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and Granby approach. Finally, the Board needs to be aware of a letter provided by Felix Sparks, former Director of the Board, during Testimony on the Fryingpan-Arkansas Project authorizing legislation committing the State of Colorado to repay certain costs for constructing Ruedi Reservoir should water sales be insufficient to cover the construction costs. A copy of that letter can be found as Attachment Sd- 09. (Randy Seaholm) COLORADO RIVER IN GOOD SHAPE THIS YEAR -The Colorado River Basin is in good shape this year. Runoff will fill all reservoirs in the upper basin in the next few months. Green Mountain Reservoir should fill by mid-July and hold steady through the summer recreation months, said the Bureau of Reclamation's Ron Thomason, outlining summer water operations during Wednesday's state of the river meeting in Frisco. Dillon Reservoir will also fill. In fact, Denver Water is facing a potential problem of very high inflows during peak runoff. Combined, the Blue River, the Snake River and Tenmile Creek could pour as much as 3,000 cubic feet per second into the reservoir during peak runoff, although odds are the peak flows will stay a bit lower than that, at around 2,200 cfs, according to resource engineer Bob Steger. Even at that rate, Denver Water will be challenged to maintain a balance between maintaining water for boating levels in Dillon Reservoir, meeting downstream demand and trying to limit flooding downstream of the reservoir, Steger said. To make room for the runoff, Denver Water started dropping the level of the reservoir earlier than usual. The Roberts Tunnel, which diverts water from the West Slope to the South Platte drainage, was just turned on a few days ago, and Denver Water is currently letting about 500 cfs flow out of the reservoir and into the Lower Blue. In any case, the plentiful runoff promises a good rafting and kayaking season downstream of the reservoir. Colorado River Water Conservation District manager Eric Kuhn took a global look at water issues by explaining how climate change could shift the water supply picture and set the stage for increasing conflicts about the resource. By some predictions, warming temperatures could increase precipitation in areas that already are wet, and exacerbate dry conditions in other parts of the world, he said. Along-term drought in Australia is part of the reason for a current world-wide wheat shortage, explaining that Australian farmer, major suppliers of wheat, haven't been able to deliver a harvest in recent years. The West Coast city of Perth wants to cap per capita, per day use at 40 gallons, and is close to the target, Kuhn said, indirectly challenging all Colorado water users to be better stewards. Elliot acknowledged the challenge and said that, once Denver Water eliminates waste -the easy savings it will take mandatory measures like replacing appliances to save more water. (Source: Summit Daily News) ~4 14