“The results are there’s no real silver bullet out there. The Study is a good compilation of the things and tools potentially out there, then you winnow down to what’s feasible and cost effective.”
– Jeff Kightlinger, MWD of Southern California
Listen to more of the interview with Jeff Kightlinger
allocations were based on 17 to 17 and a half million acre- feet average annual supply, and it’s now averaging around 14 and a half to15 million acre-feet, you’ve already lost a million and a half to 2 million acre-feet of supply, so as the Basin begins to use all its water … you begin to realize that, ‘Gee, there really is an imbalance here, [and] what does that look like in the future?’” The Study names a wide range of options and strategies that could be used to help ease the imbalance, in- cluding importing water from the Front Range to the Green River, seawater desalination in California and Mexico, brackish groundwater desalination, municipal and agricultural conserva- tion, water recycling and rainwater harvesting. There has been ample discussion through the years about the merits of those and other ideas, all of which invite questions about feasibility and cost.
Cullom believes the Study can set the stage for water managers to aggres- sively plan for future supply scenarios. “We need to accelerate efforts to augment the Colorado River system, primarily through desalination efforts, and consider ways to bring more water to the system through delivery to the Front Range,” he said. Jeff Kightlinger, general manager of the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California (MWD), said the Study takes “a first, hard look at what are the some of the feasible options to cooperatively grow water and deal with the issue of future shortages.” “The results are there’s no real silver bullet out there,” he said. “The Study is a good compilation of the things and tools potentially out there, then you winnow down to what’s fea- sible and cost effective.” Water conservation advocates say the first step should be reduced water use. “Conservation is faster, it’s cheaper, more flexible, you can adapt as the climate adapts, as the population adapts,” said Drew Beckwith, water policy manager with Western Resource Advocates in Boulder, Colo. “You are not sinking hundreds of millions of
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dollars into an upfront project and having fixed loan repayments on some- thing that may be antiquated five years after you build it.”
Projecting future demand is an inexact process, considering the many variables such as the pace of economic activity. Reclamation believes the Study presents a plausible range of future demands.
“Although each of the states developed population projections in a different manner and made assump- tions about water use in a different manner, the types of parameters that drive demands are common to all of the Colorado River Basin states,” Jerla said. “We identified those parameters that are the key factors driving future demand, such as changes in popula- tion and water use, and then asked the states to tell us how those parameters would change under the Study’s six future demand scenarios.” Pitt commended the Study for including a “substantial measure” of urban and agricultural water conser- vation in its package of options and strategies. That said, EDF is concerned about how water conservation is de- fined in the Study – how much can be achieved at what rate and at what cost. Furthermore, there has been “quite a bit of controversy” about the projected demands presented by the states, which are skewed toward the high side, Pitt said.
“It does absolutely matter what the demands are that you project,” she said. “It matters the population you project and the amount of conservation.” Cullom said the Study also shows that targeted investments in augmen- tation projects and additional water conservation programs can protect the Colorado River and restore the river “so that it reliably and sustainably meets current and future water needs.” The options and strategies “operate within and are consistent with the existing framework provided by the Law of the River.”
The vast tourist-related industry associated with Colorado River recreational activities say it is vital that