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S~Ct1011 8 Options for Meeting Future Water Needs ~~7r~~ Statewide Water Supply Initiafive 8.1 Developing Options for Future Water Needs This section outlines the broad strategies that can be used to address Colorado's water supply needs. These strategies are comprises of different methods or "options" that can be implemented independently or in combination with other options. When several options are combined, the resulting portfolio of options is termed a water supply alternative. A group of individual options that are similar in nature can also be combined into "families of options" as described in the next subsection. Implementation of the Identified Projects and Processes is critical to meeting Colorado's future water demands. Unless these projects and plans move forward, significant additional water supplies, in addition to the remaining gaps projected in Section 6, will be required. As discussed in Section 6, through the Basin Roundtable process it was determined that approximately 80 percent of Colorado's future water supply needs can be addressed via projects and processes that are being pursued by local water providers. Water supply options that could be used to address the remaining 20 percent and the uncertainty associated with the Identified Projects and Processes were developed during the Basin Roundtable process. This section discusses these options and their pros and cons. 8.2 Families of Options The Identified Projects and Processes listed in Section 6 and additional future options generally fall under one of the following categories, or "families" of options: ^ Water Conservation, including: - Active M&I Conservation - Agricultural Efficiency Measures ^ Agricultural Transfers, including: - Permanent Agricultural Transfer - Interruptible Agricultural Transfer - Rotating Agricultural Transfer Fallowing with Firm Yield for Agriculture ^ Development of Additional Storage, including: - Development of New Storage Facilities - Enlargement of Existing Storage Facilities ^ Conjunctive Use of Surface Water and Groundwater, including: - Bedrock Aquifers - Alluvial Aquifers ^ M&I Reuse, including: - Water Rights Exchanges - Non-potable Reuse - Indirect Potable Reuse ^ Control of Non-Native Phreatophytes The options included under these categories can be evaluated individually or in combination to help meet the remaining water supply needs for each basin. The likelihood that these options will be successfully implemented and sustainable depends, in part, on the public and institutional support. That support is to a large extent dependent on how well each option meets the SWSI water management objectives. Thus, the above options were evaluated in terms of their performance according to the management objectives and grouped into alternatives. A brief description of water use in Colorado can help put in context the limitations of some of these alternatives that would produce additional water supplies through increasing the efficiency of water uses. More detail regarding basic provisions of Colorado water law can be found in Section 4. At the start of the SWSI Basin Roundtable process, the overriding objective of compliance with the Colorado water rights system and interstate compacts provided the framework for evaluating potential strategies for meeting future water needs. A primary tenet of Colorado water law applicable to water rights change of use is that return flows resulting from beneficial use of water under an appropriation are "owed" to the stream, where they provide water for subsequent appropriators. This tenet derives from the fact that typically not all the water diverted from the stream is 100 percent consumed. For example, when irrigating crops, water may seep into the ground as it is conveyed through the irrigation canal or infiltrate into the ground once it is applied to the field. Much of this ~~ a4~E~t t ~>~~.5~?'I ,o ~ -,~ ~ S:\REPORT\WORD PROCESSING\REPORT\S8 11-9-04.DOC