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Metropolitan Water Supply Investigation Proposal Hydrosphere, Inc. Septmber 17, 1993 Page 36 municipal water users in Boulder and Weld County. This project grew out of an assessment of municipal and industrial water supply needs within the existing District and its currently contemplated service area only. As a part of this effon the District has developed a great deal of information on existing municipal water supplies and future needs, alternative pipeline routes, sizes, costs and environmental impacts. Design of the SWSP is expected to be completed in the summer of 1993 and construction is expected to begin in 1994. While the sizing and alignment of the proposed pipeline is based on the needs and financial capabilities of current project participants only, the easements associated with the proposed pipeline have been sized by the District in anticipation of an additional pipeline at some future time. In doing so the District has recognized the possibility that more comprehensive front range water management needs could be served in the future by additional conveyance capacity from Nonhero Colorado to the metro Denver area. However, the District has not studied such future potential, and its current policies do not contemplate the use of water from CBT, Windy Gap or Nonhero "base supply" south of Boulder and Weld Counties. The MWSI Project should consider a wide range of options which may involve the use of Nonhero Colorado water supplies and project facilities in meeting Front Range water management issues while keeping in mind the legitimate interests of Nonhero Colorado. In doing so, the MWSI Project should solicit the active involvement of Nonhero Colorado representatives. Araoahoe County Utility Advisory Board Studies - Water Providers in Arapahoe County have organized through a County-formed Utility Advisory Board since early 1990. This Utility Advisory Board was charged with investigating new plans of water supply development in view of the failure of Two Forks. Water providers in Arapahoe County participated in approximately 18.5% of the Two Forks project and the economic development that has begun to occur over the last 18 months highlights the need to find new supplies to replace the Two Forks supplies that would have been delivered to the County. The Utility Advisory Board focused in on the County's very significant groundwater supply as a source of meeting those demands. Currently some 32 million acre-feet of groundwater exists under Arapahoe County in the non-tributary aquifers of the Denver Basin. Under Senate Bill 5 the providers in the County could potentially withdraw some 320,000 acre-feet of groundwater a year. Studies of the groundwater by the Utility Advisory Board have recommended that consideration be given to producing 30,000 acre-feet of groundwater annually to meet projected demands for approximately a 50 year period. Rather than depletion of the groundwater resource over time, the Utility Advisory Board has considered the potential "conjunctive use" of these groundwater supplies with surface water supplies derived from the mountains. The conjunctive use scheme that was developed would utilize the groundwater supplies only in periods of drought. The groundwater system that is developed would then serve as a sland alone system component that could deliver 30,000 acre- feet of water supply to Arapahoe County in any year as required by drought. The Arapahoe County Util ity Advisory Board has approached the Denver Water Department with a plan to conjunctively use their groundwater with the surface water supplies of the Denver Water Department. While the firm yield of the Denver Water Department is currently about 300,000 acre-feet annually, the average yield in the Denver system is over 400,000 acre-feet. The Arapahoe County groundwater system could potentially be another component of the Denver system, allowing the Denver Water Department to change its operational scheme to increase the firm yield of their system hy 30,000 acre-feet. Hence, in periods of excess water supply in the mountains, that excess supply would be delivered to