HomeMy WebLinkAboutCOUNCIL - AGENDA ITEM - 09/02/2008 - RESOLUTION 2008-079 AUTHORIZING THE CITY MANAGER T ITEM NUMBER: 18
AGENDA ITEM SUMMARY DATE: September2, 2008
FORT COLLINS CITY COUNCIL STAFF: Dennis Bode
SUBJECT
Resolution 2008-079 Authorizing the City Manager to Execute an Intergovernmental Agreement
with the American Water Works Association Research Foundation and Several Colorado
Municipalities, and Other Participating Entities to Conduct a Research Study Regarding Climate
Change and its Effect on Water Supplies along the Front Range of Colorado.
RECOMMENDATION
Staff recommends adoption of the Resolution.
FINANCIAL IMPACT
As a participant and co-£under in the research project,the City would contribute$10,000 and would
provide in-kind contribution in the form of staff resources in the amount of $5,500. These
contributions are appropriated and available in the Water Utility's 2008 budget.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
This Resolution authorizes the City to enter into an intergovernmental agreement with several other
municipalities and organizations to conduct a research study to examine the possible effects of
climate change on future available water supplies. The American Water Works Association
Research Foundation has approved the research proposal and will contribute $80,000 toward the
project. Participants in the project will provide an additional$120,000,with the City of Fort Collins
contributing $10,000.
BACKGROUND
With the increasing recognition of global and regional climate changes, several Colorado Front
Range water providers desire to collaborate on a research project to study the possible impacts these
changes may have on their future available water supplies. This is of particular concern given that
recent studies indicate global warming may lead to unprecedented drought conditions in parts of the
western United States. Several Front Range providers, including the City of Aurora, City of
Boulder, Colorado Springs Utilities, Denver Water, City of Fort Collins, and Northern Colorado
Water Conservancy District have joined together to participate in a study intended to provide the
education, tools, and methodology necessary to examine the possible effects of climate change on
several common watersheds.
September 2, 2008 -2- Item No. 18
This study is designed to enable entities that obtain their water supplies from the upper Colorado,
South Platte,Arkansas,Cache la Poudre,St.Vrain,Boulder Creek,Big Thompson,and other similar
river basins to examine potential effects climate change may have on those supplies. This regional
unified approach is intended to help Colorado water providers communicate with their customers
and the media by working with the same historic and projected hydrometeorological data, historic
natural streamflow,and methodology. Lessons learned from this collaborative approach can be used
to encourage and establish other regional efforts in Colorado and throughout the country. The
American Water Works Association Research Foundation promotes these type of research projects
and will contribute $80,000 toward the project. Participating water providers will provide an
additional $120,000 with the City of Fort Collins contributing $10,000.
The central objective of this project is to assess changes in the timing and volume of hydrologic
runoff that might be expected from selected climate change scenarios for the years 2040 and 2070.
Two hydrologic models will be calibrated and implemented in this study, including the WEAP
(Water Evaluation and Planning) Model run by Dr. David Yates of NCAR, and the linked
Sacramento Soil Moisture model with the Snow-17 model (hence forth called the "Sacramento
Model")run by Riverside Technology,Inc. The Colorado Water Conservation Board(C WCB)will
aid in the compilation of historic naturalized streamflow sequences(1950-2005)for use as a baseline
comparison for river basin gauge locations of primary interest to the participants. Based on
regionally downscaled temperature and precipitation projections (developed by the Bureau of
Reclamation and others) and discussions with the Western Water Assessment (WWA), the future
temperature and precipitation scenarios to be used to generate corresponding future streamflow have
been established. These future scenarios of temperature and precipitation are based on the results
of 16 global climate models (GCMs), driven by three future greenhouse gas emissions scenarios,
A2, Alb, and B1. The streamflows obtained by running perturbed sequences of temperature and
precipitation through the hydrologic models will be compared to historic streamflows to estimate
the sensitivity of water supplies to climate change. The outputs from this research will include
climate-adjusted natural-flow time series at selected locations, and statistical evaluations of
differences between these and historic natural flows for water availability assessments.
Many utilities across North America believe that climate change will affect their future water
supplies. This cooperative research project will provide Fort Collins and other water providers with
additional knowledge, information and methods needed to better evaluate potential climate change
impacts on their water supplies.
RESOLUTION 2008-079
OF THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF FORT COLLINS
AUTHORIZING THE CITY MANAGER TO EXECUTE AN INTERGOVERNMENTAL
AGREEMENT WITH THE AMERICAN WATER WORKS ASSOCIATION RESEARCH
FOUNDATION AND SEVERAL COLORADO MUNICIPALITIES AND OTHER
PARTICIPATING ENTITIES TO CONDUCT A RESEARCH STUDY REGARDING
CLIMATE CHANGE AND ITS EFFECT ON WATER SUPPLIES ALONG THE FRONT
RANGE OF COLORADO
WHEREAS,the American Water Works Association Research Foundation("AWWARF")
has approved a research proposal for a study that would examine the possible effects of climate
change on future availability of water supplies along the Front Range in Colorado; and
WHEREAS, AWWARF has agreed to contribute $80,000 towards the total cost of the
proposed study of$200,000; and
WHEREAS, in order to provide for the additional costs, the City, along with other Front
Range water suppliers, including the cities of Aurora, Boulder, Colorado Springs, and Denver, as
well as the Northern Colorado Water Conservancy District, have proposed to pool their resources
in order to provide the funding required to proceed with the study; and
WHEREAS,the City's proposed contribution for the study is$10,000,with an additional in-
kind contribution representing staff time to be dedicated to the study in the amount of$5,500; and
WHEREAS,in order to proceed with the research,AW WARF requires that the participating
entities execute a project agreement, in substantially the form on file in the office of the City Clerk
and dated August 27, 2008 (the "Project Agreement"); and
WHEREAS,the funds and in-kind staffing to be contributed by the City in accordance with
the Project Agreement are available and have been appropriated as part of the Water Utility budget
for 2008.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF FORT
COLLINS that the City Manager is hereby authorized to enter into the Project Agreement, in
substantially the form which is on file with the City Clerk of the City of Fort Collins,subject to such
modifications in form or substance as the City Manager,in consultation with the City Attorney,may
deem necessary to effectuate the purposes of this Resolution or to protect the interests of the City.
Passed and adopted at a regular meeting of the Council of the City of Fort Collins this 2nd
day of September, A.D. 2008.
Mayor
ATTEST:
City Clerk