A resource that most of us take for granted鈥攚ater鈥攚as front-and-center at a regional issues summit in Loveland Wednesday.
Colorado鈥檚 population is expected to jump from 5.1 to 7.2 million over the next 18 years, and experts say the current infrastructure just isn鈥檛 equipped to meet the anticipated demand.
So where鈥檚 our future water going to come from? And how will it change our day-to-day lives?
Those questions were posed to a panel of experts including General Manager Eric Wilkerson.
鈥淲ith the water we have in agriculture in Weld and Larimer counties, we have plenty of water to sustain any population that you鈥檇 want to have in this area. It鈥檚 a question of how much agriculture do you want to dry up?鈥�
This problem doesn't have easy solutions. Part of it could come from lowering Front Range water use by 10 or 20 percent. However reusing and recycling water more could present other problems according to Andrew Jones, an attorney who specializes in water issues.
鈥淲hen we talk about conserving, we have to introduce that concept into the discussion that we may also be reducing flows in the river and changing the river regime,鈥� he says.
Along with thirsty cities, hydraulic fracturing is also competing for water, which is part of the natural gas extraction process. Fort Collins Poudre River Sustainability Director John Stokes says just how this will decrease future water supplies isn鈥檛 known.
鈥淚s it significant in terms of the totality of the water supply in the state? No. But is it significant at the local level?鈥� he says. 鈥淵es, potentially it is.鈥�
Ultimately, Northern Water鈥檚 Eric Wilkinson says the region needs to become more protective of its water supply, particularly when it comes to Denver Metro expansion. And that could come from creating a so called 鈥渨ater bank,鈥� which could buy water rights from retiring farmers, preserving and leasing them back to agriculture and northern cities.
鈥淭hink about that, the water bank could then protect the supplies in this area for agriculture, the amenity that everyone moves here for,鈥� he says.
That won鈥檛 happen anytime soon. But the 鈥檚 Sandra Hagen Solin says regional water issues will come up during the annual legislative session鈥攊ncluding the controversial Northern Integrated Supply Project.
鈥淲e will be pursuing a resolution from the legislature in support of NISP in order encourage its forward progress more swiftly given the dynamics at play,鈥� she says.
The long-term storage project will likely take years to fully realize due to feasibility studies and public criticism. The painfully slow process gets at something well-known by those who study water: big changes don鈥檛 happen in year increments. It happens over decades.
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