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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 4 This conceptual framework presented in this report is a proposal for further investigation of ways to implement a comprehensive system of water management for the front range urban corridor. In cooperation with local jurisdictions and water suppliers, the Department of Natural Resources, the Colorado Water Conservation Board and the State Engineer's Office will provide the expertise and overall management for the investigation. In the last twenty years these three agencies have had extensive experience in the areas of water project permitting and planning. More importantly, however, they bring a statewide perspective to the problems of Front Range water management. To make the study process work, these agencies will form a partnership with Front Range water suppliers who will be asked to participate in study design, consultant selection, review of study products and in overall study management. Water supply planning in Colorado has frequently polarized the citizens of the state along the lines of geographical location or special interest group affiliation. The intent here is to allow the state government to act as a catalyst for bringing all interests to the table and for acting as an objective facilitator in the planning process. The future of water development in Colorado is highly dependent upon a comprehensive approach to the management of water resources to ensure that existing resources are indee,ct being utilized to maximum advantage. Future water development will also require a state-wide perspective on all of the issues involved in what has become a complex and highly controversial undertaking. It is the intent of this proposal to outline the beginning of a new approach - one that will involve a partnership between local water providers and state government to allow Colorado to better manage and develop its most important natural resource and to chart its own destiny in the years ahead. D. Goals to be Addressed by System Integration The overall water management concept being forwarded here is one which involves the physical and institutional joining of individual water supply systems in order to more efficiently meet critical water resources management goals such as increased supplies, cost effectiveness and enhanced environmental protection. All participating water suppliers would remain whole with respect to the yields of their individual systems and control of their assets. Through cooperative efforts, additional water supply yields and attainment of other goals would be achieved through synergistic effects and voluntary market mechanisms. For the purposes of this paper this concept is labelled systems intel!ration. The goals to be addressed by systems integration encompass a broad range of local and state issues, and are basic to the principals of modern water resources management. Specific proposals for systems integration should be evaluated in terms of their consistency with and ability to meet these goals. These goals are listed and discussed below: I. Generate additional municipal water supply -- One of the primary goals is to generate sufficient water supply to meet the future needs of municipal uses in the region. While this is certainly a major goal of water resource management, it cannot be the only focus; such a narrowly defined approach to water development may not be politically feasible from either a federal or regional perspective. 2. Promote efficiencv and cost effectiveness -- The costs of developing future water supplies has increased dramatically in the past two decades. Any approach to water supply planning must have efficiency and cost effectiveness as its cornerstones and should emphasize attaining the optimal use of existing systems before requiring the