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<br />36 <br /> <br />37 <br /> <br />t;; '" <br />~ <br />'-';~. Jr <br />t <br /> P' <br /> r, <br />'< '.~. <br /> <br />growing needs for Colorado River water and related resources, the river <br /> <br />Table 5. Estimated Land Use and Water Depletions in the Upper Colorado <br />River Basin, 1973 <br /> <br />it <br /> <br />system has developed into one of the most highly regulated rivers in the <br /> <br />world. Many dams and storage reservoirs, water diversion and conveyance <br /> <br />Agriculture. As table 5 shows, while agricultural land area in the <br /> <br /> Land and/or Land use Water depletion a <br /> water use 3 % AF x 103 <br /> Acres x 10 % <br />Irrigated Agriculture 1,622 2.0 2,175 62.0 <br />Dry Cropland 950 1.0 b <br />Range Land 37~500 52.0 b <br />Alpine and Forest 28,710 40.0 b <br />Urban (M&I Water Use) 368 1.0 91 3.0 <br />Water Export (M&I Use) 651 19.0 <br />Energy Development 59 2.0 <br />Barren or Other Land 3,084 4.0 b <br />Water Surface Area 405 ---L.Q -21Qc 14.0 <br />Totals 72 , 639 100.0 3,496 100.0 <br /> <br /> <br />systems, and aqueducts for out-of-basin exports all attest to this fact. <br /> <br />The water resources system of the Upper Colorado is carefully managed to <br /> <br />deliver water for various presertt uses and simultaneously meet hydro- <br /> <br />power generating requirements. A summary of present land and water uses <br /> <br />is presented in table 5. <br /> <br />basin is small, irrigation is the major consumptive use of water from the <br /> <br />Colorado River system. Because of the arid nature of the entire region, <br /> <br />the use of irrigation water on cropland is almost essential for any sig- <br /> <br />centage is harvested farmland. <br /> <br />.. <br />.. <br />.,. <br />.. <br />.. <br />~ <br />. <br />~ <br />" <br />... <br />.. <br />.. <br />... <br />... <br />... <br />.. f <br />.. <br />=' ;i <br />.. . <br />... ;I; <br />~ ': <br /> t <br /> f<< <br /> l <br /> <br />nificant production. In general, the region is characterized by large <br /> <br />average farm sizes, relative to many parts of the United States. Much <br /> <br />of the acreage in farms is rangeland; in some areas, only a small per- <br /> <br />Energy. In the future, national priorities will likely exert tre- <br /> <br />a <br />From Colorado River Basin Salinity Control Forum, Proposed Water <br />Quality Standards for Salinity Includin~ Numeric Criteria and Plan of <br />Implementation for Salinity Control (Salt Lake City, Ut., June 1975). <br /> <br />b <br />On-site use of precipitation so that water does not reach streams. <br /> <br />mendous pressure for energy development in the Upper Colorado Basin. <br /> <br />Much of this will occur in sparsely settled sections of the basin with <br /> <br />potentially overwhelming changes. Consumption of water by energy indus- <br /> <br />tries in the basin is becoming a major source of depletion. It is antici- <br /> <br />cU.S. Bureau f R 1 i <br />o ec amat on estimate of Colorado River Storage <br />Project reservoir evaporation. From U.S. Department of the Interior <br />Bureau of Reclamation, Westwide Study Report on Critical Water probl;ms <br />Facin~ the Eleven Western States (Washington, D.C., April 1975). <br /> <br />pated that future growth will stimulate even greater depletion because <br /> <br />plans for new electrical generating plants, coal gasification plants, and <br /> <br />oil shale processing plants include total containment of wastewaters. Al- <br /> <br />though total containment would reduce waste discharges to the surface <br /> <br />. <br />