2013 Colorado Drought Mitigation and Response Plan

Transcription

1 Planning for and Adapting to Water Shortages 2013 Colorado Drought Mitigation and Response Plan November 7, 2013 Colorado River Basin Water Forum Grand Junction, CO

2 What is Drought? Drought originates from a deficiency of precipitation over an extended period of time--usually a season or more--resulting in a water shortage for some activity, group, or environmental sector. Its impacts result from the interplay between the natural event (less precipitation than expected) and the demand people place on water supply, and human activities can exacerbate the impacts of drought. -National Drought Mitigation Center

3 Types of Drought (Source: National Drought Mitigation Center, University of Nebraska-Lincoln)

4 Benefits of the Drought Plan Reduced Losses (economic, social, physical, etc..) Efficient, Coordinated Government Reduced Liability Reduced State and Local Expenditures Includes Continued Eligibility for Mitigation Funding Increased Collaboration

5 Integration of Mitigation Planning with other State Planning Efforts The following statewide planning efforts have included collaboration through the incorporation of the findings and recommendations from one plan to another: Colorado River Water Availability Study Colorado Inter Basin Compact Committee planning efforts Basin Needs Decision Support System Non-Consumptive Needs Toolbox (Draft 2013) Statewide Water Supply Initiative (various reports) Colorado Energy Assurance Emergency Plan Colorado Forest Resource Assessment Plan Local multi-hazard mitigation plans Local drought management plans Local water conservation plans AND going forward the Colorado Water Plan

6 Plan Elements Drought Mitigation and Response Plan Annex A: Drought Response Plan Annex B: Drought Vulnerability Assessment Drought Vulnerability Assessment Technical Information State Assets Agriculture Energy Environmental Annex C: Climate Change Implications Municipal & Industrial Recreation Socioeconomic

7 Mitigation Action Strategy Sample actions include: Collect climatologic data at mid & lower elevations to fill existing gaps in the data collection network Integrate and correlate the State Drought Mitigation Plan with other statewide planning efforts Additional SWSI modernization Develop approaches and technology to help farmers adapt to drought Evaluate, improve, and coordinate the role and relationship of the CWCB public information and education efforts with those being conducted by local water authorities, utilities, users, and suppliers. Require drought planning by Colorado municipalities, water providers and large agricultural producers Improve soil moisture monitoring Fund water system improvements for drought mitigation and resiliency Continue to assess potential climate change impacts on a variety of sectors

8 Definitions Risk Assessment: The process of identifying the likelihood and consequences of an event to provide the basis for informed planning decisions on a course of action (FEMA 1992) Drought Risk = Hazard X Vulnerability VULNERABILITY Drought Hazard: a period of abnormally dry weather sufficiently prolonged for the lack of water to cause serious hydrologic imbalance in the affected area. Vulnerability: The susceptibility to injury or damage from hazards." (Godschalk 1991, 132)

9 Methodological Framework Research sectors, publications, previous drought studies Quantitative data What we have What we need Energy & Mining Agriculture Socioeconomic Water suppliers Information gathering Environment State assets Rec. & tourism Qualitative Interviews Interviews Past experiences Specific knowledge of the area Data Quantitative inputs Qualitative inputs Past experience Previous reports Methodology Vulnerability Methodology Vulnerability score OR framework for future data collection Vulnerability or Impact score OR Gray area- not enough data

10 Agriculture: Key Findings Subsectors Crops Livestock Green Industry Key drought vulnerabilities include: crop loss from lack of precipitation or insufficient irrigation, and/or damage to crops due to reduced quality of irrigation water. Grazing lands are vulnerable to drought, resulting in limited forage availability and disturbance of the managed ecosystem. The green industry is vulnerable to municipal water restrictions. For the livestock subsector, the drought event was a culmination of difficult circumstances.

11 Agriculture: Key Recommendations Crop diversification and advanced planning for drought scenarios can benefit all sub-sectors within the Agriculture Sector. Dryland crops were identified as the most vulnerable, a specific analysis of irrigated crops and water availability is recommended. Best management practices developed by the green industry might have applications for irrigated crop producers. Due to the small sample size of green industry producers, public data on this sub-sector is not available. A survey instrument might be a valuable tool to collect information about the industry in the future. NASA s CASA (Carnegie-Ames-Stanford Approach) model provides a way for resource managers to measure drought impacts in Colorado at a synoptic scale.

12 CASA Results Aggregated to County, Showing Net Total Change in Biomass

13 Overall Agriculture Vulnerability Scores

14 M&I: Key Findings Although M&I water use comprises less than 10 percent of Colorado s overall water use, it is vital to sustaining the urban economy. An M&I provider s vulnerability to drought depends on the reliability of a provider s water supply system and their ability to effectively respond to drought. Drought vulnerability can vary significantly among M&I providers A thorough statewide evaluation of M&I drought vulnerability would require a means to account for and incorporate the uniqueness of each M&I provider. Such an intensive effort is beyond the scope of this study. A qualitative assessment of M&I vulnerability at regional basin-wide level in addition to a survey distributed to M&I providers throughout the State was deemed to be appropriate for this study. CWCB is actively engaged in several processes to enhance the ability to further asses M&I drought vulnerability in the future.

15 2012 Lost Economic Opportunity

16 Adaptation to Drought House Bill was passed in 2008, continued implementation of this policy helps to ensure that growing communities have a reliable water supply during dry periods reducing drought vulnerability. Develop state policy requiring M&I providers to develop drought management plans that specify essential elements for effective drought management planning. Continuation of CWCB financial assistance. Broader utilization of CWCB tools (M&I Drought Management Guidance Document, sample M&I drought plan, a web-based drought toolbox and CWCB staff consultation) at the local level will decrease drought vulnerability.

17 Climate Change Analysis

18

19

20 Questions? Taryn Finnessey Drought & Climate Change Technical Specialist Water Supply Planning ext. 3231