28 ‎(2)‎

• Board Meeting Date: 5/21/2008
• Description: IWMD Section - Statewide Water Supply Initiative 2 Overview and Colorado's Water Supply Future
• Board Meetings - Doc Type: Memo

STATE OF COLORADO
Colorado Water Conservation Board
Department of Natural Resources
1313 Sherman Street, Room 721
Denver, Colorado 80203
Phone: [phone]
Fax: [phone]
WWW.CWCb.State.CO.US
MEMORANDUM Bill Ritter, Jr.
Governor
To: Colorado Water Conservation Board Harris D. Sherman
DNR Executive Director
From: Rick Brown, Section Chief Jennifer z. Gimbel
Intrastate Water Management & Development CWCB Director
Dan McAuliffe
Date: May 21, 2008 CWCB Deputy Director
Subject: Agenda Item 28, May 20-21 Board Meeting,
Statewide Water Supply Initiative 2 Overview and Colorado's Water Supply Future
Background
In 2003 the Colorado Water Conservation Board (CWCB) directed staff to begin work on two
important studies: the Colorado River Return Study (CRRS) and the Statewide Water Supply
Initiative (SWSI). These two studies were significant in that they both had a focus on identifying
and evaluating how Colorado can provide and adequate water supply for our citizens and the
environment. The studies differed in that SWSI had a broader and long-term focus, and it was
the Board's intent to incorporate the finding of CRRS once solutions or alternatives were
identified and evaluated as part of SWSI.
At the July and September 2004 Board meetings staff presented a status of SWSI and discussed
the steps needed to prepare a report to meet the legislative deadline of November 2004. At
those meetings staff was requested to finalize the report and to schedule future work, including
evaluations of solutions or alternatives, in a second Phase of SWSI. On November 14, 2007 the
Board adopted Sections 1-5 of the Phase 2 report and directed staff to develop fact sheets for
each of the relevant report sections and to work with various stakeholders, especially the Basin
Roundtables, to familiarize them with the information in the report. Staff also recommended that
the Board work with staff over the next couple months to finalize Section 6 of the report. Staff
has begun "rolling out the report to the basin roundtables. Staff still needs to develop fact sheets
and the agency will need to finalize Section 6.
Through the TRT effort and integration of SWSI with the Water for the 21St Century Act the
products from SWSI Phase 2 form a strong foundation to begin to articulate options for
Colorado's Water Supply Future. The SWSI and SWSI Phase 2 reports provide insights as to
how Colorado might look in the future and they include resources and information to help
articulate different options. Our challenge now is to move forward and begin to analyze and
address some of the fundamental choices and options we have as a State as we prepare for the
next decades.
Water Supply Protection • Watershed Protection & Flood Mitigation • Stream & Lake Protection • Water Supply Planning & Finance
Water Conservation & Drought Planning • Intrastate Water Management & Development