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'0 ,0, c . ,- -", , ", O)~".' ;', .." > ) to the eft':licient management of the water rights system. Basinwide management for effici~nt use means the development and implementation of an effective planning pr;ocess which accounts for both short- and long-term basin productiv- ity and includes social and environmental values and the impacts on areas ou1!- side the basin. ,:l One nec~ssary point of emphasis in such a plan would be the development ot t: improved water use efficiencies for all uses. Increasing per capita consump~ J; .j -'1 -~i '~'jj ',J tion rates for urban use is contrary to logic in a water-short area. The development and encouragement of lifestyles and standards which support high urban per c:api ta c:onsumption rates must change. If they do not, other water 1; f uses either in the basin or on the western slope must be sacrificed. In a water-short area, trade-offs are associated with any change or increase in ulie. All aspects of these trade-offs must be evaluated - econOll1ic, social, and environmentiLl. The effi~iency of water use in irrigated agriculture must also change. Although the efficiencies of surface water applications do not show the entire picture because of successive use of both surface and ground water, the efficie~cy of agricultural water use is far frOll1 ideal. The present system does' not provide the necessary economic incentive or the flexibility necessary to bring about maximum effiCiency. LEGAL CONSTRAINTS If basinvide water management and improvement of efficiency of water use i's so important to the South Platte River basin, then why isn't it being accomplished? The answer is a simple one: political, institutional, and lega1 constraints, impede change. In this paper, only a brief analysis of the legal constraints can be undertaken. The politic:al and institutional constraints , o "-1 ,;; , ->1 must be bypassed. ~ ' 29 :.-j ;; q , _1~ ti . ". ,",..., _, ~c,,,,,jb-.:,,.,,,,