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EXECUTIVE SUNTNTARY Water is fundamental to Colorado and the life and livelihood of all her citizens. Drought is a naturally recurring phenomena that can have significant impacts on public water supplies across the state. The Colorado Drought and Water Supply Update 2007 (CDWSU) was conducted to obtain new information on the current status of drought planning and preparedness, water conservation planning and programs, and water supply. This study was conducted for the Colorado Water Conservation Board with the assistance of the Southeastern Colorado Water Conservancy District. The research team included Aquacraft, Inc., National Research Center Inc. (NRC) and Aspen Media and Market Research. Focused on municipal and urban water providers in Colorado the CDWSU implemented a detailed telephone survey to evaluate key components of water supply planning. A similar study was conducted in 2003 with a much broader focus that included agriculture and other water use sectors in the state (Bouvette, et. al., 2003). The 2007 CDWSU had a more limited schedule and budget, hence the focus was restricted to municipal and urban water providers. Response Rate The response rate to the telephone survey was excellent. By late September, when the survey effort was ended, a total of 200 of the 324 providers had completed the survey, for a response rate of 62 percent. Most impressively, these agencies reportedly provided water to more than 4.2 million Coloradoans, more than 85 percent of the State's population. Findings -Drought Status and Preparedness ~ The effects of Colorado's recent drought (1999-2003) still linger among municipal providers. Although snowpack in Colorado improved after the extremely dry year in 2002, the state as a whole has not exceeded an average snowpack level since 1998. ~ The majority (64 percent) of respondents indicated that they were gully recovered" from the recent drought, 24 percent indicated that they were "about halfway to recovery", and 4 percent reported that their agency was still in severe drought. ~ Six basins had snowpack below 80% of average in 2006 and 2007. This has resulted in a slow recovery of water supplies for a number of Colorado providers. ~ Only 27 percent of Colorado municipal water providers had a drought response plan in place and only 37 percent had assigned someone to be in charge of drought planning. ~ There is discrepancy in drought planning between large urban providers and smaller rural agencies. While most urban providers had a drought plan in place, the majority of Colorado water providers consisting predominantly of smaller, rural utilities had not developed a drought response plan. ~ The lack of drought response planning was an issue in all seven Colorado Water Divisions.