March 23, 20 17 Mr James L. Eklund, Director Directors, Colorado Water Conservation Beard 1313 Sherman St., Room 718 Denver, CO 80203 Re: Phase 11(a) of the West Slope Basin Roundtables Risk Study Dear Mr. Eklund and Directors of the Colorado Water Conservation Board: This letter is delivered on behalf of the Colorado, Gunnison, Southwest, and Yampa-WhitefGreen . Basin? Roundtables? and the Colorado River Water Conservation District and the Southwestern Water Conservation District, the Applicants and funding partners for the Risk Study named above. today, and these parties Wish to Offer additional information to the Board to clarify the purposes of the Study. - The purpose of the Study IS educate and inform the West Slope Roundtables so that they can have the conversation contemplated under Principle 4 of the Conceptual Framework That conversation is necessary to reach agreement on what 1s a reasonable level of future West Slope development that can be? covered by a collaborative program to avoid "inV'oliintary curtailment. Under the Conceptual Framework, a new transmountain diversiOn is not covered, but existing'eXpansions (such as Windy Gap Firming, Moffat eXpansion and the Eagle River MOU) are, the remaining unknown is the level of reasonable development on the West Slope. To have an informed discussion we need to fully understand the basics of how such a collaborative program will operate and the risks it entails. There are real tradeoffs between the level of development protected by a collaborative- programand the costs to. implement Recognizing thatimplementation . . of the Conceptual Framework is an integral part of Colorado Water Plan, the CWCB should be a w1ll1ng part1c1pant in the Study w1th _t_he goal of the West Slope efforts have an .. informed and thoughtful conversation. The Study intends to test the concept of coupling CRSS with StateM-od. It will not conduct any detailed in?basin modeling (other than what is necessary to the testing) until we have con?dence in how the two models work together. This effort will not be simple or straight forward, It is important for the Staff to be apart of this effort. It will be conducted in an open and transparent manner, and all interested parties will be able to observe, comment, and offer input. This is not a water availability study, but there are real limits on how much Colorado River water Colorado can consume without causing an unacceptable risk to existing users. Developing an agreement among the West Slope as to how much future development is reasonable and will be covered by the collaborative program is essential if Colorado is going to make further progress on the concept of demand management. This is fundamentally related to the ongoing water bank work group effort, the System Conservation Pilot Projects, and continuing the progress Colorado has already made by including the Framework in Colorado?s Water Plan. The results will be equally valuable to the Front Range Roundtables. Participation by the CWCB Director and staff will assure that the Study will not interfere with or jeOpardize Colorado?s interstate negotiations and the Sc0pe of Work contains a Speci?c disclaimer that it does not represent the views or interests of the State of Colorado. We encourage the Board to approve the Application for WSRF Basin Funds grant. Sincerely, ?Jim ?Pok-rar1d-?-?--?t Chair, Colorado Basin Roundtable Kathleen Curry Chair, Gunnison Basin Roundtable' MlkePreston Chair, Southwest Basin Roundtable Mary Brown I Chair, Yampa+White?Green Basin Roundtable Eric Kuhn General Manager Colorado River Water Conservation District Bruce Whitehead. Executive Director Southwestern Water Conservation DiStrict Water Supply Reserve Fund Grant and Loan Program Water Activity Summary Sheet March 22-23, 2017 Agenda Item 24(1) Applicant Grantee: I Colorado River Water Conservation District 'Water Activity Name: .. Basin Roundtable Technical Study on Colorado River Risk . Response Options - Assessment/Education County: All Drainage Basin: I I - Colorado I Source . Coloradoner Amount Requested/Source of Funds: $10,000 Colorado Basin Account - $10,000 Gunnison Basin Account $10,000 Southwest Basin Account $10,000 . Yampa/White/Green Basin Account $40,000 Total Grant Request Matching-Funds: - - AppliCant Match (cash145% of the Basin Account request (meets 25% min) o. 59% of the total project cost of $98, 040 Staff Recommendation: Staff recommends approval of up to $10 000 from each of the Basin 5 Accounts to help fund the project titled: Basin Roundtable Technical Study on Colorado River Risk Response Optlons . Water Activity Summary: The intent of Phase 11 of the Colorado River Risk Response Options Study 13 to explore potential voluntary preemptive actions? and associated risks? that Colorado water users could take as short - term measures (1-5 years in duration) to protect critical reservoir elevations. The study will evaluate a number-of- scenarios with a variety of assumptions regarding voluntary demand managem'ent'and reservoir operation scenarios that were developed based on feedback from the BRTs and other stakeholders. Two different technical approaches will