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. . . Drought and Water Supply Shortage Critical Public Issues 70% of Voters Support New Storage The drought has the public's attention. Water restrictions and parched crops have convinced Colorado voters that drought and water shortages are critical issues-and that Colorado is not prepared to deal with them. In a new statewide Ciruli Associates poll, 80 percent of voters say dealing with drought Is a "very important" issue, On a scale of 1 to 5, 80 percent of vaters rate dealing with drought a "1," or most important. However, voters overwhelmingly say Colorado is not adequately prepared to deal with drought. Eighty-one percent say the state is average or below average (3, 4 or 5) In Its level of preparedness, Drought Is Critical Issue and State Is Not Adequately Prepared 80% 46% 11% 14% .111 13% ~. N<Jt ImpoclMV not prepared 5% - 2% 'II!m!!I!I! Vei)' Impo~anll very prepared . Important Prepared CiMIl~!ilVr~ NIi<1~. 2WZ Question: On a scale of 1 to 5 where 1 is very important and 5 is not at all important, how important is it for the state of Colorado to deal with the drought? Question: Using the same scale of 1 to 5 where 1 is very prepared and 5 is not at all prepared, how prepared do you think Coloo is to deal with a major drought? The survey was sponsored by the Parker Water & Sanitation District public information and education project. The survey was conducted Juiy 8 to July 14, 2002, by Ciruli Associates, with 601 residents registered and likely to vote in the 2002 general election. The telephone survey has a statistical range of accuracy of :1:4.0 percentage points. Ciruli Associates is a non-partisan research, communication and public policy firm providing consulting services to Colorado and national organizations since 1976. Water Supply Problem Widespread Residents view drought as both a statewide and a local problem. Voters around the state (63%) believe water in their county is likely to be in short supply over the next five years. North Front Range communities are the most concerned, but at least 60 percent of Eastern Plains and Western Slope voters also believe their supplies are inadequate.