2
DefinitionsAcre-foot: Equals about 326,000 gallons—
enough to serve a family of four, for a single year.
Doctrine of Prior Appropriations: The use of water in many of the western United States is governed by this law, which rests on the premise of “first in time, first in right.” Therefore, the first person to use water, acquires a senior right or "priority" to its future use against later users with junior rights or “junior priorities.”
3
Colorado’s Eight Major Water Basins
Yampa/White
North Platte
Colorado
South Platte
Arkansas
Rio Grande
Gunnison
San Juan/Dolores
4July, 2000
July, 2005
July, 2010
July, 2015
July, 2020
July, 2025
July, 2030
July, 2035
0
1000000
2000000
3000000
4000000
5000000
6000000
7000000
8000000
9000000
State Population
Front Range Popu-lation
Water Supply
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From 1950-2000: the population in the Western States increased from 13.3% to 22.5 %
Between 2004-2005: 5 out of the 6 fastest growing states were in the west.
Arizona (3.5%)Nevada (3.5%)Idaho (2.4%)
Utah (2%)Texas (1.7%)
Colorado (1.4%)
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Balancing land use planning with growth pressures.
Exploring ways for agricultural water to be transferred and not permanent:negotiating agreements for leasing ag water;agricultural water right programs like fallow field
or water bank programs.exploring non-tributary groundwater (aquifers);balancing water rights with non-tributary ground
water rights; and developing water reuse methods such as grey
water storage, or rain harvesting.
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Federal Aide?Federal funding: the operation and maintenance
budget of the two largest federal water supply agencies (The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and U.S. Bureau of Reclamation now exceed their construction budgets. Both their operation and maintenance backlogs as well as their rehabilitation and replacement needs, continues to grow.
The Environmental Protection Agency’s funding for the Clean Water Act and Safe Drinking Water Act is declining while needs continue to grow.
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2008 Report Card For Colorado's Infrastructure. (American Society of Civil Engineers)
Colorado’s Top Three Infrastructure Concerns:
RoadsDrinking WaterBridges
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2008 Report Card For America's Infrastructure. (American Society of Civil Engineers)
352 high hazard dams, whose failure would cause a significant loss of life and property damage;
2 percent of high hazard dams in Colorado have no emergency action plan to address dam failure;
9 of Colorado’s 1,935 dams are in need of rehabilitation to meet applicable state dam safety standards;
Colorado’s drinking water infrastructure needs an investment of $5.32 billion over the next 20 years; and
Colorado has $2.13 billion in wastewater infrastructure needs.
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Answering Colorado’s Water Challenges
Strategies will have to be pursued on and between several different levels in order to approach the topic of addressing both water infrastructure and water supply in Colorado.
Solutions will have to be done cooperatively and resourcefully through federal, state, and local funding partnerships.
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Using What We Have + Finding More?
Exploring new water sources and maximizing our current water usage seem to be the dichotomy of water strategies in the west. The latter challenge involves changing how people use water.
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Other Pressing Water Issues: Increasing Energy needs;Recreational Needs;Unquantified Indian water rights claims;
(Winters v. United States 1908)Water Rights for Endangered Species
(Federal Endangered Species Act of 1973) Threat of climate change.
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