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. PART V--MUNICIPAL AND INDUSTRIAL WATER ALTERNATIVES Despite quite liberal population projections, tables 8 and 9 indicate that water shortages for Fort Collins and Greeley would not occur until the years 2010 and 2025, respectively. These forecasts are predicated upon continuation of the cities' annexation policies to COnvert agricultural rights to municipal water supplies as lands are annexed. With respect to the population of Fort Collins, the historic growth rate from 1940 to 1960 was about 2-3/4 percent annually. Census figures show the city's population at l2,25l in 1940 and 25,027 in 1960. During the interim, however, the Bureau of Census began to count students enrolled at C.,J,orado State University as part of the communities' population. 11 Adjustment of the 1940 figure to inolude the students .would pring the figure for that year to roughly l4,700 whic\l would then be comparable with the 1960 figure. The annual growth rate oi ted above reflects the 1940 adjustment. If the annual growth rate of 2-3/4 percent were projected into the future, Fort . Collins' population would reach 43,000 in 1980, 74,000 in 2000, and about l27,000 in 2020. All of these figures are substantially less than the projections shown in table 9 and, if used, would result in no estimated water shortages. . Whatever shortages occur in the future, however, conceivably could be met by acquisition of Colorado-Big Thompson Project supplemental water if not by converted right.s under the annexation policy. Several Colorado-Big Thompson water transfers in the current market have been consummated at a purchase price of $l25 an acre-foot. Assuming an interest rate of as much as 6 percent, the annual cost of acquisition per acre-foot share would be $7.50. The basic project charge of $1.50 per share would bring the annual cost to $9.00. A further adjustment to convert water shares to actual acre-feet ($9.00 ~ 0.8) would increase the annual acre-foot cost to $ll.25 for raw water delivered from the Horsetooth Reservoir. . As compared with that alternative, water provided for muni~ cipal and industrial use from Idylwilde Reservoir would be nearly three times as costly. While final recreation and fish and wildlife enhancement benefits have not been established, the maximum non- reimpursable cost allocable to those purposes is limited to 50 percent l/ A similar change affects the Greeley historic figures for - students at Colorado State College. . 26 ;