be used in Phase II. The ?rst set of analyses will build upon the Colorado River Simulation System (CRSS) modeling from Phase I, and will include additional modeling runs with CRSS to evaluate alternative model assumptions (hydrology, demand, etc.). The second piece of Phase II will investigate opportunities to use CRSS in conjunction with StateMod in order to model demand management allocation schemes. This work will allow for an exploratory analysis of the and weaknesses of both tools in answering demand management questions both together and. separately. Discussion: The questions raised in the Risk Study both Phase I and the initial draft scOpe of work for Phase II - were of statewide interest. Director Eklund and CWCB staff worked with the Basin Roundtables in creating a revised Phase II SOW is a project that will be a useful follow-up from Phase I of the Risk . Study, while avoiding concepts that implicate interstate issues such as Colorado River compact compliance. CWCB plans to be actively engaged in the implementation of this study. The Technical Advisory Committee for the study will include CWCB staff. The Committee will work closely with the scope of work which could affect sensitive water policy matters must be approved by the CWCB Director. CWCB staff has reviewed the Application and Statement of Work of Phase 2 and have determined that this effort assists the Roundtables satisfy their respective Basin Implementation Plans (BIP). . Goals and Measurable outcomes as fellows: - Colorado BIP: Theme 1: PrOtect and Restore Healthy Streams, Rivers, Lakes and Riparian Areas; Theme 2: Sustain Agriculture; Theme 3: Secure Safe Drinking; Theme 6: Assure Dependable Basin Administration; I Gunnison BIP: Goals and Measurable Outcomes 1: Protect existing water uses in the Gunnison Basin; 0 Southwest BIP: "Goals and Measurable Outcomes Themes A- 7015.13d?; 0 Yampa/White/Green BIP: Goals and Measurable Outcomes Protect the YWG Basin from compact curtailment of existing decreed water uses and some increment of future uses. This effort also assists in meeting the Goals and Measurable Outcomes of Colorado?s Water Plan, such as ?Protect Colorado?s ability to fully develop compact entitlements, and continue to support agreements that strengthen Colorado?s position in interstate negotiations, while ensuring the long- term viability of Colorado?s interstate compacts and relationships Colorado will focus planning efforts on maintaining healthy systems and avoiding a Colorado River Compact de?cit, rather than its "re'spbriseio pre'Sen'ted' in Chapter 8; Interstate Projects and Agreements. Issues/AdditionalNeeds: No issues or additional needs have been identi?ed. Eligibility "Requirements: The application meets requirements of the three subsections of the Eligibility Requirements: General Eligibility, Entity Eligibility, and Water Activity Eligibility. Eligibility Based on Funding Match Requirements: This application meets the Basin Account Matching requirements. Evaluation Criteria: This activity has undergone review and evaluation and staff has determined that it satis?es the Evaluation Criteria. Please refer to Basin Roundtable Chair?s Recommendation Letter and the WSRF Grant Application for applicant?s detailed response. - Funding Summary Matching Funds: Funding Source 931111 In?kind Colorado River Water Conservation District $29,020 $0 $29,020 Secured Southwestern Water Conservation District $29,020 $0 $29,020 Secured Sub-total $5 8,040 $0 $58,040 - WSRF Colorado Basin Account $10,000 $0 $10,000 Basin Account $10,000 $0 $10,000 WSRF Southwest Basin Account 39 10,000 $0 $10,000 WSRF Yampa/Wh1te/Green Basin Account $10,000 $0 $10,000 Total Project Costs $98,040 $0 - $98,040 Brown&MeganHoIcomb .. . All products, data, and information developed as a result of this grant must be provided to the CWCB in hard copy and electronic format as part of the project documentation. This information will in?turn be made Widely available to Basin Roundtables and the general public and will help promote the development of a common technical platform. In accordance with the revised WSRA Criteria and . Guidelines, staff would like to highlight additional reporting and ?nal deliverable requirements. The speci?c requirements are provided below. Reporting. The applicant shall provide the CWCB a progress report every 2 months, beginning from the date of the executed contract. The progress report shall describe the completion or partial completion of the tasks identi?ed 1n the scope of work including a description of any major issues that have occurred and any corrective action taken to address these issues Final Deliverable: At completion of the project, the applicant shall provide the CWCB _a ?nal report- that summarizes the prOj ect and documents how the project was completed. This report may contain photographs meeting summaries, wand engineering reports/de51gns I Engineering. All engineering work (as de?ned in the Engineers Practice Act 25? 102(10) . C. R. S. performed under this grant shall be performed by or under the responsible charge of a professional engineer licensed by the State of Colorado to practice engineering