Celebrate WATER FLUENCY Colorado 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 Colorado Basin’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.

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.”

Colorado Basin’s Predicament The 80/20 problem Existing Stresses Future Stresses

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

Full report available at: Figures from report “Water and its Relationship to the Economies of the Headwaters Counties,” commissioned by the Northwest Colorado Council of governments.

Existing Stresses Headwaters: Low, Flat Flows Flows reduced by transmountain diversions. Ecosystem impacts: degraded habitat for fish, riparian vegetation Economic impacts: impediment to growth, tourism Middle section: Flows depend on Shoshone Call Water quality concerns: natural gas drilling, saline springs Rapid population growth Lower section: Flows depend on Cameo, Shoshone Salts and selenium leach into river when water percolates through soils. Less high-mountain water makes river saltier.

Future imbalances between supply and demand, as projected by the US Bureau of Reclamation, could exacerbate current stresses

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”

Colorado Basin Roundtable: Seeking Solutions Assessing Needs Consumptive needs: “the gap” inside the basin is manageable Water & energy study: appears to be enough water in the Yampa/White Basin to support oil shale development Non-consumptive: mapping attributes+ flow evaluation tool Funding Projects Reservoir enlargements Watershed planning Studies Projects to address environmental and recreational 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 Colorado Basin Roundtable meetings: 4 th Monday each month, 1-4pm, Glenwood Springs Community Center Talk to your Basin Roundtable Representatives. Find the list at: Water2012.org