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disposal systems, and recharge from precipitation will be presented in GIS maps showing areas of <br />sustainability and areas where there could be a decline in aquifer levels or water quality. <br />Threshold and Evaluation Criteria <br />The application articulates how the project meets all four Threshold Criteria. <br />Funding Overview <br />Grant funding is being requested from both the Metro Basin Account ($$43,587) and the South Platte Basin <br />Account ($130,763). One of the four counties falls partially within the Metro Roundtable boundaries, thus 1/4 <br />of the funding is being requested from the Metro Basin Account. Funding from the WSRA constitutes 100% <br />of the actual project cost; however, the Consortium is providing $8,070 in in-kind contributions (GIS Data). <br />Discussion: <br />This analysis builds on SWSI and the South Platte and Metro's working Basin-Wide Water Needs <br />Assessment and meets an important need identified by the South Platte Basin Roundtable. SWSI included <br />estimates of water demands in the South Platte River Basin through 2030. While SWSI provided a valuable <br />coarse assessment of water demands for the municipal, industrial, and agricultural sectors, concerns were <br />raised by representatives ofthe four Upper Mountain Counties (UMC) to the South Platte River Basin <br />Roundtable (Park, Jefferson, Clear Creek, and Gilpin) that the analysis did not properly consider the water <br />supply demands and available water resources for that part of the basin. The South Platte Basin Roundtable <br />has agreed that further analysis of the Upper Mountain Counties is critical to developing their Bain Wide <br />Water Needs Assessment. <br />Specifically, Park, Clear Creek, Gilpin, and a portion of Jefferson County have been primarily populated in <br />the foothills and mountains through subdivision lots where residences have been built relying on on-lot <br />domestic wells serving each home and with on-lot sewage disposal systems. The water supply issues related <br />to current and future populations relying on these on-lot systems will be more thoroughly evaluated and <br />water providers to areas not relying on on-lot systems will be contacted and their needs and supplies <br />evaluated. <br />The objectives and associated tasks of the analysis are to: <br />1. Interview the UMC counties to determine current and projected populations and the status of current <br />platted lots as to existing uses and projected uses to 2050 in the study area. <br />2. Interview UMC water providers for current and future water demands to 2050 including water <br />demands related to recreation and tourism. <br />3. Identify existing lots (improved or unimproved) that may rely on domestic and commercial wells and <br />estimate the water demand related to these lots based on various build-out assumptions. <br />4. Evaluate existing information on geology and precipitation for the mountain counties in order to <br />estimate the amount of aquifer recharge from precipitation that is available for evaluating long term <br />sustainable water supplies. <br />5. Assess the long term sustainability of the various aquifer systems in the mountain counties taking into <br />consideration recharge and water demands related to current and future water needs. <br />6. Identify any water demands related to tourism resulting from future recreational projects such as ski <br />or snow oar ing areas. <br />This analysis is important for the Metro and South Platte Basin Roundtables to develop their basin-wide <br />water needs assessments. It will accurately identify water needs, available water supplies, and any shortages <br />that may exist in the Upper Mountain Counties and identify projects and or actions that may be needed to <br />address any shortages to areas on community water supplies or areas where depletions of the aquifer systems <br />2 <br />