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<br />sus years from 1944-1974. Crop and Livestock Re- <br />porting Service livestock estimates were used for the <br />years 1975-1978 if they were available. The county- <br />level estimates of livestock numbers were aggregated <br />to the various node hasins. It was assumed for distri- <br />bution between node basins that livestock would be <br />uniformly distributed throughout each county. <br /> <br />Surface water depletions due to four separate land <br />treatment practices, and farm ponds were estimated. <br />These practices were: (1) contour farming, (2) ter- <br />races, (3) minimum tillage, and (4) range pitting. De- <br />pletions from farm ponds with fewer then 40 acres in <br />surface area were also considered. As indicated earlier, <br />data were collected at the county level and aggregated <br />by node basin. It was assumed that land conservation <br />practices and farm ponds were uniformly distributed <br />throughout each county and distributed to node basins <br />on that basis. Information available from the aggre- <br />gate data includes total node drainage area, acreage <br />total for each land conservation practice, and per- <br />centage area affected by county by node for all nodes <br />in the basin. A time distribution curve was developed <br />for the base years 1944, 1950, 1960, 1970, and 1978. <br />This distribution was used for determining acreages <br />and depletions for all years. Estimates for intervening <br />years were determined by assuming a constant rate of <br />change between base years. Yearly depletion estimates <br />were made for average weather conditions and dis- <br />tributed on a monthly basis. A single monthly deple- <br />tion distribution was used for the entire basin. <br /> <br />Approximately 27 million acres or eight percent of <br />the Missouri River basin is forested. Approximately <br />]6 million acres are located in the Rocky Mountains <br />with the remainder primarily located in the Black <br />Hills, Ozark High]ands, and along streams. These for- <br />ests, particularly in the Rocky Mountains, are more <br />important from a hydrological standpoint than their <br />relative]y limited extent would imply. Mountain for- <br />ests usually occur in areas which experience heavy <br />accumulations of snow. Runoff from many such for- <br />ests exceeds one acre-feet per acre per year compared <br />to less than one inch of runoff occurring annually over <br />most of the Great Plains portion of the basin. Forest <br />management practices affect water yields in two prin- <br />ciple ways: through snow distribution and on-site eva- <br /> <br />20 <br /> <br />potranspiration changes. These influences are such <br />that they can increase water yield from forested Wa- <br />tersheds to a level in excess of that from virgin-forest <br />conditions. <br /> <br />Forest Service regions covering Montana, Wyo- <br />ming, and Colorado provided information on water <br />yield resulting from forest management practices in <br />those aTeas. In the remaining basin states, the water <br />yield increased from forest management is relatively <br />minor and short-lived: therefore, the effects On <br />streamflow would probably not be measurable. <br />Twenty-two node basins were selected for detailed <br />analysis of forest water yield accretions. Tbe historical <br />data used were collected by administrative unit for the <br />National Forest and by county for state and private <br />lands. These data were allocated to node basins using <br />a proportional area method. Details on the methods <br />used to develop these effects are shown in the work <br />group technical paper. <br /> <br />Municipal. Industrial, Energ)'. and Rural Domestic <br />Water Use - Data collection and analysis of water <br />usage for purposes other than agriculture were con. <br />dueted within four hasic categories: municipal water <br />use for cities with populations above 2,500, self-sup- <br />plied industrial water use, energy water use, ana rural <br />domestic water use. <br /> <br />Data were collected for the 93 selected drainage <br />areas for five record years: 1944, 1950,1960,1970 and <br />1978. The first step in disaggregating this data was to <br />breakdown the data into an annual record of water <br />use. This was done by dividing the difference between <br />subsequent record year water use into t.he number of <br />years hetween record years. The second step in the <br />process was to further breakdown the annual con- <br />sumptive use figures into monthly figures. This was <br />done by dividing the annual total consumptive use by <br />a monthly distribution factor. Two distributions were <br />developed, one for energy and industrial use and an- <br />other for municipal and rural domestic water use. <br /> <br />For this study, for these four categories of water use, <br />the data were collected and compiled by state person- <br />nel. While sources used varied from state to state mu- <br />nicipal water use records and state permitting records <br />were the major data sources. <br />