Cover Blue River Watershed Regional Water Efficiency Plan TABLE OF CONTENTS 1 Executive Summary ............................................................................................................................... 4 2 Acknowledgements .............................................................................................................................. 3 3 Introduction .......................................................................................................................................... 4 3.1 Why a water efficiency plan? ........................................................................................................ 5 3.2 The Planning Process .................................................................................................................... 5 3.3 Our Water Vision ........................................................................................................................... 6 4 Related Studies ..................................................................................................................................... 8 5 About the Blue River Watershed ........................................................................................................ 12 5.1 Climate ........................................................................................................................................ 13 5.2 Population ................................................................................................................................... 13 5.3 Housing ....................................................................................................................................... 13 5.4 Businesses and Employment ...................................................................................................... 14 6 Water Supply and Uses ....................................................................................................................... 15 6.1 Water Sources ............................................................................................................................. 15 6.2 Beneficial Uses ............................................................................................................................ 16 6.3 Water Providers .......................................................................................................................... 17 6.4 Vulnerabilities ............................................................................................................................. 20 6.4.1 Wildfires .............................................................................................................................. 20 6.4.2 Droughts .............................................................................................................................. 20 6.4.3 Flows and Lake Levels ......................................................................................................... 20 7 Perceptions of Water Efficiency.......................................................................................................... 22 7.1 Motivations ................................................................................................................................. 22 7.2 Opportunities .............................................................................................................................. 22 7.3 Challenges ................................................................................................................................... 22 8 Water Efficiency Activities .................................................................................................................. 24 8.1 Foundational Activities ............................................................................................................... 25 8.1.1 Billing Upgrades .................................................................................................................. 25 8.1.2 Advanced Metering Infrastructure and Enhanced Water Loss Control .............................. 25 8.1.3 Conservation-Oriented Rates .............................................................................................. 25 8.1.4 Institutional Collaboration .................................................................................................. 25 8.2 Targeted Technical Assistance and Incentives ............................................................................ 25 8.2.1 Indoor Water Efficiency ...................................................................................................... 25 8.2.2 Outdoor Water Efficiency ................................................................................................... 26 8.3 Ordinances and Regulations ....................................................................................................... 27 8.4 Educational Activities .................................................................................................................. 27 9 Implementation and Monitoring Plans ............................................................................................... 29 Blue River Watershed Regional Water Efficiency Plan i 9.1 Implementation .......................................................................................................................... 29 9.2 Plan Reviews and Updates .......................................................................................................... 29 References .................................................................................................................................................. 31 Appendix A: Plan Data ................................................................................................................................ 33 Appendix B: Implementation Resources..................................................................................................... 34 Appendix C: Implementation Action Plans ................................................................................................. 35 Education and Outreach Working Group ................................................................................................ 35 GOALS 35 STRATEGIES TO ACHIEVE GOALS ......................................................................................................... 35 SUMMARY OF ACTION ITEMS ............................................................................................................. 36 Technical Water Efficiency Programs Working Group ............................................................................ 37 GOALS 37 STRATEGIES TO ACHIEVE GOALS ......................................................................................................... 37 SUMMARY OF ACTION ITEMS ............................................................................................................. 39 Integrated Water and Land Use Planning ............................................................................................... 40 GOALS 40 STRATEGIES TO ACHIEVE GOALS ......................................................................................................... 40 SUMMARY OF ACTION ITEMS ............................................................................................................. 41 Appendix D: Plan Reviews and Comments ................................................................................................. 42 Appendix E: Resolution to Adopt Plan ........................................................................................................ 46 Blue River Watershed Regional Water Efficiency Plan ii List of Tables Table 1. Summit County Countywide Comprehensive Plan Guidelines around Water Supply and Conservation (shown in bold) (Summit County, 2009) ................................................................................. 9 Table 2. Summary of Planned Water Efficiency Activities .......................................................................... 24 List of Figures Figure 1. Map of the Colorado River Basin (Blue River watershed highlighted in yellow) ........................... 5 Figure 2. State of Colorado Municipal Water Efficiency Plan Guidance Document ..................................... 6 Figure 3. Map of the Blue River Watershed within Summit County (Summit County, 2017b) .................. 12 Figure 4: Summit County Permanent Resident Population Estimates (1900-2050) (CO DOLA, 2017) ....... 13 Figure 5. Water Diversions by Source Water Type (2015) .......................................................................... 15 Figure 6. Water Diversions by Beneficial Use (2015) .................................................................................. 17 Figure 7. Map of Water Providers in the Blue River Watershed ................................................................ 18 Figure 8. Water Use by Provider (2015)...................................................................................................... 19 Figure 9. CWCB Instream Flow Rights (red lines = streams, blue dots = lakes) (CWCB 2018) .................... 21 Figure 10. Resource Wise Advertisement ................................................................................................... 26 Figure 11. Silverthorne Slow the Flow Flyer ............................................................................................... 26 Figure 12. Screen Capture from the High Country Conservation Center website