BOARD00968

• Board Meeting Date: 1/26/2000
• Description: CF Section - Non-Reimbursable Projects - Northwest Colorado Council of Governments
• Board Meetings - Doc Type: Memo

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STATE OF COLORADO

Colorado Water Conservation Board
Department of Natural Resources
1313 Sherman Street, Room 721
Denver, Colorado 80203
Phone, (303) 866-344] M E M 0 RAN DUM
FAX, [phone]

Q

TO:

Bill Owens
Governor

Colorado Water Conservation Board Members

John Van Sciver, P.E. .....:::JL.U~tS
Mike Serlet, P.E., Chief
Water Project Planning a Finance Section

FROM:

Greg E. Walcher
Executive Director

Peter H. Evans
ewes Director

DATE:

Dan McAuliffe
Deputy Director

January 14, 2000

SUBJECT: Agenda Item 12d., January 26-27,2000 Board Meeting
Northwest Colorado Council of Governments

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Introduction
The Northwest Colorado Council of Governments (NWCCOG) has applied for a Grant of
$33,000 to complete Phase 2 of the Upper Colorado River Project Study. The study includes:

Phase 1: Develop a Scope of Work.
Phase 2: Collect and analyze relevant data.
Phase 3: Seek mutually agreeable solutions to problems identified by the study_

The estimated total cost to complete Phase 1, Phase 2, and to initiate Phase 3 is $201,000, with a
target completion date of September 2000. Please see the attached project summary and map.

Summary
Local stakeholders in the Upper Colorado basin have organized a basinwide study of the water
quantity and quality issues related to growth on both the Front Range and West Slope. The study
is focused on existing and projected conditions in the Upper Colorado River basin, and examines
the impacts to water quality and quantity resulting from the exercise of existing and future
transmountain diversion water projects and in-basin uses.

Back!!round
Colorado has a semi-arid climate and most of the state's water falls as snow in the mountains.
The spring snowmelt provides Front Range cities with a significant portion of their water supply
via transmountain diversions from the West Slope. Due to their relative proximity to the Front
Range, Grand and Summit counties have historically been a primary source for such diversions.
Based on a ten-year average, the Front Range, including agricultural users, diverts approximately
368,000 acre-feet of water per year from Grand County and 67,000 acre feet from Summit
County. The Front Range owns the water rights to divert more than this amount. With rapid
growth, the Front Range municipalities and counties are depending on additional West Slope
water to meet these growth needs.