmental Defense, Trout
Unlimited, and The Nature Conservancy (TNC) provided
structured feedback and input on the subject, and
suggested that this framework should include parameters
such as seasonal variability, which could include
occasional flood pulses, high flow periods, and steady
base flows, as many aquatic ecosystems benefit from
these flow conditions.
This section provides a synopsis of the input received
from these groups as a possible starting point for
defining environmental and recreational flow goals.
Further discussion at the CWCB Board and through the
Basin Roundtables or similar groups will be needed to
effectively assess whether and how to proceed with
incorporating some of these methods for use in
Colorado. More specific environmental and recreational
options or concepts that could be pursued, as brought
forth through the Basin Roundtable process and public
input, but that are not included on the list of Identified
Projects and Processes, are provided in Section 10.
6.1.3.1 Conserve, Protect, and Restore
Approach
One concept for environmental and recreational flow
management brought forth by environmental and
recreational interest group representatives in SWSI was
the "Conserve, Protect, and Restore° (CPR) approach.
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