BOARD01941

• Board Meeting Date: 11/25/2002
• Description: Technical Assistance to Covered Entities
• Board Meetings - Doc Type: Memo

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Please provide a brief narrative description ofthe proposed project or study including purpose, need, _
facilities, and service area. (Attach separate sheet, if needed.): ..

The relative importance of water conservation planning, especially as it relates to the management of
water supply and demand in preparation for drought conditions, is obvious given the current status of
drought statewide. The earnest review of current water conservation planning efforts in the state
(embodied by those plans on records with the CWCB), and the evaluation ofthe current "state of the
science" standards for conservation planning in the water. short west, will be most illuminating in helping
the CWCB to determine the following issues:

. Should the threshold for communities required to _create and implement water conservation plans
be lowered from the current standard of 2,000 acre feet per year;
. What kind of support should the CWCB provide to communities required to prepare water
conservation plans;
. What kind of support should the CWCB provide to communities wanting to prepare water
conservation plans; and
. What level of support should the CWCB commit ,to providing the requested and needed support?

The importance of answering these questions can be underscored by the following:
. Water conservation plans are a prerequisite for the CWCB loan applications for any covered
entity; and
. By receiving technical assistance, covered entities will be afforded state support in developing and _
implementing long-term solutions to water and drought management. ..

Currently, there are approximately 400 covered entities \n the state based on the existing criteria (Le.,
greater than 2,000 acre-feet per year use). Roughly 12% (Le., 54) of these entities have water
conservation plans on file with the CWCB. In addition, recent discussions with Division engineers within
each basin have indicated that the drought most dramati9ally impacts the smaller water supplies that do
not have or cannot afford storage. To this point, the CWCB is strongly considering lowering the state's
criteria for inclusion of covered entities to 1,000 acre-feet per year. It is estimated that this may increase
the number of covered entities to over 1,000.

At the CWCB's request, Bouvette Consulting prepared a scope of work for the project for consideration
by the Finance Subcommittee, which is attached. The s!;ope indicates that providing appropriate
assistance to those covered entities that need the state's aide, and deciding which covered entities are of
the highest priority will require a multi-phase project. The first phase would involve conducting a review
ofthe plans currently on file with the CWCB, and evaluating them against the current "state ofthe
science" utilized in other water short states to develop and implement water conservation plans. The next
step would involve mapping the covered entities with alld without plans, to identify preliminarily which
covered entities may be of high priority - given basic criteria such as the type of water supply, population
and water demand growth potential, and recent experieilces with water shortages.
Next, a strategy for implementing the technical assista~ce and outreach program would be developed to
identify how technical assistance would be provided - balancing workshops and distribution of technical
educational material with hands-on technical assistance based upon the available state resources.
Technical assistance would be provided to those identified high priority entities first, then to others e

Colorado Water Coriservation Board
Flood Protection. Water Project Planning and Financing. Stteam and Lake Protection
Water Supply Protection. Conservation Planning