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Boulder staff report adequate local supply this year; Northern Water urges attention to Colorado River negotiations
Summary
City water staff and Northern Water officials told the board that current indicators — a projected storage index around 1.4, near‑average streamflow forecasts and Northern’s average CBT allotment — mean Boulder is unlikely to declare drought restrictions this year.
City of Boulder water staff and Northern Water officials told the Water Resources Advisory Board at an April meeting that local water-storage indicators and streamflow forecasts point to a year in which the city is unlikely to declare drought use restrictions, while stressing that broader Colorado River negotiations remain unresolved.
Crystal Mori, senior water resources engineer for the City of Boulder, said the city’s projected storage index (PSI) is about 1.4 — above the drought-alert threshold in the city’s drought plan — and that staff do not currently expect to implement mandatory water-use restrictions. “Preliminary analysis indicates that the PSI is around 1.4, which is comfortably above the 0.85 and at a level where we would not anticipate the need to declare drought restrictions,” Mori said.
The PSI is a ratio of expected supply to anticipated demand that incorporates current reservoir storage in Boulder Creek watersheds, anticipated allotments from the Colorado-Big-Thompson (CBT)…
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