PUB00017

• Year: 1997
• Title: Colorado Water Development Study
• CWCB Section: Finance
• Author: Buford Rice, Ray Christensen
• Description: Study to assist Colorado Farm Bureau in developing recommendations and strategies for dealing with future water resource issues
• Publications - Doc Type: Brochure

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Section -" - Co!omdo Wa/er u'le Trent/I

EndanRered species recovery
proRrams currently under
neRmia/ion could impact
when and where new water
development can occur.

ChanRinR conditions in
downstream states could
impact the fate o{Colorado's
water supply.

Figures 15 to 20 illustrate both the potential magnitude and tim-
ing of future M & I water requirements, For example, as illus-
trated in Figure 15, on a statewide basis demand could exceed
supply as early as 2015 without development of new supplies;
and by year 2100 the minimum additional supply required for
M & I use is estimated to be about 550,000 acre-feet. If a conser-
vative estimate is used for dry year yield, the additional supply
required could approach 1,000,000 acre-feet by 2100,

The Metropolitan Supply EIS projected annual Front Range
M & I demands of 703,000 acre-feet by 2035, Current projec-
tions for developed water available to the region in that year are
418,000 acre-feet, resulting in a potential shortfall of 285,000
acre- feet.

The impact of the Endangered Species Act and other environ-
mental programs on Colorado water requirements has not yet been
quantified, Endangered species recovery programs in the Upper
Colorado River Basin are being established cooperatively by the
Secretary of the Interior, the Western Area Power Administra-
tion, the States of Colorado, Wyoming and Utah, water users,
environmental groups and others, Recovery programs in the South
Platte River Basin are being negotiated between the Secretary of
the Interior and the States of Colorado, Wyoming and Nebraska.
In each case recovery instream tlow appropriations are expected
to be of a relatively large magnitude, and impact when and where
new water development can occur, However, these instream tlow
appropriations are made within Colorado's water law system and
as such will not impact existing water rights, Other environmen-
tal or water quality issues could emerge in coming decades which
could exert further demands on the state's water resources,

Because Colorado is a headwaters state, its water resources sup-
ply several downstream states, including Kansas, Nebraska, Wyo-
ming, New Mexico and Texas east ofthe Continental Divide and
Wyoming, Utah, New Mexico, Nevada, Arizona and California
west of the Divide, A number of changing conditions in these
states could, over the long term, impact the fate of Colorado's
water supply, These include increased demands in Kansas, Ne-
braska, California, Arizona and Nevada; a desire for higher qual-
ity water at the state line; and increased monitoring to assure
compliance with interstate compacts, It is impossible to quantify
the potential impact of these or other interstate issues over the
next century, but it is clear that developments in downstream states
will put increasing pressure on Colorado's compact deliveries.

5-10

~. COLoraDo
,_. Farm Bureau