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Section 6 Implementation and Recommendations for Colorado's Water Supply Future Water Information Section This Section of the CWCB produces essential technical information and computer models of water • Supply Availability Study • Colorado Decision Support System Application • Rio Grande Decision Support System Maintenance • South Platte Decision Support System Under Development resources and water use that enable wise- water management decisions statewide. This Section will be focusing on ongoing development of the South Platte Decision Support System (SPDSS), while also continuing to improve and maintain the Colorado Decision Support Systems (DSSs) in the Colorado River and Rio Grande Basins. SPDSS is in its fourth implementation phase. Phases 1 through 3 were related to data collection, with Phase 4 moving from data collection (including data for groundwater, surface water, and irrigated land delineation and classification) to implementation of the alluvial groundwater model and the Denver Basin bedrock model; the latter of which has been done in cooperation with the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). The last phase will include the implementation of the surface water model. It is anticipated that SPDSS will be completed in 2008 to 2010. The Upper Arkansas River Basin is the final basin scheduled for DSS development. Work is already being done in this basin by incorporating any available data into HydroBase, the DSS hydrological database, and making that data available through tools developed for existing DSS basins. Colorado's DSSs have been crucial in assisting with water resources decisionmaking statewide by providing basic data as well as modeling studies to various efforts. Examples where the DSSs have made a difference include SWSI, recovery programs for endangered fish species in the Colorado River Basin, the Aspinall unit re-operations environmental impact statement (EIS), and Navajo Reservoir re-operation impacts. With the formation of the IBCC and the The CDSS will provide the framework for conducting the Colorado River Water Supply Availability Study over the next several years. New DSS implementation has benefited from the existing DSSs. In earlier efforts, a large part of the expense and time was associated with the development of both surface and groundwater models and other software tools, including those relating to data collection and storage. Subsequent DSSs can take advantage of these efforts, often with minor enhancements. In the operation and maintenance (O~eM) phase, the enhancement of the models and tools will continue, along with various data updates. HydroBase is refreshed continuously with new water resources data, such as diversions, water rights, and stream flow. For the SPDSS, O~SCM will also be associated with the groundwater data collection from new monitoring wells added to DW R's existing groundwater monitoring network. Another example of an essential part of DSS O~eM is the periodic updating of irrigated acreage for the state. This was originally done under the Colorado River DSS in 1993, and it was updated in 2000. It is currently being refreshed using 2005 L.andsat imagery, which has been purchased for the entire state. The objective is to get a snapshot of irrigated lands every 5 years. This will enable irrigated land updates in other river basins in the state in addition to the Colorado River Basin. The Water Information Section is also looking at ways to provide these updates over shorter intervals and at cost-effective ways as technology advances. PRELIMINARY DRAFT 6-5