The goal of this document is to set clear and specific emission reduction goals for the State of Colorado, to identify opportunities to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions, and to promote state policy recommendations and actions that increase Colorado's state agencies level of preparedness for impacts we cannot avoid. This plan is organized by key sectors, including water, energy, transportation, public health, agriculture, and tourism, among others. Each chapter lays out some of the key ways climate change will occur in the state and identifies how those shifts will likely affect that particular sector. Because addressing climate change is best addressed collaboratively, this plan has been developed collectively by the Department of Natural Resources (DNR), the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE), the Colorado Energy Office (CEO), the Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT), the Colorado Department of Agriculture (CDA), the Office of Economic Development and International Trade (OEDIT), and the Department of Local Affairs (DOLA), with input from stakeholders through a public comment process.
The Colorado Decision Support System (CDSS) consists of a database of hydrologic and administrative information related to water use in Colorado, and a variety of tools and models for reviewing, reporting, and analyzing the data. The White River model was developed as a tool for investigators and decision makers to test impacts and efficacy of proposed structures, operations, or management strategies under complex administrative constraints and highly variable physical water supply.
This reports summarizes work and key findings to date from the Upper RIO Grande Basin SNOwfall Measurement and streamFLOW (RIO-SNO-FLOW) Forecasting Improvement Project conducted from Jan. 1, 2014 through Dec. 31, 2015. The project area was centered over the upper mainstem Rio Grande and Conejos River basins in southern Colorado.
The Gilcrest/LaSalle Pilot Project goal is to evaluate high groundwater conditions in the South Platte alluvial aquifer near Gilcrest and LaSalle, Colorado. For this study the Colorado Geological Survey (CGS) compiled, analyzed, and reinterpreted existing hydrogeologic data from previously published regional studies.
Water Loss Control represents the efforts of drinking water utilities to provide stewardship and accountability in their operations by reliably auditing their supplies and keeping their system losses to a reasonable minimal level. New methods of water auditing and loss control give water utilities the potential to recapture large volumes of treated water as well as additional revenues.
The Colorado Drought & Water Supply Assessment is the first statewide project to determine how prepared Colorado has been for drought and identify measures that will better prepare us for the next drought.
