Gunnison Basin Water: No Panacea for the Front Range

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Meeting Water Demand Without Gunnison Water Information on the cost of these con- servation and supply-side efficiency measures is variable but the measures compare quite favorably with cost estimates for a pipeline from Blue Mesa. ?. 1. x ? .; ? ?.. For example, in 1997 the Denver Water Department, through its Integrated Resource P l a n (" I R P") e s t i m a t e d t h a t t h e c o s t o f c o n- ?"• ' ' e`?? tt ?'"?` ?-junctive use was $5,400/AF for 20,000 AF. Water rights purchases to develop a few thou- sand acre-feet were estimated at $2,600 to --t- $3,200/AF. This suggests that dry-year leases may cost considerably less. Enlarging Gross -- ~Reservoir, west of Boulder, might cost $3,900/AF to develop 7000 AF and $6,600/AF to develop 20,000 AF more. Re-use to devel- - =` op almost 300,000 AFA was estimated to cost ' from $4,900/AF for one small project to as much as $9,600/AF for a larger project. The IRP cautioned that its cost estimates were "preliminary," but the estimates did include The Gunnison River: too precious to divert estimates of permitting, mitigation, engineer- - photo by Jeff Widen ing, construction and operation and mainte- nance costs,155 Estimates of the costs for water conservation, by comparison, range from nearly costless (changing watering schedules) to as much as $4,500/AF (rebates to encourage irrigation efficiency improvements).156 2. Water Conservation The drought of 2002 has been a reminder, for water providers and citizens alike, that we live in an arid climate with an unpredictable water supply. Some have argued that we, as a community, have done as much as we can to conserve water and that we must build more dams as soon as possible. There is considerable evidence to the contrary. Based on a review of inetro- area conservation programs as well as the conservation strategies of other urban water providers in the southwest, the Denver area clearly can do much more. Indeed, we likely can conserve 100,000 AFA or more (beyond what providers already plan to con- serve within the next several decades) through a mix of outdoor and indoor water conservation measures, making it possible to meet inost of our incremental needs for "new" water completely through water conservation. a. Brief Comparison An initial indication that we can do more is available from comparing per capita water use between Denver and other regional water providers. We note that the data for "Denver" is taken from the Denver Water Department, a provider that has • 36 • The Land and Water Fund of the Rockies