Abstract
The recent population explosion along the Front Range of Colorado has significantly raise the ante in bidding wars for pieces of the finite water resource. Satisfaction of municipal water demands has come at the expense of irrigated
agriculture, with transfer of in-basin (native) water being made even more
costly-by legal requirements for transfers of use, point of use, and point of
diversion-through Colorado's labyrinthine water law system. Waters from out-of-basin sources (imports) are attractive in the water market because they are not
encumbered by requirements for extensive legal proceedings, including historic
consumptive use studies to establish transferable volumes of water. Import water
projects have typically been built in high-elevation watersheds, where annual
yields have been generally more consistent than lower-altitude catchments, and
possibilities for diversion and conveyance to alternative points of use are greater.
Trans-basin diversions have therefore become attractive targets in the quest for
additional municipal water supplies.
agriculture, with transfer of in-basin (native) water being made even more
costly-by legal requirements for transfers of use, point of use, and point of
diversion-through Colorado's labyrinthine water law system. Waters from out-of-basin sources (imports) are attractive in the water market because they are not
encumbered by requirements for extensive legal proceedings, including historic
consumptive use studies to establish transferable volumes of water. Import water
projects have typically been built in high-elevation watersheds, where annual
yields have been generally more consistent than lower-altitude catchments, and
possibilities for diversion and conveyance to alternative points of use are greater.
Trans-basin diversions have therefore become attractive targets in the quest for
additional municipal water supplies.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages | 471-477 |
| Publication status | Published - 30 Jun 2001 |
| Event | 2001 USCID Water Management Conference: Transbasin Water Transfers - Denver, United States Duration: 27 Jun 2001 → 30 Jun 2001 http://www.uscid.org/uscid_a.html |
Conference
| Conference | 2001 USCID Water Management Conference |
|---|---|
| Abbreviated title | USCID 2001 WMC |
| Country/Territory | United States |
| City | Denver |
| Period | 27/06/01 → 30/06/01 |
| Internet address |