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<br /> <br />FRAMEWORK PROGRAM <br /> <br />The Region's rapid population growth rate, its concentration in <br />few locations, the fragile nature of the desert environment, and the <br />extremely limited water supplies, require that particular attention be <br />directed to the environmental impacts which may occur as the result of <br />development necessary to insure the well-being of the people of the <br />Region. Such considerations have been of paramount concern to planners <br />in nearly every phase of the framework studies. Main items of concern <br />include: preservation of cultural, scenic, and natural values; protec- <br />tion and management of land resources; safeguarding the quality of <br />water supplies; maintenance of agricultural areas; enhancement of <br />fisheries; and the preservation of wildlife habitat. <br /> <br />See bar graph, page 35, for estimated total cost of the 1965 to <br />2020 regional framework program needed to satisfy projected requirements. <br /> <br />Multipurpose Water Supply <br /> <br />Presently authorized water supply projects included in the 1965 to <br />1980 framework program include the following: the Central Arizona Project, <br />a multipurpose project which will provide facilities to convey up to <br />1.67 million acre-feet of Colorado River water to central Arizona, will <br />make exchanges of water possible for uses in upstream reaches in Arizona, <br />and will make 18,000 acre-feet of water available to New Mexico annually; <br />the staged Southern Nevada Water Project, which will initially provide <br />facilities to convey 0.13 million acre-feet of water from Lake Mead to <br />the Las Vegas, Nevada, metropolitan area for municipal and industrial <br />uses; and the Dixie Project which will provide supplemental and new <br />irrigation water in addition to water for municipal and industrial uses <br />in southern Utah. <br /> <br />Also to be provided dllring this time period, is the recovery of <br />approximately 2'70,000 acre-feet of water annually along the Colorado <br />River. In addition, 35,000 acre-feet of water could be recovered <br />annually from the Gila River. <br /> <br />~fue 1965 to 1980 land treatment and management program provides <br />water yield improvement measures on about 175,000 acres of forest lands <br />to increase average annual water yield by about 30,000 acre-feet. <br /> <br />After implementation of the early action program, a water supply <br />deficiency of about 1.5 million acre-feet will remain. <br /> <br />The continuing water supply program will provide water to satisfy <br />the increasing demands and to greatly reduce the ground-water overdraft. <br />The only foreseeable method to effectively augment the regional water <br />supply is by importation from outside the Region. <br /> <br />16 <br />