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Track: Water Distribution, Wastewater, Sewer
Shella Pelczarski
Denver Water
1600 W 12th Avenue
MC 415
Denver, CO 80254
Telephone: 303-628-6511
Fax: 303-628-6852
E-mail: sp@water.denver.co.gov
Robert Baltz, Greg Bryant
Water Supply Planning for an Unpredictable Future
Providing water for a major urban center in the American West is no easy task. Even more difficult is planning for future population growth 10, 20, and 25 years from now. Denver Water is the main drinking water provider to the Denver metropolitan area. Much of this water comes from west slope Rocky Mountain snowmelt captured and transported across the Continental Divide by an elaborate system of diversions, reservoirs, tunnels, and conduits. As Denver Water is required to use its resources more completely, storage reservoirs that now have the luxury of staying full year-round will have to be operated such that their levels fluctuate far more drastically. As part of a major integrated resource planning process now underway, Denver Water is attempting to model various reservoir draw-down scenarios at several key reservoirs in order to better visualize how these fluctuations will affect other reservoir uses such as recreation. Periodic droughts, sometimes lasting more than a few years, are a fact of life
in the west. Developing contingency plans based on these scenarios will cause fewer surprises when the inevitable occurs. These draw-down scenarios are being put to use for internal planning as well as a tool for public information meetings to allow local citizen input into the water supply management process. Ways to augment future supplies are being studied at the same time as demand management and conservation programs are being implemented. ArcView is being used to visualize various reservoir draw-down scenarios based on available data. Planimetric, as well as perspective (2.5D), views have been simulated, each with shaded relief and aerial photo backdrops. A demonstration will allow participants to visualize reservoirs in the Denver Water system under various water supply conditions and draw-down scenarios. NOTE: IF POSSIBLE, WE WOULD PREFER TO PRESENT THIS WORK AS A USER DEMO RATHER THAN A PAPER SESSION.
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