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1.3.1 Overview of Total Water Use I I I I I I I I I I I I . 1.3 WATER DEMAND PATTERNS ALONG THE NORTHERN FRONT RANGE This section provides an abbreviated portrayal of current water demand patterns along the Rocky Mountain Front Range in Northern Colorado, with an emphasis on municipal and industrial (M&I) water use. Demographic characteristics are also described. This foundation is useful in understanding the M&I water demand forecasts which follow. An overview of historical water demand patterns evident along the Front Range in Northern Colorado between the years 19BO and 1988 is presented in this subsection. A brief discussion of agricultural water use in Boulder, Larimer, Morgan, and Weld Counties is also provided. Aoricultural Water Use in Northern Colorado Cropland and pastureland were the dominant uses of agricultural land. In 1987, there were nearly 928,000 acres of harvested cropland in Boulder, Larimer, Morgan, and Weld counties, which comprised about 17 percent of the total land area in these counties. More than half of the croplands were in Weld County. However, harvested cropland acreage in these four counties was down from about 968,000 acres in 1978. Larimer and Morgan Counties experienced the largest decline in cropland acreage. 1-6 I I I I I I I Acreage devoted to irrigated cropland has declined more rapidly than total harvested cropland acreage. In 1987, approximately 554,000 acres were irrigated, compared with 659,000 in 1978. Of the four counties, Morgan and Weld Counties experienced the most rapid decline in irrigated acreage. In Boulder and Larimer Counties, the proportion of irrigated to total harvested cropland remained relatively constant between 197B and 1987. Within all of the NCWCD, irrigated cropland reached a high of 720,000 acres in 1968.