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under Section S.d of the Act. Also, under the National Environmental Policy Act, Federal agencies must consider alternative uses of a river. Further, the approved Principles and Standards required not only that conventional water development projects be formulated and evaluated in terms of both economic and environmental objectives, but also that wild and scenic river studies he done in like manner A primary recommendation of the Nationwide Outdoor Recreation Plan is that the Department of the Interior will complete a program of identification and selection and a plan for acquisition of those areas needed for the Federal recreation estage. To this end, committees of concerned Federal representatives have been formed at both the Washington and Regional levels to review and develop criteria which rivers must meet to qualify for inclusion within the National Wild and Scenic Rivers System with administration by a Federal agency and criteria for rivers to be included in the National System, with administration by a non-Federal agency. An effort has been made to compile lists of rivers and streams that had been recommended in proposed legislation or in offical reports and correspondence as suitable for preservation. From this effort it appears that virtually every major and most minor rivers in the West have at one time or another been identified by someone as having free-flowing values. Regardless of whether or not a river will qualify for addition to the National system of wild rivers, they are important as part of the recreation resource base. The combination of widespread general interest and the intent of the aforementioned laws and policies makes it imperative that information on the potential of all rivers be obtained and considered before projects are approved that will alter their present characteristics. Existing Water Rights - Each Upper Basin State recognizes the diversion of water for beneficial uses as a cornerstone of the appropriation doctrine. The methodology of ac~uiring a water right is different in each state. Most direct flow rights are issued for a rate of diversion, usually measured in cibic feet per second. Reservoir capacity measured in acre-feet is the usual unit for storage rights. Diversion for agricultural use is generally limited to the growing season. Other uses are not so limited. The total amount in acre-feet diverted under a direct flow rate varies by year, place, elevation, and sta.te. Computations to convert the amount diverted in cubic feet per second to the amount of depletion of a source in acre-feet are very difficult because one must con- sider, among other things, kind of use, temperature, hydrology, elevation, percolation, surface flow, etc. Streams in the Upper Basin generally have high flows in the spring (May, June, and early July) and a restricted flow the rest of the year. Many 26