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

TABLE OF CONTENTS
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ......................................... ............................... ............................
I.
The Current Drought and the Future of Water Management in Colorado ................... 1
A.
Background and Brief Overview .................................................. ............................... 1
B .
Water in Colorado ......................................................................... ............................... 1
C .
The Value of Water ....................................................................... ............................... 2
D.
The Status of Colorado's Water Economy and Principles for Future Management.... 2
E .
The Remainder of the Report ........................................................ ............................... 3
II.
Hydrologic Description of the Drought ........................................ ...............................
5
A.
Conditions in the Spring of 2002 .................................................. ............................... 5
1 .
Snowpack ................................................................................... ..............................5
2.
Reservoir and Streamflow Conditions in the Spring ................ ............................... 7
B.
Reservoir and Streamflow Conditions in Mid - Summer ............... ............................... 8
1 .
Streamflow ................................................................................. ..............................8
2 .
Reservoir Storage ...................................................................... ............................... 9
III.
Economic Impacts of the Drought .............................................. ...............................
13
A .
Background ................................................................................. ...............................
13
B .
Agriculture .................................................................................. ...............................
13
1.
Dry Land and Irrigated Agriculture in Colorado's Economy . ...............................
13
2.
Agricultural Costs of the Drought .......................................... ...............................
14
3.
Overall Effect of Agricultural Losses on State's Economy .... ...............................
15
C .
Tourism ....................................................................................... ...............................
16
1 .
Ski Industry ............................................................................. ...............................
16
2 .
Water- Dependent Tourism ..................................................... ...............................
16
3 .
Other Tourism Sectors ............................................................ ...............................
17
D .
Forest Fires ................................................................................. ...............................
17
E.
Urban Landscape and Municipal Water Supply ......................... ...............................
18
F.
Total Cost and Avoidable Cost ................................................... ...............................
19
IV.
Drought Responses of Major Water Management Systems ....... ...............................
21
A .
Background ................................................................................. ...............................
21
B.
An Example of a Municipal Drought Management Plan: Denver Water ..................
21
C.
Drought Response of Other Municipal Users ............................. ...............................
23
D .
Irrigated Agriculture ................................................................... ...............................
25
E .
Recreation ................................................................................... ...............................
25
F.
Effectiveness of Drought Plans ................................................... ...............................
26
V.
The Role of New Storage in Managing Colorado Water: A Basin -by -Basin
Assessment.................................................................................. ...............................
31
A .
Introduction ................................................................................. ...............................
31
B .
Is Storage the Answer? ............................................................... ...............................
33
C.
Overview of Current Water Development Projects .................... ...............................
34
1 .
Arkansas Basin ....................................................................... ...............................
35
2 .
South Platte Basin ................................................................... ...............................
36
3.
Colorado River Basin .............................. ................................ ...............................
39
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