Celebrate WATER FLUENCY Gunnison Basin Roundtable in cooperation with the Negotiating our Water Future in Colorado & the Colorado River Basin Water 2012.org

Overview Colorado Water Overview (Water 2012 Speakers Bureau – statewide education effort) How water is used/ constraints on use The West Slope’s predicament Statewide water planning: How you can participate Key Players The “gap” Basin Roundtable role Trade-offs Next Steps

Celebrate…because water is important for all that we do

Celebrate…because Colorado is a headwaters state Snow falls in the mountainsBuilds as snowpack

And drains in the spring and summer. Nourishing 19 states and Mexico

Celebrate… because water has shaped Colorado’s history Since the beginnings of settlement, mining and agriculture © Western History/Genealogy Dept., Denver Public Library.

Then what’s the problem?

Population is increasing but there’s no “new” water Many uses compete for a scarce and limited water supply Communities Agriculture Recreation Environment

How water is used in Colorado: 86.5 % Agriculture 6.7% Municipal 3% Recreation, fisheries & in-stream flows (legally dedicated for those purposes – much more is used recreationally on the way to other uses). 1.9% Commercial, Industrial and Institutional 1.9% Augmentation and replacement of groundwater in shallow aquifers. Source: Statistics on water deliveries provided by the Colorado State Engineer’s Office to the Colorado Foundation for Water Education in 2002.

Constraints on water use: Colorado Water Law Colorado River Basin Compact

Basics of Colorado Water Law: First in time, first in right Water rights are property rights. Significant Gunnison Basin Water Rights

1922 Compact: Upper Basin states must “not cause the flow of the River at Lee Ferry to be depleted below an aggregate of 75,000,000 acre feet in any 10 consecutive years.”

Western Colorado’s Predicament The 80/20 problem Growth – in-basin as well as statewide Imbalance between supply and demand Colorado Basin-wide

- 80% of Colorado’s population is on the Front Range. - 80% of Colorado’s precipitation falls on the Western Slope.

Population increase to 2050 projected to be % - to >200,000 Projected increase in gross water demand by 2030 is 14,900 acre-feet (underestimates municipal requirements in North Fork Region) Virtually the entire Gunnison Basin is already over- appropriated (due to historic shortages at Redlands Power Canal near Grand Junction)

Imbalance between supply and demand appear to be increasing throughout the entire Colorado River Basin (Bureau of Reclamation Study)

CO Water Planning - Key Players Interest GroupsInstitutions Water utilities Farmers Industry Environmental Advocates Recreation Advocates Local governments CO Water Conservation Board (CWCB): State studies & funding Basin Roundtables: Stakeholder groups established by the legislature for “bottom-up” planning Inter-basin Compact Committee (IBCC): Roundtable of Roundtables

CWCB Identified “the Gap”

Gunnison Basin Roundtable: Seeking Solutions Assessing Needs Consumptive Non-consumptive Funding Projects Fixing infrastructure Studies Non-consumptive needs Planning and Negotiating Analyzing the Gap Weighing Trade-offs Negotiating with other Basin Roundtables

IBCC called for the “4-legged stool” Already planned projects (Windy Gap firming, Moffat Collection System, others) plus: ConservationAg to Urban Transfers New Projects (Colorado Basin development) Roundtables developed preferred portfolios of these elements to fill the gap.

Trade-off issues: Agricultural losses east of the divide generally go up as Colorado River Water development goes down. Agriculture on the Western Slope is highly inter-dependent with agriculture on the eastern plains. Many are worried about risk: To eastern plains agriculture if we “underdevelop” the Colorado. Of a “compact curtailment” if we overdevelop it. Disagreement exists over how much can be saved via conservation: more regulation may be required to get bigger savings.

Next Steps in the Planning Process

How You Can Participate: Monitor developments via e-newsletter; sign up at to subscribe. Attend Gunnison Basin Roundtable meetings: 1st th Monday each month, 4-7pm, Holiday Inn Express, Montrose. Talk to your Basin Roundtable Representatives. Find the info and list at: Water2012.org