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Findings -Water Conservation Planning and Programs <br />~ 48 percent of Colorado utilities either had a water conservation plan or were in progress <br />de~~eloping one. But a similar number of agencies (48 percent) did not ha~~e a <br />conservation plan on the books or in progress. <br />~ It was small utilities that did not ha~~e a conservation plan. Only 8 percent of the <br />population resides in an area not covered by a conservation plan. <br />~ Conservation planning acti~~ities ha~~e accelerated in recent years. More than 70 percent <br />of the existing and pending conservation plans in Colorado were completed since 2004. <br />~ Only 30 percent of respondents had a water conservation program budget, nearly 70 <br />percent did not. <br />~ The total utility funding for water conservation in Colorado in 2007 was $11,224,500. <br />However, $8,000,000 of this came from a single agency. <br />~ The median conservation program budget was $25,000 so half of the programs in the <br />state had a budget smaller than $25,000. <br />~ The importance of offsetting the increased demand of future growth through conservation <br />was rated at an average of 3.4 on a scale where 1 is not at all important and 5 is extremely <br />important. <br />~ The most popular conservation program tool was residential indoor audits and leak <br />detection. This type of program was implemented at 35 percent of the responding <br />agencies. Incenti~~es for the purchase of efficient toilets were implemented at 22 percent <br />and showerhead and clothes washer programs at 17 and 15 percent respectively. <br />Findings -Climate Change and Long Term Planning <br />~ Sixty percent of the agencies surveyed had water supply master plans for raw and/or <br />treated water and 35 percent did not ha~~e such plans. This result was identical to what <br />was found in the 2003 survey. <br />~ Generally the prevalence of water supply master plans in 2007 is evenly spread across <br />Colorado's se~~en water divisions (between 50 and 65 percent had a long range plan), but <br />Di~~ision 3 -Rio Grande - had a significant lower rate of supply master planning. <br />~ The availability of new supplies, peak demands, population change, changes in usage <br />patterns, and drought recurrence topped the list of considerations for water utilities when <br />conducting long term supply planning. <br />