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<br />MWSl Project <br />Interruptible Supply Framework Report - DRAFT <br /> <br />August 21, 1995 <br /> <br />2. INTRODUCTION <br /> <br />2.1 Purpose and Scope <br /> <br />The purpose of this report is to summarize the MWSI Project's Phase II level <br />investigations related to Interruptible Supply Contracts (ISC)t as a potential water <br />supply for the metro Denver area, The overall intent of Phase II is to develop <br />background information and to initially identify promising water supply options for <br />further study in later Project phases, <br /> <br />Interruptible supply contracts are one of four main investigations conducted in <br />Phase II of the Metropolitan Water Supply Investigation. The objective of this aspect <br />of the project is to explore options for achieving voluntary short-term transfers of <br />existing water supplies to meet municipal needs, without permanent reallocation of <br />water use, <br /> <br />This investigation examines the public policy, technical. institutional, and <br />economic issues associated with interruptible supply arrangements. J The feasibility or <br />yield of such arrangements with respect to any particular ditch system or water right <br />was not evaluated, although the gross supply potential for such arrangements given <br />existing water supplies were broadly assessed, at a sub-basin level. This report is a <br />summary of these findings. <br /> <br />The information presented in this document is preliminary and will be refmed in <br />Phase ill of the Project according to the direction of the Technical Advisory <br />Committee. No specific interruptible supply plans have yet been developed, nor has <br />the new water supply yield potentially available from this alternative been definitively <br />quantified, <br /> <br />2.2 Background <br /> <br />Traditional ways of expanding municipal water supplies have included the direct <br />purchase of agricultural water rights, Initial efforts involved the incremental transfer <br />of water to cities, with accompanying changes in land use as urban growth slowly <br />expanded onto surrounding agricultural lands, Since land use changes and water <br />transfers occurred simultaneously and incrementally, the effects of such transfers were <br />less noticed (MacDonnell and Rice, 1994), <br /> <br />More recently, however, the character of these types of permanent transfers have <br />changed, Two major differences are I) water rights acquisitions can now include <br />agricultural lands which are far-removed from the municipality buying the rights, and <br /> <br />I Also known as dry-year options, water supply options, and droughl insurance contracts. <br /> <br />Hydrosphere Resource Consultants <br /> <br />5 <br />