Services

State, Regional, and Local Planning

In the west we are familiar with scarcity of water. That’s why a realistic view of supply planning is essential. We specialize in plans that can actually be accomplished, not those that collect dust on a shelf.

Effective planning is key when it comes to water resources. Whether your project involves a single provider, a regional watershed, or an entire state, a proper plan is needed wherever extended droughts and population growth stress limited water supplies. Water planning entails more than simple analysis. Integrated water resources planning involves a fusion of new supply development, conservation, reuse, planning for drought, water use efficiency, water demand forecasting, and evaluation of water supply alternatives.

We provide the critical framework to guarantee your project needs are fulfilled. DiNatale Water offers our clients the benefit of decades of experience in water planning on multiple scales from local to state levels and practical and viable planning guidance to help make the most of what you have.

 

Example Projects

Grand Junction Water Supply Modeling

The City of Grand Junction, Colorado contracted with DiNatale Water to develop a water supply model that could determine the firm yield of the City’s water supply system and be used for evaluation of its water rights portfolio and historical operational practices. DiNatale Water proposed an approach that included City staff in the modeling platform decision so that advantages and disadvantages of different modeling platforms could be evaluated with consideration of the City’s system and long-term modeling goals.

Ultimately, the City decided on the RiverWare platform; the model incorporates the RiverWare water rights solver and RiverWare Policy Language (RPL) rules for operational controls and utilizes the historical hydrology for the initial firm yield modeling. Model development and the firm yield runs are complete. DiNatale Water is performing sensitivity testing on input parameters that were estimated in areas with relatively little observed data and evaluating effects of a potential water supply option for a party interested in a long-term water supply contract with the City.

Colorado Water Conservation Board

DiNatale Water Consultants has worked on a variety of projects funded in whole or in part by the Colorado Water Conservation Board (CWCB). The CWCB “represents each major water basin, Denver and other state agencies in our joint effort to use water wisely and protect our water for future generations.” On the basin scale, DiNatale Water helped develop the Rio Grande Basin Implementation Plan, a CWCB-led effort. At the project level, DiNatale Water has worked on several CWCB Alternative Agriculture Water Transfer Methods projects in both the South Platte and Rio Grande basins. The purpose of the program is to assist in developing and implementing creative alternatives to traditional practices of purchase and transfer of agricultural water, known as “buy and dry”. DiNatale Water also worked on the South Platte Decision Support System being developed by the CWCB and Division of Water Resources.

The Rio Grande Basin Implementation Plan

In response to Governor John Hickenlooper’s 2013 Executive Order, which launched a Colorado-wide initiative to develop strategies to address the State’s growing water demands, DiNatale Water Consultants assisted the Rio Grande Basin Roundtable (BRT) in developing the Rio Grande Basin Implementation Plan. The BRT is one of nine basin roundtables established by the “Colorado Water for the 21st Century Act.” The plan identifies the critical water issues facing all who live, work, and recreate in the Rio Grande Basin and proposes an implementable path forward, thereby advancing the statewide mission to ensure:

  • A productive economy that supports vibrant and sustainable cities, viable and productive agriculture, and a robust and diverse recreation and tourism industry
  • Efficient and effective water infrastructure promoting smart land use
  • A strong environment that includes healthy watersheds, rivers and streams, and wildlife

St. Vrain Stream Management Plan

DiNatale Water is part of a team that is implementing the St. Vrain and Lefthand Stream Management Plan. DiNatale Water’s role in the project is focused on stakeholder engagement and outreach along with hydrologic analysis derived from the State of Colorado’s SPDSS water allocation model, StateMod. DiNatale Water staff coordinated with St. Vrain and Lefthand Water Conservancy District personnel, water commissioners, stakeholders, and other project team members to identify and catalogue known areas and/or structures of concern related to agriculture.

DiNatale Water conducted hydrologic analysis and characterization using data in the SPDSS St. Vrain StateMod model including natural flows, irrigated areas, and diversions at structures. We developed IWR requirements and results for structures based on historical climate and current crops and evaluated shortages to agricultural users based on this data. DiNatale Water assisted in developing a ‘boatable days’ tool in coordination with American Whitewater. The tool allows for future conditions modeling to be easily applied. The tool can also be applied to quantify ‘fishable days’ or other uses for current and future conditions given desired flow ranges.

Alternative Transfer Methods for Trujillo Meadows Reservoir

Pending Colorado Division of Water Resources (DWR) groundwater rules and regulations will require augmentation of well pumping deletions in Water Division 3. Several towns including Manassa, Romeo, Sanford, Conejos, Antonito, Ortiz, and San Antonio, located within the Conejos Water Conservancy District (CWCD), rely entirely or almost entirely on groundwater pumping for their water supply. There is not enough water available for appropriation under a new water right to meet the towns’ needs. DiNatale Water Consultants assisted the CWCD with investigations of transferring the allocation of San Antonio River agricultural water users’ CWCD Platoro Reservoir Project Water to towns to meet their augmentation water requirement without loss or impact to irrigated agricultural lands. This could be accomplished by providing alternative water supplies to agricultural users through the regulation of existing water supplies via an enlarged Trujillo Meadows Reservoir. Enlarging Trujillo Meadows would provide intra-year regulation of water supplies including direct flow storage and storage of other agricultural and augmentation water rights for agricultural users diverting from the San Antonio. The project also evaluated other potential multiple-objective benefits, including:

  • enhanced recreational opportunities at Trujillo Meadows,
  • enhanced streamflow for a longer period during the runoff season,
  • improved quality of aquatic habitat and species diversity, and
  • retimed streamflows on the Conejos River below Platoro Reservoir due to the release of Project Water for augmentation of towns’ pumping depletions.

South Platte Decision Support System (SPDSS) Surface Water Model St. Vrain Basin

DiNatale Water Consultants, in conjunction with Brown and Caldwell, developed a StateMod surface water model of the St. Vrain Creek Basin as part of the SPDSS. The model uses a data-centered approach that incorporates data from the State of Colorado’s hydrologic database, HydroBase, consumptive use analyses, and other information collected as part of the SPDSS over the past decade. The resulting StateMod model was integrated with models of other major watersheds in the South Platte basin to form a basin-wide planning tool. The tool will help water users and administrators:

  • Evaluate alternative water-administration strategies
  • Promote information and data sharing to better understand and improve water system operations
  • Facilitate regional water resource planning decisions in the wake of climate change