Drought & Water Management

• Title: What the Current Drought Means for the Future of Water Management in Colorado
• Date: 1/1/2003
• Description: 2002 Drought Impact Report
• Basin: Statewide
• Drought Mitigation - Doc Type: Reports

C. Tourism
Tourism is estimated to generate $7 or $8 billion annually in Colorado. In April, the
Office of State Planning and Budgeting identified several possible impacts that a drought
could have on tourism:
➢ Decline in skier visits due to lack of snow;
➢ Decline in hunting because of a loss of habitat from wildfires or herd size from lack
of precipitation;
➢ Decline in fishing and rafting because of lower stream levels;
➢ Decline in outdoor recreation because of fire bans and /or restricted access;
➢ Decline in resort visits if water restrictions are imposed on golf courses; and
➢ Decline in touring and parks visits if forest fires impact these areas.
1. Ski Industry
The state's list of potential impacts from the drought started with ski lift ticket sales,
based on the fear of a repeat of the almost 40% sales drop in the 1977 drought.
Fortunately, that loss did not occur in 2002. In 1977, snowmaking was uncommon and
ski areas were dependent on natural snow. Today, most ski areas have water rights that
allow at least basic snowmaking even during a major drought. The 2001 -2002 ski season
did suffer some loss of business, but most of it was early in the season at destination
resorts and the standard explanation was fear of flying after the events of September 11,
2001. Late season skiing was nearly as busy as prior years. The concern last spring was
about the 2002 -2003 ski season and whether drought would affect sales this season. The
early snow has been good at most ski areas and all signs are that the 2002 drought will
have no effect on the skiing portion of tourism.
2. Water- Dependent Tourism
The drought seriously affected rafting in 2002 as river levels were much lower than
average and there just wasn't the water to raft. The total estimated economic impact
generated by this industry in 2001 was $125 million, based on direct expenditures of $49
million. That dropped by about 50% in 2002 due to short seasons on most rivers. The
economic impact of the loss is about $60 million.
Boating in general was also down. Water -based state parks reported reductions between
20% and 53% in revenues to the state as boat ramps were left high and dry by falling
water levels. Average revenues appear to be off by about one -third for boating other than
rafting. Boating has been estimated at $550 million per year including rafting, or about
$425 million other than rafting. If the boating was down by one third, then this was a
loss of about $140 million. The Colorado Division of Parks and Outdoor Recreation
(Parks) mentioned that there was one benefit in that the low water levels have allowed
them to accelerate some needed maintenance work and to extend ramps in some places to
protect from future low water levels.
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