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Figure 2. Front Range Municipal Water Consumption and Diversion certain water rights in the Arkansas basin, and we're moving that transferred agricultural water into the City of Aurora. What do the projections of population growth mean for the Front Range and for Colorado? The Commissioner of Agri- culture, Don Ament, talked about 4 million people being in the State of Colorado. He cited the state's demographics, say- ing that by the year 2050 we will have 8.3 million people in the state. The Front Range communities now have about 3.5 million people between Pueblo and Fort Collins. By the year 2050, that same area will have 6.5 million people. In terms of water consumption, the municipalities will have to increase their water deliveries from 620,000 acre -ft. to 1.18 million acre -ft. of water by the year 2050. Now, on the other side of the water balance are return flows. Cities currently consume around 420,000 acre -ft.; the rest of what is diverted is the return flows that the Commissioner of Agriculture identified as the opportunity for how farms can work with cities in an integrated way. And, as water diver- sions increase, the amount of water that will return to the river basin will increase as well. By the year 2050, cities will consume around 800,000 acre -ft. of water. Between the years 2000 and 2050, these municipalities will have to find a way to bring 400,000 acre -ft. more of consumable water into the Front Range. Some people say, "Let's stop growing." What is lost on that statement is the fact that about 40 percent of the projected growth come from natural birthrates. It's not just that people are coming from California, from Chicago, or anywhere else. It's because we continue to have births at a higher rate than deaths. Another factor that is often lost is the importance of the eco- nomic engine in the cities and Metropolitan Denver area.- This state is becoming urban- centric, and increasingly the State's economy is dependent on the added value generated in the cit- ies. If you look at just the metropolitan area itself, that rep- resents 56 percent of the state's population; 70 percent of the state's wages within the six - county metropolitan area, and 61 24 percent of the state income tax. If population growth is con- tinuing and if economic growth is desirable, then the State must facilitate the delivery of additional water into the cities. One of the things that I think our legislators and policy mak- ers will have to address is sustaining the state's economy, because that will affect how we address some of the issues in Colorado. Another thing that previous speakers have recognized is that municipalities don't just stand out there by themselves, just as agriculture and the environmental groups don't stand out there by themselves. We as policy makers must find a way to appreciate that if the population is grow- ing, the municipal water demand is going to grow, and how can that growth be accommodated with existing agricultural and developing environmental values? The bottom line here is, while I have talked a lot about un- certainty, one thing is certain: change is happening. As a municipal water provider, we're going to have to find the water to meet the needs of another 3.7 million people. That represents 550,000 acre -ft. of municipal diversions, and we will provide 355,000 acre -ft. of additional return flows back to the rivers. This to me says, opportunity. While the numbers are large, while they are overwhelming, this is the opportunity and the challenge we must meet if we are going to deal with the issue. Where is that water going to come from? I will share with you here in a few minutes what the City of Aurora does from a conservation standpoint as a short-term response to get us through drought. Reclamation -- We are expanding our reclamation sys- tems; Denver is doing this as well. Significant demands for outdoor use are now being met through treated sewage. In a 50 -year time frame, we will have indirect potable and direct potable systems. We could be drinking our treated sewage and technology can accomplish that goal already. We will have additional trans -basin importations, whether it is from the Arkansas, the Colorado, the Gunnison, perhaps even the San Luis Valley. We have to find a way to main- tain this ability for the water that we have in the South Platte whether it's used for agricultural or municipal use. To me, this is not stated as a threat; it is rather an opportunity — a massive opportunity because of the upstream location of the metropolitan areas that could develop and transfer water to municipalities and then provide return flows to downstream agriculture areas. South Platte Water — In 2002 the majority of the basin's water was used for irrigation. A lot of what you hear about in this debate is if the cities continue to grow, agriculture will be out of business. Commissioner Don Ament talked about 85 percent of the water in Colorado being used for agricultural purposes. That represents about 15 million