2005 Water Projects Bill Fact Sheet

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Total Study Cost: $553,000 Funding Sources: CWCB I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I Water Project Construction Program - Project Data Applicant: Colorado Water Conservation Board and Division of Water Resources Project Name: eWCB Gaging program for monitoring and data collection projects and the DWR Satellite Linked Monitoring System Project Type: Stream Gaging County: Statewide Drainage Basin: Water Source: N/A Statewide Drainage Basins CWCB Investment: Interest Rate: N/A $553,000 Term: N/A This project entails the development and implementation of a statewide gaging program to address the gaging needs of the Colorado Water Conservation Board and the Division of Water Resources (DWR). As the state's water planning agency, the CWCB relies upon gages operated by the DWR, United States Geological Survey (USGS) and private entities in order to meet the needs of its mission critical program areas including Compact Protection, Decision Support System Development, Floodplain Management and Stream and Lake Protection. However, eWCB gaging needs are often different from those of the DWR and USGS. Although many existing gages provide needed dat_a. the DWR's mission is to administer the state's water rights, while the USGS collects data for long-term scientific record purposes. As a result, stream gages are not always located where the CWCB needs them, nor are they nece~sarily designed to fit CWCB data collection parameters. This project will enable the CWCB to strengthen its cooperative efforts with the DWR and USGS to expand, refurbish, redesign and create new gages as well as develop new strategies to obtain data that will not only benefit the CWCB but statewide stakeholder interests. Of the $553,000 requested, $200,000 will.be utilized this year for the implementation of specific CWCB gaging projects including the development of strategies to address operation and maintenance issues by utilizing new technology, implementation of a dye dilution gage on the Slate River, installation of Crest Gages for flood monitoring purposes, maintenance and improvements to the Flow Alert System, and the development of new gages and refurbishment of existing gages. Another $50,000 willbe used to continue the joint CWCB/DWR flood-hardening program. A key component of this program is the continued, long-term operational viability of the State Satellite Linked Monitoring System, which is administered by the Division of Water Resources. This system, which is comprised of over 300 satellite-gaging stations, requires continued renovation of existing gages, replacement of outdated data collection platforms and upgrades to transmission components. In addition, many existing gaging stations need to be modified to . provide critical stream flow data for flood warning and low flow monitoring. Changes in technology, which will ultimately increase reliability and real time data transmission rates will require the DWR to upgrade the system over a 10-year period. The costs associated with the continued refurbishment and operational viability of the system is currently estimated at approximately $303,000 per year.