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<br />I. THE MULTIPLE BENEFITS OF INSTREAM FLOWS <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />The intangible value of free-flowing water in the West is <br /> <br />significant to many people. The aesthetics of a waterfall, the <br /> <br />peacefulness of a mountain brook, and the power of a torrent <br /> <br />cutting through steep canyons would be sorely missed if they <br /> <br />disappeared from the western landscape. Those whose lives are <br /> <br />subtly but significantly enhanced by free-flowing waters have <br /> <br />fought with some success to ensure that water remains in the <br /> <br />natural beds of rivers and streams. It is doubtful, however, <br /> <br />that aesthetic and spiritual values of instream flows would have <br /> <br />alone compelled state legislators and administrators to initiate <br /> <br />the protective statutes and actions of recent years. Instream <br /> <br />flow enactments in the West have sprung from a recognition of the <br /> <br />broad economic, as well as intangible, benefits that free-flowing . <br /> <br />waters bring to a region. <br /> <br />A. RECREATION <br /> <br />As the agricultural, mining, and energy industries each took <br />a nosedive in the West during the 1980s, the reliability and <br />importance of the recreational and tourism sector became <br />increasingly evident to state policy makers. Since this sector <br />is heavily dependent on water-related activities throughout the <br />western states, the value of instream flows to the overall <br />economy likewise grew in the minds of officials. For example, in <br />a 1985 water policy speech by then-governor Richard Lamm of <br />Colorado, the wisdom of perpetuating historic water uses at the <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />-4- <br />