• Policy Analysis
  • Forecasting
  • Risk Analysis
• Modeling/DSS
  • RiverWare
  • RiverWare Team
  • CRAM
• Water Rights Evaluation
• Water Conservation
  • Drought Planning
  • CO Conservation Plans

Services / Water Resources Planning and Management

Drought Planning

Hydrosphere has the topical expertise, the basin-specific knowledge, and the breadth of experience in water resources planning to help water supply agencies prepare for the next drought or to recover from the last one. We understand all aspects of municipal water supply management including surface and groundwater hydrology, water rights engineering, river basin and water supply system modeling, demand forecasting and water conservation, sizing of storage and delivery systems, operational planning and water quality analysis.

• Hydrosphere's drought planning services include:
• Developing effective demand reduction programs tailored to clients' water use patterns and based on expert understanding of the saving potentials from conservation and retrofit programs, rate structures, and voluntary and mandatory restriction programs. We are experienced with the practical aspects of implementing these programs.
• Helping clients quickly implement short-term supply side options including substitute water supply plans, agricultural water leases, water exchanges and trades, reduced instream flow bypasses, operational changes to minimize evaporation and transit losses, and construction of supplemental wells.
• Using conventional records, tree ring data and the latest climate change research to conduct short-term and long-term system reliability analyses for clients interested in optimizing their systems' resiliency against extended droughts.
• Helping clients craft effective communication programs as an integral part of their drought management plans. Such programs are critical for effectively reducing water uses while maintaining good customer relations.

Hydrosphere assisted the City of Boulder in its early recognition of, and effective response to, the 2002 drought. By late April, we accurately forecasted Boulder's water yields for 2002 and developed water use reduction targets for the upcoming year. We helped Boulder develop a suite of demand reduction measures tailored to those targets and an effective communication program to ensure their attainment.

We used tree ring data to reconstruct Boulder Creek streamflows back to 1703 and incorporated this information into Boulder's Drought Plan, developing drought recognition and response triggers that are appropriately responsive to severe and extended droughts.

Also in 2002, we helped the City of Aurora evaluate its water supply options for the upcoming year. We built a model that Aurora has used for both its internal planning purposes and as a tool to present alternate water supply scenarios to the State Engineer's Office, in support of emergency actions.