Water Conservation Grant Program Report

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Colorado Water Conservation Board Department of Natural Resources 721 Stale Centennial Building 1313 Sbennan Slreet Denver, Colorado 80203 Phone (303) 866-3441 FAJC (303)866-4474 , STATE OF COLORADO o Roy Romer Governor James S. Locbbead Executive Director, DNR DariesC. Ule,P,R Directof, CWCB Dear Legislator: In view of the increasing competition and demand for water in the state of Colorado, the General Assembly adopted the Water Conservation Act of 1991 (HB 91-1154) to enhance the efficiency with which water is used to meet end uses, with the objective of making water available for all beneficial uses in Colorado. The Act created the State Office of Water Conservation under the Colorado Water Conservation Board to (a) foster the conservation of the water by the promotion and implementation of sound measures to enhance water use efficiency in order to serve all the water needs of the state,(b) assure the availability of adequate supplies for future uses, and (c) assure that necessary water services are provided at a reasonable cost. The Water Conservation Act of 1991 offers the State several means to assist local governments and water providers in achieving greater water use efficiency. One of the major components of this act is coordination of financial assistance for water use efficiency measures and water use efficiency programs. The Board was authorized to expend up to five hundred thousand dollars ($500,000) from the Colorado Water Conservation Board construction fund to demonstrate the benefits of water efficiency measures by providing incentive grants, to any Colorado public agency that requests assistance in the design and implementation of water efficiency and conservation measures, Provisions of the Water Conservation Act of 1991 offer a way for the State to assist local governments and water providers in achieving greater water use efficiency. GUIDELINES The Board developed guidelines to assist potentially eligible communities for the pilot program and established criteria and feasibiliry measures to assure that a variety of potentially beneficial projects would be demonstrated, In general, water efficiency project applicants were expected to add to the awareness and understanding of existing measures and their effectiveness in achieving water savings, Projects were also expected to quantify various benefits of water savings. The guidelines included a list of categories and range of measures for potential water efficiency projects. During each grant cycle, the Board established select categories of water conservation measures to receive primary emphasis, Applicants were encouraged to submit project proposals which corresponded to the chosen categories of water conservation measures, but all applications were considered.