BOARD02094

• Board Meeting Date: 1/23/2002
• Description: CWCB Director's Report
• Board Meetings - Doc Type: Memo

Operation and Maintenance (O&M)
Since the initiation of the CDSS effort for the
Colorado River Basin, funding of the operation and
maintenance of the CRDSS and RGDSS efforts has
.been an issue. Currently, approximately $621,000 per
~ year has been funded to protect the current capital
investment of $13 million dollars. Sixty percent of
the $621,000 is associated with FTEs, and the
remaining 40 percent is used for
hardware/networking costs. This amount was
intended as partial O&M funding for the Colorado
and Rio Grande basins and does not include any
funding for any future DSS development.

This current O&M funding is not adequate to fund
the operation and maintenance of future CDSS
components and is inadequate to fund full-scale
maintenance of the existing system.

The CWCB. with the support of DWR, preparcd a
Targeted Base Review for the Officc of State
Planning and Budge that detailed the current and
long-term maintenance requirements of the CDSS
system. As a result of that study, a Decision Item that
requests an additional $376,404 annually and a one-
time capital outlay of $7,200 from Severance Tax to
support a long-term strategy for operating and
maintaining the existing Colorado's Decision Support
Systems (CDSS). This decision item requests three
FTEs, a program coordinator, a groundwater modeler
and a GIS Specialist along with monies for contract
work associated with specialized work tasks. CDSS
includes the existing Colorado River basin system
and the Rio Grande basin system that will becomc
fully operational in FY2001-02.

Capital funding for the construction of additional
decision support systems for the other river basins in
the state is expected to continue to be provided from
the CWCS construction bill. A specified amount of
existing O&M funds has also been and will continue
to be provided by the CWCB construction fund.

c

.

The pie chart illustratcs thc amount that has been
used for development of the CRDSS and RGDSS
compared to the existing operation and maintenancc
fund, which is approximately five percent.

Percent Comparison betwccn Existing CDSS
developmcnt and Existing 0 & M

5%

histing Opemtion
and Maintenam'c

95%

Thc current funding provides mostly for operation
personnel and provides minimal support for regular
maintenance of the CDSS. CDSS operation and
maintenance should be considered part of the
construction process since it provides essential tools
for needed determining the feasibility of constructing
a water projcct.

For more detailed discussion on CDSS as well as
component fact sheets, please go to the CDSS
website at http://cdss.statc.co.us.