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(C c": ~ Conclusions and Recommendations ,- - The 1990 irrigation season in the San Miguel basin was extremely dry. Runoff volumes and spring and summer precipitation depths were very low. Hot, windy conditions increased demands and losses, making a bad situation worse. Adaptations to usual operations were made by the Gurley and Cone irrigalion companies and by the WMRWS to deal with the drought conditions. Less land was irrigated and the irrigation season was shorter than usual. Lawn watering and other non-lifeline municipal water uses were restricted, As of mid. September, adequate supplies appear to be available to meet the remaining demand for municipal and livestock needs, if the supplies are managed carefully, The demand-based system operations model provided reasonably accurate predictions of the consequences of two different courses of action in system operations. The mode of operations reflecting an attempt to irrigate all available land was followed by the Cone system. The mode of operations reflecting an attempt to ration the water to extend it further over the season was followed by the Gurley system. The consequences of both modes of operations were reasonably well predicted in terms of overall system behavior. Therefore, no modifications to the model have been identified at this time. Suggested improvements to the information base upon which the predictions are founded have been identified. The demand-based system operations model developed In this study appears to be a useful tool to assist in improving water management in the Gurley and Cone systems. As a minimum, both ditch companies should strongly consider using the model in conjunction with the SCS runoff forecasts to make predictions for the 1991 season. This application could potentially provide valuable information for planning purposes.