Colorado Water
A new study commissioned by the Colorado Water Conservation Board assesses the water needs of Front Range communities, according to the Rocky Mountain News [May 6, 2004, "Big fish out of water?"]. From the article, "Colorado's South Platte River Basin, including the foothills and portions of metro Denver, will need an additional 52,000 acre-feet of water by 2030, enough for up to 100,000 families. But the region could need much more if cities such as Denver, Thornton and Centennial, as well as unincorporated areas of Jefferson, Douglas and Adams counties, fail in their attempts to develop water projects already on their planning books, according to a groundbreaking report on the state's water supplies...The Statewide Water Supply Project is examining supply and demand in eight major river basins, from Durango to Sterling, Alamosa and Steamboat Springs...Overall water use in the South Platte Basin, the state's most populous, is expected to increase 53 percent during the next 26 years, rising to 1.2 million acre-feet from the 772,500 now consumed - a jump of about 409,500 acre-feet. Local water utilities have told researchers they can quench most of that thirst, except for about 52,000 acre-feet."
How is the snowpack doing? Here's an article from the Rocky [May 5, 2004, "April showers bring relief, not a remedy"]. From the article, "April snowshowers provided a much-needed drink to key Front Range watersheds, but boosted statewide snowpacks to just 68 percent of average, well below last year's 87 percent mark...In the Arkansas Basin, for instance, readings jumped to nearly 98 percent of average, up from 60 percent one month ago, according to the Natural Resources Conservation Service. In the South Platte, the snowpack grew to 65 percent of average, up from 51 percent in the previous month. But the Colorado River Basin won no drought relief in April, as its snowpack dropped to 55 percent of average, down from 64 percent."
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