IN THE CARDS FOR THE UPPER BASIN . . . Andy Mueller Colorado River General Manager Protecting Western Colorado Wafer Smco I 937 September 1 4? 201 8 LAKE MERE Colorado River District Protecting Western Colorado Water Since 1937 Lee Ferry Flew Abovet?Belew 0.23 met/year 2000 - 2013 Cumulative Since 2000 Annual lutelume (mat) Colorado River District CRRG 3/2013 Protecting Western Colorado Water Since 1937 Climate Change will Impact Future Flows Recently published estimates of Colorado River flow sensitivity to temperature indicate that continued business-as-usual warming will drive temperatureinduced declines in river flow, conservatively 20% by midcentury and 35% by endcentury. - Brad Udall, Jonathan Overpeck “The twenty-first century Colorado River hot drought and implications for the future” TH ILIIF Emu-Email: LAKE MEAD PDWELL IE LE SHEEN-.55 I-r hi I Colorado River District Protecting Western Colorado Wafer Since 1937 Depletions from the Colorado River Basin East Slope M&l, 360,313 East Slope Ag, 130,435 AF West Slope Ag, 1,355,763 AF West Slope man, 77,445 AF Colorado River District Protecting Western Colorado Water Since I 937 ColoradoA/B River District Protecting Western Colorado Water Since I 937 Compact Administration • Reactive – waiting until crisis occurs • Imposed Involuntary Curtailment • • • • • High level of uncertainty Inefficient allocation of natural and economic resources Drinking water supplies Litigation Economic ramifications • Increased risk of federalization of the Upper Basin • Proactive – control our own destiny. •Voluntary actions to conserve. • Plan ahead to mitigate impacts. • Reduce the risk of uncertainty with curtailment avoidance (risk will never be zero). • Explore and develop position for employing mechanisms that manage risk level within Colorado and Upper Basin. CWCB 8/23/2018 EMPHASIS MINE Demand Management • UCRC Resolutions in 2014 and 2018 – explore feasibility of: • • • • Temporary Voluntary Compensated Reduction in diversions to conserve water that is otherwise consumptively used • To help avoid potential need for involuntary curtailment of Colorado River uses. Specifically geared to ensure compact compliance. • 2nd line of defense CWCB 8/23/2018 Demand Management Considerations • Consistency with prior appropriation and state water laws • Preservation of water rights • Economic and environmental considerations • Monitoring and verification of water conservation • Administration and accounting • Sideboards/limitations to consider • Water court involvement • Parity – benefits and burdens shared • Many others CWCB 8/23/2018 FROM CWCB STAFF MEMO • The water users have currently considered these and other issues as necessary sideboards to effectively protect and promote the interests of Colorado water users and communities throughout the state. These key issues currently include, but are not limited to: FROM CWCB STAFF MEMO • Whether the program would be limited to “temporary, voluntary, and compensated” conservation activities or be expanded to include something more; • ... FROM CWCB STAFF MEMO • Whether the program would be used to help assure continued compliance with the Colorado River Compact or something more; • ... FROM CWCB STAFF MEMO: • Understanding the extent to which the state would engage and work in tandem with stakeholders on rules for compact administration before considering a pivot from temporary, voluntary, and compensated demand management to something more akin to mandatory curtailment. 1. FREE OF CHARGE, FOR THE BENEFIT OF THE UPPER BASIN TO AVOID A COMPACT VIOLATION. 2. NOT BE SUBJECT TO EQUALIZATION OR BALANCING RELEASES FROM LAKE POWELL. 3. VOLUNTARY, TEMPORARY AND COMPENSATED AND IT MUST REFLECT PROPORTIONATE CONTRIBUTIONS FROM EACH UPPER DIVISION STATE. 4. NO INJURY TO OTHER WATER RIGHTS. 5. NO DISPROPORTIONATE IMPACTS TO ANY SINGLE BASIN OR REGION WITHIN COLORADO ... will be derived from water rights used on both sides of the Continental Divide, in amounts that are roughly proportionate to those two regions’ post-compact depletions from the Colorado River 6. MUST BE CONSISTENT WITH PRINCIPLE 4 OF THE CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK SET FORTH IN COLORADO’S WATER PLAN: “A collaborative program that protects against involuntary curtailment is needed for existing uses and some reasonable increment of future development in the Colorado River System, but it will not cover a new TMD.” 7. The CWCB Board and State Engineer should agree to abide by these principles and not go beyond them without unanimous agreement among those entities charged with protecting the State. Colorado River District Protecting Western Colorado Water Since I 937 Questions? Colorado River District Protecting Western Colorado Water Since I 937