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| 10/9/2008 6:00:00 AM | Email this article • Print this article | Water experts discuss dry future
Joe Hanel
Journal Denver Bureau
DENVER - Colorado water providers are looking at a future that's hot, dry and crowded.
To prepare for this future, hundreds of water experts gathered Wednesday for the Governor's Conference on Managing Drought and Climate Risk.
"At no time in our history would I say that our water supplies have been so threatened by things like drought, climate change and population growth," Gov. Bill Ritter said.
Demographers say Colorado's population will nearly double by 2050. The population topped 5 million in June, said Harris Sherman, executive director of the Department of Natural Resources.
"Where is the water going to come from to fuel this growth?" he said.
He didn't have an answer, but he challenged the conference attendees to start thinking of one.
Most large water utilities have drought plans, but three-quarters of the state's municipal water providers don't, Sherman said. He wants opinions from water managers on whether the Legislature should pass a law requiring drought plans from city water providers.
People at the conference got a copy of the Colorado Water Conservation Board's brand new report on climate change in Colorado.
It is one of the only reports to try to show the effects of global warming in the state. There is strong consensus among climate scientists worldwide that the Earth is getting hotter, and humans are the likely cause. But scientists tend to shy away from using their global models to predict local climates.
The new report reviews a variety of previous studies. It predicts an average temperature increase in Colorado of 2.5 degree Fahrenheit by 2025 and 5 degrees by 2050. In the mountains, that means the climate common at lower elevations will move up toward the peaks. Western Slope valleys will feel more like the desert Southwest, the report says.
Most concerning to water managers, the report predicts 6 percent to 20 percent drops in streamflows in the Colorado River Basin, which includes Southwest Colorado.
The report found no trends to predict less rain and snow in the next 40 years. However, if temperatures rise and precipitation stays the same, plants and evaporation will take more water out of the rivers, author Joseph Barsugli said at Wednesday's conference.
On the Net: Read the Climate Change in Colorado report online at http://cwcb.state.co.us.
Reach Joe Hanel at jhanel@cortezjournal.com.
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