DWSA 2004 Final Report Executive Summary

• Title: Drought and Water Supply Assessment - Final Report - Acknowledgements & Executive Summary
• Date: 12/1/2004
• Description: Final Report
• Basin: Statewide
• Drought Mitigation - Doc Type: Reports

Executive Summary

What we set out to do
State water planners and managers have reason to improve their understanding of
drought and drought impacts on the Colorado water user community, given changing
public perceptions, competing uses for water, and the impacts of the current drought.
For these reasons the Colorado Water Conservation Board (CWCB) undertook this
project. The project was developed to plan, develop and implement an assessment, the
Drought & Water Supply Assessment, to engage Colorado water users to:

.

Determine how prepared Colorado has been for drought, and
Identify limitations, and related measures, to better prepare us for future
droughts.

.

The CWCB will utilize this information to reinforce its statewide advocacy focus and
role on water issues. Through technical, policy and financial support, the CWCB can
aide local water users in planning for and mitigating the affects and impacts of drought.
As facilitators of water issues at the state and regional level, the CWCB is also in position
to help the water community answer the difficult water rights, water use and water
supply questions that will drive future water management
and planning in all business sectors and aspects of life.

What we did
The collection and evaluation of water use opinion data
required the planning and implementation of a multi-
phased program to allow for the proper collection of
available information, development and testing of an
opinion instrument (i.e., survey), administration of the
survey, and final analysis and interpretation of the survey
results. The phases and their relations to one another are
depicted in the figure at right.

The opinion data collection focused on determining how
prepared Colorado is for drought and identifying drought
mitigation measures that may help the state and its
citizenry and businesses to be better prepared for future
droughts. The specific opinion data collected addressed
characterizing those key issues that water managers and
planners throughout the state are facing with respect to the
short- and long-term management of their water resources:

.

Limitations to current water supply.
Current status of water supply, drought and water
conservation planning and implementation within
each water user organization.

.

2/1 7/2004

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Phase I
.Obtain and Evaluate Data
. Develop Segmentation