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. 001296 5 first appropriated. Therefore, as land having such water rights is urbanized from agricultural use, the water right attached to the land may become available by contract for urban use. This provides a means of orderly transition from one economic use of water to another. Many authorities agree, however, that urban water requirements in heavily populated areas are not substantially less than for farm irrigation. NEARLY 100% METERED More than half of Arizona's population lives in either Phoenix or Tucson and all water delivered by the municipal water systems of these two cities is metered to their customers. Even the City of Yuma, located on the bank of the Colorado River, meters its water deliveries. Many private water utilities operate throughout the State under license by the Arizona Corporation Commission, and an estimated 97% of consumers served by these utilities are billed on the basis of meter readings. The very small amounts of water delivered for domestic use without metering are mostly in areas of seasonally occupied homes. Metering is certainly one of the best means of discouraging waste of water by consumers, and metering can be considered an almost universal practice in Arizona cities and towns. Cost of water to the urban user of water is also a factor in controlling waste. There is wide variation in metered water rate s throughout Arizona depending, of course, on production costs, available supply and municipal policies. CITY WATER RATES The range of rates runs from a low of around 28? per 1,000 gallons to a high of about $2.12 ($91.00 to $690.00 per acre-fooi). Towns for which water must be hauled by tank cars pay even more than this top figure. The Phoenix municipal metered rate is 60? per 1,000 delivered outside the city limits, and 34? inside city limits. (This is $195.00 and $110.00 per acre-foot, respectively. ) The Tucson municipal metered rate is 59? per 1,000 gallons delivered outside the city limits, and 37? inside the city limits. The town of Buckeye (population 12,000) in Central Arizona, obtains its total water supply by pumping ground water which has become so brackish as to be seriously objectionable for domestic use (2,000 ppm of salts). Buckeye became the first town in the United States to totally finance its own desalting plant and to treat its total supply. The $305,000 plant can provide 650,000 gallons of treated water daily at an average cost to consumers of $2.13 per 1,000 gallons ($690.00 per acre-foot).