I_WRARC_2022A 08/24/2022 02:10:52 PM Committee Summary

Lauren Ris, Deputy Director, and Russ Sands, Water Supply Planning Section Chief, of the Colorado Water Conservation Board (CWCB), introduced themselves and their presentation.

Ms. Ris spoke about the current state of the Water Plan, which is in the public comment period.  She told the committee about how the CWCB is travelling the state to solicit comments and providing listening sessions on the different topics laid out in the plan.

Ms. Ris discussed the different ways that the CWCB is working to increase access to the Water Plan, including sending copies to libraries, a podcast, and press releases.

Mr. Sands told the committee about the stakeholder process that went into creating the plan.  He discussed how the water plan is an opportunity for partnerships and a strategy for how CWCB manages water in Colorado.

Mr. Sands discussed a graph that shows the gap in water that is needed in Colorado.

The panelists responded to questions from the committee about funding of the Water Plan.

The panelists answered a question about how the Water Plan is going to address storage and the costs associated with it.

The panelists answered a question about how the money allocated in the Water Plan is going to be spent.

The panelists answered a question about how the state can take action today to solve the problems Colorado is facing.

The panelists answered a question about how they have worked with other states on water issues.

Evan Thomas, University of Colorado, Boulder, introduced the presentation and gave background on the topic.  He distributed the full report to the committee, which can be found here: https://leg.colorado.gov/content/iwrarc2022ascheduleandmeetingmaterials.  He told the committee about House Bill 21-1268, which authorized the University of Colorado and Colorado State University to conduct a feasibility study on new water management technologies.

Kat Demaree, University of Colorado, Boulder, gave an overview of the methodology of the study, which included stakeholder interviews across the state. She told the committee about the gaps that were identified through the conversations they had.

Melanie Holland, University of Colorado, Boulder, discussed the survey results and how people responded to questions about challenges in the monitoring and management of Colorado water.

Ms. Demaree spoke about the different case studies that were looked at during their research, including stratospheric monitoring capabilities for watershed management.

Amy Kremen, University of Colorado, Boulder, told the committee about the challenges associated with implementing new technologies in water management. She discussed the current Colorado Master Irrigator class that currently exists, which is a water management training course anyone can take.

Ms. Kremen spoke about the Testing Ag Performance Solutions Program, which is a farm management competition and learning experience for farmers.

Ms. Kremen discussed the different pilot projects that Colorado State University is working on to help with water management.

The panelists answered questions about how the funding would be distributed and the effectiveness of the different programs that were discussed.

Ralph Scanga, General Manager at the Upper Arkansas Water Conservancy District, Luke Javernick, PhD, Executive Director at River Science, and Chelsey Nutter, Project Manager at River Science, introduced themselves.  Dr. Javernick discussed the Van Norman Project. He talked about the issues with the project, where it can be improved, and how the improvements could be funded.  

Mr. Scanga gave background about the Upper Arkansas Water Conservancy District.

Mr. Scanga spoke about the value of a streamlined process and the Van Norman Pilot Project.  He said the project is hoping to identify water right injury issues, evaluate restoration processes, develop restoration methods, and evaluate techniques for stream depletion mitigation.

Ms. Nutter spoke about the next steps for implementation of the project and the funding needs.

The panelists responded to questions about funding and the impacts of beaver dams.

The panelists continued to discuss the previous questions.

Ms. Burk told the committee about stream restoration projects and the importance of healthy headwater streams and wetlands.

Ms. Burk discussed how beaver ponds provide resilience to fires. She showed images of landscapes with and without beaver ponds and how those areas are impacted after a large fire. She told the committee about ways to improve the health of streams and wetlands.

Sonya Chavez, General Manager, Upper Gunnison River Water Conservancy District, introduced her presentation. She spoke about how wet meadows improve shallow groundwater storage. She showed images of vulnerable meadows.

Ms. Chavez discussed different restoration techniques, including one rock dam, zuni bowl, rock rundown, and log and fabric structures. She told the committee how these dams work.

Ms. Chavez told the committee about the her district's plan going forward, including the different funding sources for different projects.

The panelists answered questions about the effectiveness of their programs and the challenge with water rights.

The panelists answered a question about keeping water in Colorado.

Mr. Chambers spoke about managing impacts to water resources and the need for rapid response to these impacts.

Esther Vincent, Director of Environmental Services, Northern Water, introduced her presentation. She displayed graphs that showed the post-fire recovery costs. She gave an update on federal lands aerial mulching.

Ms. Vincent talked about the need for funding, how delayed funding hinders implementation, and how recovery is a multi-year effort.

Brian Murphy, Grand County Watershed Recovery Coordinator, introduced his presentation. He spoke about the partnerships that have occurred in the recovery process after the East Troublesome Fire.

Mr. Murphy spoke about the outreach to the community and their coordination with landowners.

Mr. Murphy showed images of the projects and told the committee about the post-fire water quality monitoring.

Jeff Deems, Airborne Snow Observatories, Inc. (ASO), introduced the presentation. He showed images of snow depth that were collected during one of their flights. He spoke about how relying on history is not a great tool for planning for the future.

Mr. Deems discussed the ability for their images to map the snow water equivalent in existing snowpack and how it can improve river flow forecasting.

Mr. Deems told the committee about the need for this to be a sustained program and the need for reoccurring funding.

Taylor Winchell, Denver Water, introduced his presentation. He spoke about how the Colorado Airborne Snow Measurement (CASM) program originated. He discussed the challenges in measuring the snowpack and how ASO can provide the most accurate measurement of snow water equivalent compared to all existing technologies. He told the committee about how the program is currently working in California.

Mr. Winchell discussed the potential CASM path forward and the recent Water Plan grant that the program received. He spoke about the next steps for the program, including the need for state support to create long-term sustainable funding.

Ken Curtis, Dolores Water Conservancy District, introduced his presentation. He spoke about the challenges in his district and how real time data can support better runoff forecasts.

The panelists answered questions about the costs of the flights.

The panelists continued to ask questions about the costs of the program and where funds could come from.

The committee continued to discuss the costs of this program.

Kent Brenner, representing himself, made comments to the committee.