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-------- Municipal Water Recommendations Barry Cress, Colorado Department of Local Affairs Brad Lundahl, Colorado Water Conservation Board BACKGROUND: The tasks of the Municipal Water Supply Task Force consist of the following: • Assess and prioritize the impact of drought conditions on public water systems and reporting on those findings. • Develop and implement a follow -up process to determine actions where impacts are identified. • Develop and assign reporting responsibilities where appropriate. • Develop a method for periodic contact with water systems. • Review and monitor water availability data to prepare appropriate responses to an emergency situation. • Work directly with water systems impacted by drought on their options. EMERGENCY MEASURES: To date, the state has been contacted by several water systems that are expecting to either haul water, or make capital improvements such as drilling new wells, consolidating with other systems or more effectively utilizing their existing supplies. As an early example, on April 25, 2002 the Department of Local Affairs (DOLA) was contacted by a water district in Teller County that serves 325 homes; it has begun the engineering work on a $300,000+ project to deal with declining well production. The district expects to exhaust its fund reserves, and has asked for grant or loan to help with these expenses. The district has been referred to the appropriate Colorado Water Conservation Board (CWCB) and DOLA funding program managers. Possible immediate responses not requiring the Governor's/Legislature's action: • Pre - position water supply, transportation, and fire fighting resources for quick response. Maximize resources at the state level to: * Ensure resources are maximized at the state level to ensure that water rights administration is effectively conducted and verify that the conditions of augmentation and substitute supply plans are met. * Ensure water conservation planning measures are understood and implemented * Identify systems with current water and potential supply problems in the event of a multi -year drought. • Create incentives for public water systems with less reliable supplies to connect to or consolidate with those that have more reliable supplies. • Limit fire ignition potential by restricting fireworks on local, state and federal land. • State support for additional storage reservoirs as appropriate.