Laserfiche WebLink
<br />0007g~ <br /> <br />CHAPTER 2 <br /> <br />WATER SUPPLY IS INSUFFICIENT <br /> <br />TO MEET FUTURE DEMANDS <br /> <br />Most authorities agree there will be a future water <br />shortage in the basin. The question is when and how bad. <br />Many feel that the basin as a whole will experience a <br />surface water shortage sometime after the year 2000. Others <br />say it will occur sooner and be more severe than projected <br />by the Bureau of Reclamation. <br /> <br />Immediate actions are needed if a projected water <br />shortage in the basin is to be avoided or impacts minimized. <br />Although some measures have been taken to salvage and <br />conserve water, not en9ugh has been done and these steps <br />will only postpone, not prevent, the shortage. Efforts <br />to increase supply have not been promising to date and we <br />believe plans should be developed and implemented now to <br />minimize the adverse effects of future shortages. The <br />primary issues that need to be addressed are: <br /> <br />--The need for water plans which reflect the different <br />supply estimates and present a number of alternative <br />strategies for minimizing effects of supply <br />deficiencies; <br /> <br />r <br />I <br /> <br />--the need to reduce ground water overdrafts; <br /> <br />~ <br /> <br />--the impact of Indian and Federal reserved water <br />rights on the water system; <br /> <br />--the need to specify the criteria for declaring water <br />shortages and reservoir storage and operation during <br />low-flow periods; and <br /> <br />--the need to increase efforts to conserve and supple- <br />ment the water supply. <br /> <br />BUREAU'S PLANS AND DECISIONS MAY BE <br />BASED ON OPTIMISTIC ESTIMATES OF THE <br />ANNUAL WATER SUPPLY <br /> <br />Important decisions are heing made--or not being made-- <br />based on estimates of future water supply in the basin that <br />are guestionable and may be optimistic. The Bureau of <br />Reclamation estimates future supplies from actual records <br />and estimations for a period that may not reflect the <br />long-term average. Water supply estimates made by others <br />are based on both longer and shorter periods and result <br /> <br />6 <br />