Demand Management

The Colorado Basin Roundtable has developed this presentation to support public education of Drought Contingency Planning and Demand Management, and why they are important. The citizens of Colorado, and specifically the water managers in all sectors, should be aware of the ongoing conversations around Drought Contingency Planning and Demand Management to ensure its success.

• There are several parts to Drought Contingency Planning including short-term reservoir releases from Flaming Gorge, Navajo, and Blue Mesa Reservoirs to Lake Powell; cloud seeding and phreatophyte removal; and demand management. The ultimate objective of DCP is to protect Lake Powell from reaching critically lowelevations and to avoid a Compact Call on the Colorado River.
• Demand Management is defined as the temporary, voluntary, and compensated reduction of diversions in an effort to conserve water that would otherwise be consumed, or consumptively used. The Colorado Water Conservation Board (CWCB) and others, including the Colorado Basin Roundtable, are reaching out to water managers and users across the state and within the Colorado River Basin, to promote understanding of the issues and to learn from water stakeholders how Demand Management Plan could be set up for success.
• The agricultural community, the major user of water, has a target on its back to carry the burden of promoting the conservation efforts. The rest of the water community on both sides of the Continental Divide needs to share this pain, and bring creative-out-of-the-box ideas to achieve the goal of having a 500,000 acre-foot DM Pool in Lake Powell.