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In Douglas County, we know that Colorado water law is not designed to assist in controlling or directing growth. That responsibility belongs to the individual governments through their elected officials. However, we do believe that it is time to re- evaluate our current water laws and guidelines to see if they are appropriate for these times. Times change, and we should be able to adjust to those times. We recently held a water conference in Douglas County similar to this one today, and we came up with nine . recommendations that should help with the supply and demand of water in Douglas County. They are as follows: 1) Water must be addressed at every step of the planning process. 2) A Master plan for water must be developed from a data base and model that addresses cooperation between water providers, availability, demand, incentives, conjunctive use, and conservation from an urban and non-urban land use standpoint in Douglas County. 3) Governments should define "adequacy" when reviewing water supply plans, since the State Engineer's Office review of applications during the subdivision process does not address this subject. Often submitted are augmentation plans that propose to augment resources with nontributary supplies. These plans are only evaluated under current legal requirements, and there may be a difference between what is considered a legal supply and a adequate supply (e.g., what is considered a paper water right and a wet water right?) . 4) Require, as part of the homebuilding process, that wells be drilled to the base of the aquifers, thereby reducing the cost of having to continually redrill wells. This has been a problem for certain large lot developments, including residential development in the Chatfield Valley. 5) The county should develop a long-term supply plan. A 100-year life is too short a time frame for evaluating supply needs. Supply plans should include renewable supplies. 6) The county should playa mediation role for development that needs water. This can be of particular help where urban density developments are proposed adjacent to rural developments, potentially affecting their supply needs. 7) Institute mandatory landscaping requirements that conserve water. Promote xeriscape, look at instituting an incentive program,. with a goal to conserving the resources we have in hand, and lengthening out the time frame for using our nonrenewable resources. 8) Institute a ranking program for homes in Douglas County such as the Ideal Energy Home, whereby a ranking of 1 might be a water- waster, and a ranking of 5 might be a water-conserving home'. This would allow prospective buyers to know what they are buying into and provide more incentive to use water conserving practices. 24