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. . . . . . I. . . . . . . I. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ALAMOSA V ALLEY COURIER Saturday, February 14, 2004 SWSI i'nfo painting bleak water picture Water resources inventory finds gaps By RUTH HEIDE ALAMOSA - If water sup- plies are not keeping up with demand now, give it another 30 years. It could be worse. Drawing information from population estimates (projected 65 percent increase statewide by 2030) and 167 water providers in the state, Statewide Water Supply Initiative (SWSI) consult- ants are projecting gross munici- pal and industrial water use de. mand will increase by 708,000 acre feet, to 1.8-19 million acre feet, and gross agricultural de- mands will increase by nearly 11 million acre feet statewide by 2030. These are preliminary esti- mates and reflect gross diver- sions, not consumptive use, SWSI consultants told roundtable par. ticipants in Alamosa on Thurs- day. 1'he Rio Grande Basin, which includes the San Luis Valley, is projected to need 5,700 more acre feet of water, an increase of about 33 percent, for municipal/indus. trial LIse alone by 2030. The preliminary estimate is based on information provided by nine of the water providers in the basin and an average use of 330 gallons per capita per day, presenters said.t Rio Grande Water Conserva- tion District Engineer Allen Davey said the high water usage per capita could be attributed to a combination of things includ- ing inexpensive water rates, a higher number of parks in rural communit~.es and "it's a very dry area here. Projects identified to fill water gaps One ofthe purposes ofthe state. wide initiative is to inventory water resources and needs throughoutthe state and develop - some alternatives of how the state's water needs might be met in the future. The initiative started last sum- mer with public meetings. Dur- ing the current phase of the', study, consultants are develop'\' ing demand numbers. Supplies will then be identified, and thei SWSI participants will discuss! the gap between the two and: how it might be filled, explained! Colorado Water Conservationl ~~:~~. (CWCB) staffer RiCk~.' The consultants will present report to the legislature in No; vern ber. ;', Brown said some projects arel already in the works which couldi help ftll the gap. "We want tor find ways we can help thosel projects move forward." ':l Some of the-projects the con;; sultants and CWCB staffidenti-. fied for the Rio Grande Basi,!. were: . Rio GrandeHeadwaters Res- toration Project - A study was performed on 91 miles of river, but money is not available to implement the recommendations for making the ri ver system more efficient, SLV Water Conser- vancy District Man~er Mike. Gibson said. . It's an important project, he added, but in terms of increasing the water supply, it does not do that. . Ray Wright, Colorado Watef Conservation Board member~ said a properly flowing river channel makes it easier to de; liver Colorado's Rio Grande Corri~ pact obligation, so that means less curtailment to local wate# users. ~c . A1amosa River Restoration . Please see SWSI page 3