BOARD00667

• Board Meeting Date: 3/16/2004
• Description: WSP Section - Statewide Water Supply Initiative ‎(SWSI)‎ Status Update
• Board Meetings - Doc Type: Memo

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MONTROSE DAILY PREss

Wednesday. February 18, 2004

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w.ater .expens soak -in :demanrl-data at 'Montr.ose TDundtable
Jason Monroe
MONTROSE - By the year 2030, Montrose Gounty will more than nouble its population and its municipal
WEller usage.
That was the data presented mihe Statewide Water Supply Initiative board roundtable meeting held
iuesday atihe Montrose Holiday Inn Express.
The SWSI data shows that by the year 2030, Montrose County will yrow by 103 percent, more than doubling
the population from the r:urrenl 33,SB6 residents to 6B,3Cl4. Demands on the municipal and industrial water
supply will follow the same trend, with water consumption needs rising from the current 5,825 acre-feet per
year to 13,849 acre-feet per year.
In the Gunnison River Basin, which includes Gunnison, Deita and Ouray counties as well as parts of
Montrose, Hinsdale, Saguache and Mesa counties, municipal and industrial water usage will. likely show an
increase in need of roughly 18,000 acre-feet of water. In comparison, the Colorado River Basin will show an
increased need 0175,000 acre-feet and the South ptatte River Basin, which serves much of the northern
Front Range, is estimated to see a need for nearly 470,ODO additional acre-feet of water by 2030. An acre-
foot of water is-equal to 325,851 gallons and is the amount of water needed to cover one acre of ground in
one foot of water.
"We want to get a sense of where you are with your water supplies and water demands and determine if any
shortages exist right now and project that over 30 years. And even though you may not have a gap in your
water supply and demand in 30 years, as you look out into the future, there may be a need for those water
supplies," said Colorado Water ConselVation Board Project Manager Rick Brown, noting that members of
the roundtable meetings in the Arkansas and Colorado river basins voiced concems for long-term water
supply sustainability past the SWSI outlook of 30 years.
The increase in population in the Gunnison Basin will likely be attributed to the "Front Range flight"
syndrome, where residents of the Front Range move across the Continental Divide in search of water, said
Kelly DiNatale, technical director for the consulting firm that compiled the data. "It will be especially apparent
in the Montrose area."
The Gunnison Basin is one of three river basins in the state that will show an annual increase in populatiDn
of 2 percent or more. ihe other two basins, the Colorado and San Juan/Dolores/San Miguel, are also Dn the
West SIDpe. . .
The fDrecasted migration of Front Range residents came as no surprise to many of the roundlable members.
'Well, we have the water and unless it gets shipped over, peDple are gDing to come here," said DivisiDn
Engineer Frank Kugel.
The study did evaluate the needs of agricultural water users over the coming 26 years but assumed that
there would be little change in the amount of irrigated acreage or water usage.
A large portion of the meeting was dedicated to evaluating and ranking current water projects in the basin,
including the possible constructiDn of a 45-megawatt hydroelectric pDwer plant on the NB lateral between
the Gunnison Tunnel and the UncDmpahgre River. Other projects discussed included the creatiDn Df several
small reseNoirs along Uncompahgre Water Users' Association ditches to help regulate ditch flow, piping 15
to 20 miles of laterals to reduce selenium and salinity in the water, and the upcoming release Df the F.spinail
Unit's Environmental Impact Statement. The Aspinall Unit is the series Dfthree reservDirs, Blue Mesa,
Crystal and MDrrDw PDint, between the Black CanYDn oithe GunnisDn NatiDnal Park and the city Df
Gunnison. .

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The SWSI is meant to "identify future demand in every regiDn and identify potential sDlutiDns S (including)
improving existing facilities, adding new stDrage, conservatiDn measures and non-structural alternatives
such as water exchanges," according to the CWCB. .
Approximately 50 peDple attended the roundtable meeting, which brought together a myriad Df DpiniDns from
water users, waler managers, real estate developers and environmentalists. The meeting was one of
several roundtable meetings being -hald throughDut the state and the second to be held in the GunnisDn
Basin. There will be 32 basin meetings held throughDut the project. The SWSI team has already completed
the first twD meetings in six of the state's eight river basins and plans tD hDld the third round table meeting
for the Gunnison Basin on April 27 in Montrose. The third meeting will discuss the current water supply
situation; including unappropriated water in each basin and the avaiiable supply under nDrmal, wet and
drought conditions. While there are fDur meetings planned~ a fifth meeting may be scbeduled due tD the
complex nature of water diversion and use in the basin. . .