SPDSS_Task66-2_CollectDevelopMunicipalIndustrialConsumptiveUseEstimates

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Eight counties in the SPDSS study area (El Paso, Elbert, Lincoln, Logan, Park, Sedgwick, Teller, and Washington) cover areas that are, in part, outside the SPDSS study area. Municipalities and unincorporated areas within these counties were addressed separately, as follows: • Municipalities with available population data within these counties were included if the municipalities were physically located within the SPDSS study area. • A pro-rata amount of unincorporated population from these counties within the South Platte River basin was estimated based on the pro-rata amount of county area within the study area. This analysis is based on aerial coverage of the counties overlaid on the basin boundary. This approach is similar to that used in previous CDSS modeling efforts. The pro-rata percentage amounts are included in Table 1. The process through which the unincorporated population was summarized by water district is similar to the process used to determine the pro-rata amount of the county area within the study area. Aerial coverage of the counties was overlaid on the water district boundaries. As counties reside is several water districts, the aerial coverage analysis provided a series of percentages for each water district. For example, Water District 3 is comprised of 55 percent of Larimer County and 7 percent of Weld County. The population in each county was then multiplied by the series of percentages and summed by water district. As presented in Table 1 and shown in Figure 1, the population in 2000 in the SPDSS study area totals almost 3 million people, which represents about a 280 percent increase from 1950 and about a 50 percent increase from 1980. The water district analysis shows that about 60 percent of the population reside in Water Districts 1, 2, and 8. Douglas County has experienced the greatest Task 66.2 Memorandum.doc Page 5 of 26 Figure 1 Total Population for the SPDSS Study Area