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<br />001363 <br /> <br />INTEGRATED MANAGEMENT <br /> <br />Water legislation must both permit and encourage good water resources <br />management if it is to achieve its proper purpose. It must protect <br />senior water rights while recognizing the economy which has been bullt <br />on groundwater use. In addition, it should provide a way for all <br />water users to improve the timeliness of their water supply. These <br />objectives can only be met by salvaging water which is now lost and <br />by obtaining increased benefits from water which is not now being used <br />as beneficially as it should be. <br /> <br />First, let's look at both wells and surface rights which are affected <br />by them. Simply to put the wells under the decrees of the surface <br />rights which they supplement will not solve the problem since most <br />wells only pump when water is not available for the surface rights. <br />Under strict enforcement of the appropriation doctrine, wells would <br />not be permitted to operate during the time that they are needed most. <br />If the priority system is bent far enough to permit them to pump, <br />it results in an increased appropriation, and junior water rights and <br />downstream water users are not being protected from the effect of the <br />wells on the river. A possible solution would be to give well owners <br />the option of continuing to pump by paying for salvage of water to <br />replace that which they remove from the system. <br /> <br />It is the "in thing" to talk about such germs as "augmentation," <br />"substituted supply," and "change of water right," but these concepts <br />can only succeed if the means for achieving them results in salvaging <br />water while protecting other water users. Where can this water be <br />obtained if our rivers are now hopelessly overappropriated? The <br />answer is that organized plans must be developed to save water which <br />is now lost from: <br /> <br />1. Non-beneficial consumptive use on cropland as a result of <br />poor timing of irrigations. <br /> <br />2. Evapo-transpiration by phreatophytes. <br /> <br />3. Evapo-transpiration from other high water table areas. <br /> <br />4. Excess outflow across the state line. <br /> <br />5. Reservoir evaporation. <br /> <br />Much of the loss which results from non-beneficial consumptive use <br />on cropland can be avoided by making it possible to store poorly ttmed <br />water in surface or groundwater reservoirs and by providing well- <br />timed water to remove the need for applying water only because it is <br />available. <br /> <br />Evapo-transpiration by phreatophytes and from other high water table <br />areas can be reduced by well planned pumping systems which would provide <br />water for surface rights. These wells could also intercept for <br />critical season use return flow which would otherwise be diverted or <br />lost during the winter. This could result from planned pumping as <br />illustrated. <br />