09d

• Board Meeting Date: 3/18/2008
• Description: CWCB Director's Report
• Board Meetings - Doc Type: Memo

food web. The removal of significant amounts of phytoplankton from the water can cause a shift in native
species and a disruption of the ecological balance a lake or other waterway.
These mussels can settle in massive colonies that can block water intake and affect municipal water
supply and agricultural irrigation and power plant operation. In the United States, Congressional
researchers estimated that zebra mussels alone cost the power industry $3.1 billion in the 1993-1999
period, with their impact on industries, businesses, and communities more than $5 billion.
For more information, visit: wtivw.l00thmeridian.org.
OFFICIALS WEIGH EVIDENCE ON ZEBRA MUSSELS AT LAKE PUEBLO -Few
colonies of zebra mussels have been found in underwater camera images taken at Lake Pueblo this week,
but officials are still wary about what could happen when water temperatures rise.
Photos were taken of boat hulls covered in mussels, pipes plugged by their bodies and beaches ruined by
sharp, stinking shells. Infestations in other states have caused billions of dollars in damage to water and
power infrastructure, while causing taste and odor issues in drinking water and ruining habitat for other
aquatic life.
The good news is mussels have been caught at their early stages in Colorado, but long enough after their
arrival in North America 20 years ago that the state can benefit from the experience of others, said
Jennifer Gimbel, the new director of the Colorado Water Conservation Board.
The CWCB likely will help fund a statewide response plan that is expected to be developed next week
after the initial survey of Lake Pueblo is complete.
Cameras so far have turned up little evidence of widespread population of zebra mussels, which were
found for the first time in Colorado in Lake Pueblo in November.
The state has not decided its course of action.
CWCB AWARDS WATER CONSERVATION PLANNING GRANT TO CITY OF
SALIDA -The City of Salida was awarded $28,995 from the Water Efficiency Grant Program, to aid in
developing a Water Conservation Plan that meets the requirements outlined in §37-60-126 C.R.S. The
city is a soon to be covered entity located in Chaffee County and lies in the Gunnison Basin, in Colorado.
Salida currently has a retail water use of approximately 1,377 acre-feet/year, and project to deliver 2,117
acre-feet/yr by 2012, which will then define them as a covered entity. The State Demographer estimates
that Salida will experience a 30 to 40% increase in population over the next ten years, with approximately
1,000 new residential taps, 5% increase in commercial water use, and a 3% in multi-family growth. The
city derives its water supply from surface water off the South Arkansas River, ground water from the
South Arkansas Gallery System, and Pasquale Springs provides spring water to the municipal system.
The city's average total per-capita is 242 gpcd. They realize the importance of water conservation and
plan fora 10% reduction in total per-capita use, bringing their gpcd to 218, over the next ten years. The
City of Salida has demonstrated their financial ability to provide 25.1% of the total project budget with
matching funds in the form of $9,013 in-kind contributions and $700 in cash contributions. With the
assistance of Clear Water Solutions, the applicant will use the CWCB's Water Conservation Plan
Guidance Document as a framework for the Plan's organization and content, incorporating the State's 9
planning steps and addressing the statutory requirements for all plans. The planning process began in
March 2008, and is scheduled for CWCB's approval in September 2008.
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