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<br />OlJJ057 <br /> <br />THE SOUTH PLATTE <br /> <br />From the Rocky Mountain News, December 16, 1994: Denver Mayor Wellington Webb announced <br /> <br /> <br />that one of his top priorities is to have the South Platte River running full, year round, through <br /> <br /> <br />downtown Denver and past the new stadium at Coors field. The mayor did not elaborate on the <br /> <br /> <br />source ofthe increased flow. <br /> <br />The next day, the News ran a follow-up story headlined: "Fixing South Platte would be a tangled <br /> <br /> <br />mess". Water officials and consultants asserted that all options to provide aesthetic flows were <br /> <br /> <br />complicated by existing water contracts, numerous water rights, increasing demands due to growth, <br /> <br />and "other constraints". <br /> <br />The South Platte basin faces evolving and increasing demands for water. Faced with severely <br />limited supplies, the water management objective remains unchanged: satisfy demands without <br />injuring existing uses. The major issues in the basin today appear to be: <br />I. formulation of strategies to provide minimum streamflows, <br />2. satisfaction of municipal demands without injury to agriculture, and <br />3. evaluation of water quality issues. <br /> <br />Improved computer modeling could help decision makers evaluate alternative solutions to changing <br />demands. This paper looks briefly at the demands and constraints in the basin, the concept of a <br />Decision Support System (DSS), and the current state of computer modeling for the South Platte. <br /> <br />Evolving Demands <br /> <br />The growing Front Range population, new mandates for instream flows, and a strong traditional <br />agriculture present different, and often conflicting, needs for water, Colorado's explosive <br />population growth, with the attendant water supply dilemmas, seems to generate front page news <br />every week, The controversy over federally mandated flows for migratory habitat in Nebraska is a <br />matter of continuing debate, and will eventually affect water management on the South Platte. The <br />Colorado Division of Wildlife (DOW) warns of declining species within the state, and is seeking <br />ways to improve instream flows in Colorado. <br /> <br />Other instances of instream demands include aesthetic flows, such as those sought by Mayor Webb <br />and those the city of Boulder has been working to provide in Boulder Creek. Demands for <br />recreational use are also growing as rafting, fishing, and other water-based recreation increase in <br />popularity. <br /> <br />04/11/95 <br />