Harris 2nd Qrt 08 Newsletter_for pdf

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~ $ j' `~a , ~a~: ~ ~~ ~~~ ,• ~~4 -:~ ~ y, ~ ~. ~ ~ ~ ~ ,. ~ A ! ~..~~~~~J~~~~r~~ ~ ~~ ~,,;~.S:~a ~,. -d ~; ~,~T~~~~~ i~~~t~~~c~~~ Interbasin ~om act p Committee Vision Exercise If we let Colorado's water supply continue to evolve the way it is now, what will our state look like in 50 years? Is that what we want it to look like? If not, what can and should we do about it? Those are questions the IBCC is addressing through their visioning exercise. After two rounds of discussions, the IBCC generally agrees that: 1. The status quo approach to water supply will not lead to the Colorado the IBCC members want to see. Members had different ideas about the extent to which our current approach could or should be changed, but all agreed we should explore different approaches. 2. Colorado is transitioning from an era of developing an undeveloped resource to an era of managing a developed resource. Future water decisions will increasingly involve reallocating water between uses. 3. A range of strategies are needed to help meet our state's consumptive and nonconsumptive water supply needs. These include a combination of demand side strategies, supply side strategies, and regional coordination strategies (described below). 4. The IBCC should work with the Colorado Water Conservation Board (CWCB) to examine the trade- offs, risks, and uncertainties associated with different strategies and combination of strategies. 5. A statewide vision should be developed in combination with an evaluation of water supply strategies. A statewide vision for Colorado's water supply future consists of three parts: 1) a vision statement; 2) water supply values; and 3) strategies to help meet the vision. The vision statement and water supply values provide broad guidance for addressing Colorado's Water Supply Future. They provide the goals we hope to achieve as we address our state's water challenges. The strategies are the implementable actions to help achieve the vision and protect the water supply values. These terms are specifically defined as: •~isi~n Statement - Broad conclusions about Colorado's water supply future that provide guidance for addressing the state's water challenges. • Wat~rSupply ~a~ues - Principles or ideals that are important to protect as Colorado implements solutions to its water challenges. The agreed upon values will be used to evaluate the tradeoffs between strategies and combinations of strategies. • Strate~gie.s- Broad solutions that can be implemented to help achieve the vision, meet our water challenges, and protect the values. Strate~ies to be Evaluated The following strategies may help meet our state's consumptive and nonconsumptive water supply needs. The IBCC is not endorsing these strategies, but agrees that they should be further evaluated by examining the opportunities, challenges, and trade-offs associated with each strategy or combination of strategies. Demand Side Strategies • Municipal and industrial conservation • Agricultural conservation, efficiency, and alternative cropping patterns • Density of urban development • Energy: level of development and water use Supply Side Strategies • Reuse, recycling, and desalination • Agricultural transfers: traditional permanent transfers and alternatives to permanent transfers • Optimizing existing storage and delivery systems • New in-basin storage that can meet multiple uses and is sensitive to our environmental and recreational needs • Optimum use of groundwater supplies • The benefits and risks associated with additional compact development Re~ional Coordination Strate~ies • Coordinated infrastructure development and opportunities for shared infrastructure • Timing of flows to meet multiple consumptive and nonconsumptive needs • Opportunities and challenges for managing our compact obligations in a way that benefits the river corridors • Integrated management of groundwater and surface water • Managing risk and uncertainty Roles and Next Steps in Developing a Vision and Evaluating Strategies The IBCC, BRTs, CWC6, and CWCB Staff all have important roles to play in developing a shared vision for Colorado's water supply future and examining strategies for achieving it. IBCC- The IBCC undertakes initial visioning to help develop a draft vision statement, a set of water supply values, and a conceptual approach to evaluating water supply strategies. The IBCC then works with the C1NC6 staff as described below. The IBCC also provides input on various work products as they are developed and identifies opportunities for interbasin cooperation and negotiations. ~'~sin Roundtables- The Basin Roundtables provide input to the IBCC. They complete work on their updated needs assessment and provide input on various work products associated with the evaluation of strategies. CWCB staff and technical consultants will visit each BRT on a quarterly basis to work on their needs assessments and the evaluation of strategies. CWCB- CWCB provides input into the visioning process and directs the implementation of staff work elements as described below. CWCB staff implements the necessary technical work to evaluate strategies. They will primarily do this by completing and integrating work through the nonconsumptive needs assessments, the consumptive needs assessments, the technical team for the water availability study, and the BRTs' updated needs assessments. As work products are developed they will be vetted to the BRTs, the IBCC, and the CWCB for input and comment.