BOARD01525

• Board Meeting Date: 5/23/2005
• Description: Water Conservation and Drought Mitigation Guidelines for Board Action
• Board Meetings - Doc Type: Memo

CWCB Model Water Conservation Plan Development Guidance Document

· PREFACE

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Water conservation plans are required under ~37-60-126,
C.R.S. (hereafter the "Water Conservation Act of 2004" or "The
Act") for those covered entities! that
receive financial assistance from either the
Colorado Water Conservation Board (CWCB) , W...rCcn.....ationActof2004
or Colorado Water Resources and Power
Development Authority (CWRPDA). In
accordance with the Water Conservation
Act, water conservation plans must be
prepared and submitted to the Office of
Water Conservation and Drought Planning
(OWCDP) for review to determine whether
the plans comply with the requirements of
.the Act prior to the release of loan proceeds to a covered entity.2

In addition, the Act authorizes the OWCDP to provide monetary
assistance (in the form of grants) to covered entities for
purposes of developing their water conservation plans. Under the
grant program, the OWCDP intends to promote a state-of-the-
science approach to water conservation planning that goes beyond
the minimum planning requirements of the Act, whenever practical.

Therefore, this Guidance Document presents a Model Water
Conservation Plan C'Model Plan") that has been crafted to
provide guidance to covered entities, and other planning entities,
that are interested in developing water conservation plans, by
defining:

./ The minimum requirements of the Act; and

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1 Covered entities are defined as "each municipality, agency, utility, including any privately
owned utility, or other publicly owned entity with a legal obligation to supply, distribute, or
otherwise provide water at retail to domestic, commercial, industrial, or public facility
customers, and that has a total demand for such customers of two thousand acre-feet or
.morell.

There are some limited exceptions to this requirement.

5/12/05
Page I

DefIne. Drought MitigatiOn Piami'i'ng'-"
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. Factoid!

Minimum Requirements of
Water Conservation Plans
under the Act

At a minimum, plans must
consider plan elements that
address:

'" Water-saving measures
and programs:

'" The role of water
conservation plans in the
entity's water supply
planning; and

'" The actions an entity shall
take to develop,
implement, monitor,
review, and revise its
water conservation plan.

In addition, plans must specify
past and expected future
water savings goals related to
the implementation of water -
saving measures and programs.