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• Board Meeting Date: 5/19/2009
• Description: IWMD Section - Water Supply Reserve Account ‎(WSRA)‎ Criteria and Guidelines
• Board Meetings - Doc Type: Memo

Revised July 8 10 , 2009
SWSI Major Findings
1. Significant increases in Colorado’s population-together with agricultural water needs and an
increased focus on recreation and environmental uses will intensify competition for water.
2. Projects and water management processes that local municipal and industrial (M&I) providers
are implementing or planning to implement ha ve the ability to meet about 80 percent of
Colorado’s M&I water needs through 2030.
3. To the extent that these identified M&I pr ojects are not successfully implemented, Colorado
will see a significantly greater reduction in irri gated agricultural lands as M&I water providers
seek additional permanent transfers of agricultura l water rights to provide for the demands that
would otherwise have been met by specific projects and processes.
4. Supplies are not necessarily where demands are; localized shortages exist, especially in
headwater areas, and compact entitlements in some basins are not fully utilized.
5. Increased reliance on nonrenewable, nontributary groundwater for permanent water supply
brings serious reliability and sustainability concer ns in some areas, particularly along the Front
Range.
6. In-basin solutions can help resolve the remaining 20 percent gap between M&I water supply
and demand, but there will be tradeoffs and impacts on other users-especially agriculture and the
environment.
7. Water conservation (beyond Level 1) will be relied upon as a major tool for meeting future
M&I demands, but conservation alone cannot m eet all of Colorado’s future M&I needs.
Significant water conservation has already occurred in many areas.
8. Environmental and recreational uses of water are expected to increase with population
growth. These uses help support Colorado’s tourism industry, provide recreational and
environmental benefits for our citizens, and are an important industry in many parts of the state.
Without a mechanism to fund environmental and recreational enhancement beyond the project
mitigation measures required by law, conflicts among M&I, agricultur e, recreational, and
environmental users could intensify.
9. The ability of smaller, rural water providers and agricultural water users to adequately
address their existing and future water needs is sign ificantly affected by their financial abilities.
10. While SWSI evaluated water needs and solutions through 2030, very few M&I providers
have identified supplies beyond 2030. Beyond 2030, growing demands may require more
aggressive solutions.
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