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INTRODUCTION The Colorado-Big Thompson and Windy Gap Projects The Colorado-Big Thompson (C-BT) Project, built by the federal Bureau of Reclamation and operated in conjunction with the Northern Colorado Water Conservancy District (NCWCD, or "the District"), brings water from the Colorado River basin on the western slope of the Rocky Mountains to the South Platte River basin on the eastern side of the mountains. The water is intended to be used as supplemental supply to offset natural fluctuations in supply in the Platte basin. C-BT Project water may be used for agricultural, municipal, industrial and recreational purposes in the District's 1.5 million-acre service area in northeastern Colorado. That service area includes Front Range cities from Fort Collins in the north to Broomfield in the south, and extends east along the South Platte River to the Nebraska state line, The region is still a thriving agricultural area, but also is experiencing significant population growth and urban/suburban expansion. The water supply produced by the C-BT Project is divided into 310,000 units, each of which entitles the unit-holder (or allottee) to an equal share of the water supply declared available each year. At its April meeting, the District's board of directors declares the annual "quota" to be made available to C-BT allottees. This decision is typically based on various considerations relating to hydrological factors such as snowpack and streamflow forecasts as well as expected demand for the water. The quota ranges from .5 acre-foot (at) per unit (50% quota) to a full acre-foot per unit (100% quota). The initial quota declared in April may be increased later in the year. Because C-BT Project water is intended to supplement native supply in the South Platte basin, more water is generally made available in dry years than in wet ones. The long-term average quota is approximately 70%, or .7 af/unit.1 Following completion of the Project in 1957, the vast majority of C-BT water initially was owned and used by agricultural users. For example, in 1962, agricultural users owned 82% of C-BT units, while only 18% were held by municipal and industrial users. By 1995, that situation had changed dramatically, with only 53% of C-BT units in agricultural hands and the remaining 47% owned by municipal and industrial users. However, approximately three-quarters of the annual supply continues to be used for agricultural purposes, as municipal owners who bought the water for future use often rent it back to agricultural users in the interim. , Since 1994, the District has offered a "fixed quota" option to allottees as an alternative to the variable annual quota, Unit-holders who select this option are entitled to .7 af/unit each year rather than the proportional share of available water declared by the District's board of directors each April. 1