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i"~ ), -, II~F'" o (,') (.) -.J CJl ,... SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS The projected expansion of irrigated agriculture in the Region, to provide feed inputs for the livestock industry should be tho~oughly reexamined; particularly in terms of national production potential and requirements. In 1969 about 53 million acres of land were withdrawn from agricultural production nationally. Public or private investment in basic manufacturing, or other types of local industries, in order to enhance regional economic development for the well-being of all, could be more significant in terms of social returns than additional development of irrigated agriculture; particularly when measured in terms of regional employ- ment'and personal income. The economic impacts of private or public investment in regional mineral resources development upon the rate and level of regional economic growth as measured in terms of employment, personal income, output, and relative contribution to gross regional product should be determined. Much analysis has been done to evaluate the economic and social consequences of various land and water development programs. Future studies will need to consider the environmental and ecological bal- ance as critical measures of the desirability of proposed develop- ments. However, this means that better methods of evaluating en- vironmental am ecological consequences must be developed first., The findings of the Upper Colorado Region Type I Study do not provide solutions to all the questions or problems of land and water management and development in the Region. The study will be most useful if it is continuously updated and adjusted to reflect changing conditions. For instance, recent projections of birth rates are lower than those that were used as a basis for this study. Other relevant variables are likely to change in a manner not foreseen in this study and compensating adjustments will be necessary. vi