BOARD00077 ‎(3)‎

• Board Meeting Date: 11/13/2006
• Description: Arkansas and South Platte Basins - Alternative Agriculture Water Transfers and Sustainability Project ‎(s)‎
• Board Meetings - Doc Type: Memo

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ST A TE OF COLORADO

Colorado Water Conservation Board

Department of Natural Resources
l~n SI1t'rman Sh'ed, Room 721
Del1\'er, Culllr,ldn 1I02U3
Phone: (~m) 1\6h-3.Hl
FAX: pm) 1->66--1-17-1
\V \\' \V .C\VCb.sti.l tC.co.lIse

Bill Owens
Governor

MEMORANDUM

Russell George
Executive Director

To:

Colorado Water Conservation Board

Rod Kuharich
CWCB Director

From:

Rod Kuharich, Director
Rick Brown, Section Chief
Intrastate Water Management & Development

Dan tvlcAuliffe
Deputy Director

Date:

November 13,2006

Subject:

Agenda Item 12 (c), November 13-15 Board Meeting,
Arkansas and South Platte Basins - Alternative Agriculture Water
Transfers and Sustainability Project(s)

Background

Rapid population growth. urbanization and increased competition for water have created
signiticant pressures on the agricultural sector of our economy. Conservative estimates
from the Statewide Water Supply Initiative (SWSI) indicate that Colorado could lose
almost 500,000 irrigated acres by the year 2030 with a major portion of those acres being
lost in the Arkansas and South Platte basins. Administration issues and lack of available
supplies in the South Platte basin may result in an even larger loss of acreage beyond the
S WSI estimate. To better understand and help address this trend CWCB authorized staff
to further investigate agricultural alternatives to permanent dry-up [(SWSI Phase 2
Technical Roundtable (TRT)).

Reduction in irrigated agriculture in Colorado is the result of: I) urbanization of
agricultural lands; 2) overuse of available supplies: and (3) purchase of water, permanent
dry-up of agricultural lands, and transfer to municipal or industrial use. It is no surprise
that the preliminary results li'om the SWSI TRT indicate that there are agricultural water
users that want to sell their water and get out of farming and ranching while others would
like to stay in business.

Flond Protection. W,lter Supply Planning and finance' SLre.1I11 "lid Like Protection
Water Supply Protection' Conservation and Drought Planning