PUB00048

• Year: 1992
• Title: Systems Integration as a Water Supply Source for the Denver Metropolitan Area
• CWCB Section: Water Conservation & Drought Planning
• Author: Hydrosphere Resource Consultants
• Description: Overview of water supply alternatives and suggestion for process to address future water supply needs of the Denver Metro Area
• Publications - Doc Type: Historical

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DRAFT 8/24/92, Page 31

highway and transportation and even local land use concerns. Successful implementation of
such opportunities could produce multiple benefits in many of these areas.

Issues To Be Addressed

Multiple units of local, state and federal government with overlapping jurisdictions and
sometimes conflicting goals would have to work together.

A variety of relatively complex engineering studies and water rights actions would be
needed to order to develop additional alluvial groundwater within the prior appropriation
doctrine.

Additional facilities may be needed for blending additional groundwater supplies with
existing surface water distributions systems.

F. Enhanced Information-Based Solutions

1. Improved Water Rights Administration (ADSSWA)

Traditionally, water rights and projects are administered according to ownership and the
prior appropriation doctrine, without particular regard to the total system yield of those rights
and facilities. This often results in inefficiencies from a total yield perspective because systems
are operated in competition with each other with out regard to optimization of overall yield.
Under an integrated systems perspective, the entire approach to administering and operating
water supply systems could shift from an ownership/priority basis to a total system yield basis
where meeting the needs of individual water users would remain the primary goal.

Another result of current administrative practices is a very cumbersome and burdensome
process for dealing with changes in water rights. A change in use or point of diversion of a
water right usually results in terms and conditions intended to avoid injury to other water
rights. Very often, however, terms and conditions result in a loss of overall yield or an
unintended transfer of yield from a total systems perspective.

There is currently a lack of sufficient resources and tools for optimizing the
administration and operation of water supply systems and assessing the cumulative effects of
water rights changes on a regional basis. Without substantial improvements in administrative
capabilities, this situation could prove to be a major obstacle to implementation of joint
administration and operation of existing systems.

The State Engineer and the Colorado Water Conservation Board are currently attempting
to address these needs through the development of a set of computerized decision support tools
to improve water management in the upper South Platte and Colorado River basins. These
tools are an important first step in attaining such management capabilities.

Additional resources will be needed for improving administrative response time and real-
time data gathering. As basin-wide administration of water rights and supply systems becomes
more sophisticated, additional staffing and equipment will be needed by the State Engineer's
office at the district commissioner level and by individual water supply operators along with
more extensive stream flow, diversion and reservoir level gaging and telemetry equipment.
Investment in these capabilities should be viewed in terms of their potential to increase
municipal water supplies, allow for mutually beneficial water sharing arrangements between
cities, instream and recreational flow values and agriculture, and defer costly new water
development projects. As an example, improved administration response times can