BOARD00381

• Board Meeting Date: 7/20/2004
• Description: Strategic Plan Revisions
• Board Meetings - Doc Type: Memo

State statutes require the Colorado Water Quality Control Commission to advise, consult
and cooperate with the Board to protect the quality ofthe water for beneficial uses;
minimize negative impacts on water rights and to avoid adopting control regulations that
would be either redundant or unnecessary (25-8-101 to 25-8-209 C.R.S.)

Conservation and Drought Planning

In 1989. the State Proiects Water Conservation in Landscaping Act (HB89-1169) was
passed that requires governmental agencies to consider the use of water efficient
landscaping on all public proiects where landscaping is needed.

In 1991. the Water Conservation Act of 1991 was passed to give general statutory
authority is gi'ien to the Board to provide conservation and drought planning support to
the State and its citizen under g 30-60-124 and g 30-60-106 C.R.S., respectively. The
Office of Water Conservation (OWe), was also established in 1991 bv this Act. The
Primary Tasks of the OWC Its primary tasks are incorporated into the Conservation and
Drought Planning Section. The section develops and approves water efficiency plans,
monitor water use, provides technical assistance and public information, inventories and
prepares drought plans and assists with policy development, while networking with water
suppliers, legislators and key constituencies. The 1991 Act also authorized the Board to
expend UP to five hundred thousand dollars ($500.000) to demonstrate the benefits of
water efficiencv measures bv providing incentive grants to anv Colorado public agencv
that requested assistance in the designing and implementation of water conservation
measures.

In 1994, the General Assembly authorized the Board to expend an additional five
hundred thousand dollars ($500,000), on a fifty percent cost-sharing basis for agricultural
and multipurpose water system water conservation demonstration projects. The grant
program was designed to provide an opportunity to learn more about water conservation
and acquire data regarding "what works and what doesn't."

In 2004, the General Assemblv passed HB 1365 that enhances the elements that must be
considered bv a covered entitv when creating a water conservation plan amended the
Water Conservation Act of 1991. The new provisions will establish water savings goals
and provide a better indication to the overall effectiveness of the entities water
conservation plan. The law also requires the CWCB to participate in drought mitigation
planning and creates a new grant mechanism from severance tax operational account to
allow water entities to applv for grants to assist them with water conservation and
drought planning activities. The name of the Office of Water Conservation was changed
to the Office of Water Conservation and Drought Planning.

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