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Though it's not clear how much less water the state's streams will generate, state officials say water <br />utilities must craft drought plans to cope with water supplies that will be less predictable and, often, less <br />abundant. <br />"We're recommending all suppliers have them," Gimbel said. <br />Brad Udall, who directs the Western Water Assessment, says the report has important implications for <br />how Colorado manages its remaining water supplies -primarily those in the Colorado River that aren't <br />legally owed to other states, such as Nevada, Arizona and California. <br />"We need to be very careful about how we use our remaining Colorado River allocation," Udall said. <br />"That water is a moving target under climate change. We don't know how much of it there is or how <br />consistently we can expect it to be there." <br />As a result, he said, Colorado needs to ensure it can keep enough water in the bank -Lake Powell - so that <br />it can meet its obligations to downstream states while protecting Colorado's portion. <br />Whether that means Colorado needs to build a major new reservoir in the state isn't clear yet, Udall said. <br />"If flows decline, the storage we have may work more effectively and we won't need more. Or you could <br />make the case that we need to build storage in order to store more water," he said. (Source: Rocky <br />Mountain News, October 7, 2008 <br />FLOODPLAIN MAP MODERNIZATION UPDATE: <br />FEMA RiskMAP Program <br />FEMA has operated the Map Modernization program since 2004. This was a five year program <br />with a nationwide budget of $1 billion. This initiative will continue in FY09 with the next phase <br />of Map Modernization called RiskMAP. Risl~1VIAP will combine flood hazard mapping, risk <br />assessment tools and Hazard Mitigation Planning into one seamless program. <br />It is expected that FEMA will obtain the support of Congress to continue the nationwide <br />RiskMAP program starting in FY09 with a budget similar to the first phase of the Map <br />Modernization program. <br />Colorado has been the leading state for FEMA Region VIII in terms of helping achieve mapped <br />population and stream miles, the goals of the first phase of Map Modernization. Colorado <br />typically receives $1-1.5 million dollars worth of grant money each year and this amount is <br />expected to remain the same or increase due to Colorado's need to address flood mapping needs <br />and levee issues compared to the other states in Region VIII. In addition, Colorado continues to <br />provide cost sharing leverage for DFIRM and future RiskMAP projects. <br />CWCB has provided FEMA with a priority list of about 12 counties to be considered for <br />RiskMap. These counties were selected based on the criteria described above and include: <br />Alamosa, Bent, Chaffee, Hinsdale, Huerfano, Logan, Las Animas, Morgan, Otero, Ouray, <br />Phillips, Pitkin, Prowers, Saguache, and San Miguel. <br />~~~~ 10 .w <br />~. <br />~~~:~ <br />