State unveils historic Colorado Water Plan

The state Water Conservation Board unveiled Wednesday a draft of a plan outlining how Colorado can confront a future projected water shortage while continuing to supporting agriculture.

The 419-page plans comes on the heels of an order issued in May 2013 by Gov. John Hickenlooper for the Water Conservation Board to develop a plan supporting agriculture in rural Colorado and align state policy to the state’s water values. The plan follows projections by the Statewide Water Supply Initiative that Colorado faces a 500,000 acre-foot water shortage due to demand from a growing population.

An acre foot equals 326,000 gallons, or enough to…