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Section 2 <br />Conservation and Efficiency Technical Roundtable <br />cases are already an integral part of meeting future <br />water demands, and are part of water provider's <br />future plans. This section is intended to provide <br />information and resources to support water <br />providers as they pursue both meaningful water <br />conservation and efficiency measures as well as <br />traditional water storage and development <br />projects. This section explores the role that <br />conservation and efficiency can play in meeting <br />future water needs and provides recommendations <br />that encourage Colorado to move to more effective <br />conservation and efficiency programs, while at the <br />same time respecting local planning and protection <br />of water rights and private property. <br />During SWSI and the TRT process, some providers <br />expressed concern that the work described in this <br />section could be used to interfere with or be used <br />as justification to put at risk or eliminate <br />structural solutions that water providers are <br />pursuing to meet current and future water demand <br />and provide drought protection. It is not the intent <br />of CWCB to interfere with local decisionmaking or <br />endanger projects and processes that were <br />identified by local water providers in the 2004 <br />SWSI Report as necessary to meeting long-term <br />water needs. <br />The primary policy debate that emerged from this <br />TRT can generally be characterized in the <br />following manner: <br />~ On the one hand, water providers recognize the <br />important role that conservation plays in <br />reducing future demands. At the same time, <br />since conservation measures take decades to <br />fully implement, and given the fact that there is <br />uncertainty in the total amount of water saving <br />that can be achieved, water providers also <br />believe they must concurrently pursue <br />structural water storage and management <br />projects to ensure that future water needs are <br />met. <br />~ On the other hand, some conservation and <br />environmental interests believe that <br />conservation can be cost-effective and should be <br />pursued first; before storage and other <br />structural projects are constructed. <br />These two schools of thought clearly have validity <br />and additional agreement and consensus building <br />should be pursued to allow more timely and <br />effective implementation of both structural water <br />projects and conservation measures. The following <br />realities should be considered in bringing water <br />providers and conservation and environmental <br />interests together. <br />~ Some conservation measures take decades to <br />fully implement <br />~ Each water provider's system and water rights <br />are different and local planners are in the best <br />position to make decisions on the timing and <br />the nature of the water needs of their <br />communities <br />~ Water projects take almost a decade and in <br />some cases much longer to design, permit, and <br />implement <br />~ Water demand beyond the year 2030 will <br />continue to grow; both conservation and storage <br />are needed to address timeline and future needs <br />beyond 2030 <br />This section describes the activities and products <br />from the TRT that was formed to address Water <br />Conservation and Efficiency (Agricultural and <br />Municipal and Industrial) issues. Subsequent to <br />the formation of this TRT, it was determined that <br />the discussion of agricultural efficiency issues was <br />better suited for discussion by the Alternative <br />Agricultural Transfer Methods TRT. Information <br />on agricultural efficiency can be found in Section 3. <br />A high efficiency clothes washer can save over <br />20 gallons per load, reducing water used for <br />clothes washing by over 50 percent <br />2-2 FINAL DRAFT <br />