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I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I DRAFT 8/24/92, Page 22 Uncertainties regarding ownership of conserved or salvaged water currently act as a disincentive to agricultural conservation efforts. E. Integrate Operations of Existing Storage and Delivery Systems System integration involves five major concepts: physical linkage of individual water supply systems, cooperative administration and operation of systems, multiple-purpose use of water supply, wastewater and flood control facilities, market-based transfers of agricultural water to municipal and environmental uses during times of major drought, and conjunctive use of surface water and groundwater. Individually each of these concepts have been implemented to some degree in various water supply systems in the State. It is the combined use of all of these concepts that defines system integration. 1. Link Existing Water Supply Systems Linkage of previously unrelated water supply systems can provide several major advantages. It can provide increased protection against localized droughts as it is not uncommon for precipitation to be low in one basin while an adjacent basin experiences average or above average supplies. A combined water supply system drawing on both basins will withstand a drought affecting one basin better than two separate water supply systems which independently and exclusively rely on a single basin. Conversely, linked water supply systems can better take advantage of local surpluses in runoff. Given adequate storage and pipeline facilities,- local surpluses in one area can be delivered to other areas, thereby increasing the overall yield of the combined system. Linked systems can also provide for increased flexibility regarding points of diversion of water, which can provide for increased protection against facilities failure and can alleviate localized water supply shortages and severely depleted streams. One example of such an opportunity is in the Fraser and upper Colorado basins in Grand County. If the Colorado-Big Thompson/Windy Gap project system were linked to the Denver water supply system via an East Slope pipeline, a portion of Denver's Moffat system diversions could be delivered to the East Slope via the Windy Gap diversion dam. This would provide an alternate means of export in case of Moffat tunnel failure and could alleviate critical winter season water supply shortages and low stream flow conditions in the Fraser basin. Linkage of municipal and agricultural water supply systems can also create markets for voluntary transfer of water from lower valued to higher valued uses as well as increased reuse opportunities. The mechanisms for such transfers can be crafted to provide great mutual benefits to both cities and farmers. a. Arkansas to South Platte Delivery Opportunities During the last decade the cities of Aurora and Colorado Springs have acquired both industrial and agricultural water rights in the Arkansas River Basin for transfer to municipal uses and points of diversion. In late 1986, a majority of the shareholders in the Fort Lyon Canal Company, the largest irrigation system in the Arkansas River Valley, agreed to seek a market for up to 80,000 acre-feet of water. While the most likely markets for this water are front range cities in the Denver and Colorado Springs metropolitan areas, the potential for transfer of water from the Fort Lyon system to upstream municipal points of diversion is limited. The Colorado Interstate Gas (ROW) Company recently proposed a plan whereby Fort Lyon water would be delivered to the Denver metro area via a pipeline using existing utility rights-of-way. Though this plan failed to garner the required approval from the majority of the