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. that the annual use from wells exceeds the recharge rate for the year and the general ground water quality is deteriorating since solids enter the aquifer through leaching. There is considerable debate, however, about the magnitude of the supply, and not enough is known about what the level of total dissolved solids of that supply may be. No systematic monitoring system seems to have been established to measure ground water quality, hence there is a lack of information on this subject. REUSE/RECYCLE POTENTIAL The potential for reuse and recycle of basin water is another major uncertainty in the planning of water quality. Under present State law, recycling of water from the South Platte River is pro- hibited. Recycling is interpreted as holding back water from users to which it has already been allocated through appropriated prior rights. Thus, any major thrust to make industrial, commer- cial, or domestic users accept the concept of recycling (in theory, some water is always needed for replacement of losses due to evaporation) runs headlong into the Colorado Water Law. Some reconciliation of the need to have users accountable for the quality of water passed on to their downstream neighbors as well as the quantity of water which passes the point of their usage will enter the area of policy decisions within the coming decade. The decision is whether to make quality of water accountable to each user in recycling or the continuation of treatment at the point of discharge and concomitant overtaxation of low pollutant users to pay for the costs of treating water of high polluters. The outcome of this decision is an uncertainty which must be watched in developing a water quality planning strategy. . 22