WMOD00414

• Title: Water and Choice in the Colorado River Basin
• Date: 5/1/1968
• Weather Modification - Doc Type: Report

4 WATER AND CHOICE IN THE COLORADO BASIN

This Colorado case study sketches the physical and economic setting and
outlines the history of water development in the basin. It points to some
serious deficiencies in fundamental knowledge of the water system in the
basin, describes the broad range and diversity of aims in water management,
and shows that there is perhaps no better illustration of the nonmarket-
valuation problem than the Grand Canyon. It points out possible types of
investments for the economic growth of a sample region (in this case, the
State of Arizona), and suggests alternative ways in which water may be used
for economic growth in that region.
The recommendations toward which this exposition builds include:
(l) investigations needed to expand the range of choice for planning pur-
poses in the Colorado basin, thus suggesting a kind of analysis that should
be fruitful in any basin; and (2) those relating to research of broader
significance designed to improve the planning and decision processes.