Harris 2nd Qrt 08 Newsletter_for pdf

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Bill Ritter, Jr. - Governor Harris D. Sherman - DNR Executive Director Jennifer Gimbel - CWCB Director . n er asi n om ac rocess ~ _ From Harris Sherman Executive Director of DNR and Director of Compact Negatiatians In our March newsletter I wrote about the importance of developing a vision for Colorado's water future that reflects what we want our state to look like, not what it will look like if we let water development continue down the current path. Whether it is concern about drying up agriculture, or challenges in meeting municipal needs, or protecting our environment, the status quo vision is one that concerns the Interbasin Compact Committee (IBCC) and water stakeholders across Colorado. Colorado is transitioning from an era of developing an undeveloped resource to one where we are managing a fully developed resource. Future water decisions will therefore increasingly involve reallocating water between uses and less on finding ways to develop new supplies. This is a fundamental shift that will forever impact our use and development of this precious resource. It is my hope that this visioning process and the strategies that come out of it will provide a roadmap for Colorado to follow as we move into these unchartered waters. We are now several months into this visioning process and I am pleased to report that we are making progress on several fronts. The IBCC agreed at our May meeting that we need to move forward in two areas. First, we need to develop a more detailed vision for Colorado's water supply future. Over the coming months, the IBCC will be working on a draft document to see if we can reach agreement on a vision. Second, the IBCC believes we must also come up with specific strategies to achieve that vision. The IBCC, the Basin Roundtables (BRTs), and the Colorado Water Conservation Board (CWCB) will use information from previous studies and begin evaluating broad water supply strategies. Developing a vision and evaluating strategies simultaneously will not only keep us on a timely course, but more importantly, the information we gather from evaluating strategies will better inform the development of our vision. We are therefore pursuing both objectives on parallel paths. The IBCC is identifying demand, supply, and regional strategies and this newsletter describes those efforts. We need to incorporate input from the broadest cross-section of Coloradans possible. In order to raise awareness and solicit input, I am having discussions with stakeholder groups such as the Colorado Concern, Colorado Cooperation Conference, and other civic, business, and community groups across Colorado. We are also going to be increasing our outreach through the press. The BRTs are particularly well suited to solicit input from the public in their basins and I again encourage them to do so. Ask community leaders to testify at your Roundtable meetings. Send periodic e-mails to keep residents of your basins informed. Use your own networks to inform and engage the public. I look forward to hearing any thoughts you have and on keeping you up to date on our continued progress.