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<br />5.1.3 Municipal Augmentation Requirements <br />The amount of water required to augment future increases in municipal consumptive water use will vary <br />depending upon many factors. Primary factors that influence augmentation demands include: <br /> <br />. The duration and location of water right calls; <br />. The seniority of the supplying water right; and <br />. Amount of existing augmentation supplies. <br /> <br />It is likely that new junior water rights in the basin will be on call practically year-round during dry years, <br />either from the existing Shoshone or Cameo Demands or from the proposed instream flow claims on the <br />lower Colorado River. However, many new municipal uses will be supplied by more senior decreed rights <br />that may be on call for a shorter duration. Further, some municipal suppliers have acquired augmentation <br />sources (either contracted reservoir water or senior irrigation rights) to provide for a certain amount of <br />anticipated growth. <br /> <br />Regardless of these influences, we believe that the demand for additional municipal augmentation <br />supplies will be significant. As evidenced by existing contract demands from Ruedi and Green Mountain <br />reservoirs, municipal water suppliers commonly contract for greater augmentation supplies than may be <br />needed in the immediate future. Some of the planning considerations that influence and affect contract <br />demands for augmentation water are outlined below. <br /> <br />. Most municipal water suppliers plan for critically dry years and obtain augmentation supplies <br />for these worst case situations. These suppliers may also plan for contingencies that may <br />affect augmentation requirements, such as potential changes in water right administration. <br />These safety factors often increase the amount of augmentation water that is leased. <br /> <br />. It is common policy for municipal suppliers to obtain water supplies for a population that is <br />anticipated to occur 10 years or more in the future. This policy is important given the <br />uncertainty regarding acquisition of additional water supplies. <br /> <br />. Reservoir storage on the West Slope is currently limited. Municipalities have contracted for <br />water that is not immediately required to ensure that the limited reservoir supplies will be <br />available in the future when they are needed. <br /> <br />. Augmentation with reservoir releases, is often preferred to augmentation with other sources <br />such as senior irrigation rights. The use of senior irri!f3tion rights often requires complex and <br />costly water right administration, and can require the construction of storage facilities to <br />provide year-round augmentation and to deliver historical delayed irrigation retum flows. The <br />use of reservoir water, where available, also reduces the pressure to remove irrigated land <br />from production for water supply purposes. <br /> <br />Most water users will require augmentation water to replace only the consumptive water use associated <br />with out-of-priority diversions. However, some water users may be required to replace or augment their <br /> <br />19 <br />