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would argue that savings of non-consumptive diversions <br />may well be quite useful for water management in a given <br />basin. Certainly, priority could well be placed on conserva- <br />tion measures that would save or reduce consumptive <br />losses to the system. Those might be evapo-transpiration, <br />they might be evaporation, they might be percolation to <br />saline sinks or to otherwise unrecoverable places. But even <br />if we assume that all of the conservation measures that are <br />available to a given district would simply save water that <br />gets back into the system anyway. There may well be some <br />substantial values in reducing the initial diversion require- <br />ments and in maintaining some of those supplies in storage <br />where it's much more controllable, and it can be made <br />available for resource use at a time of year when it's most <br />critical. Once you have these seepage losses, generally <br />they're not controllable the ground water movements are <br />not controllable, and you may find, yes, they're recharging <br />streams, but they're recharging at a time of year when flows <br />are not critical. And diversions are being made at a time of <br />year when they are critical. So, those are considerations that <br />suggest that non-consumptive as well as consumptive uses <br />ought to be looked at and evaluated in a conservation <br />program. <br />A-(Dennis Underwood) Let me just add a little bit. I <br />agree with Ed and Chuck and if I remember what I said <br />about water conservation in my earlier remarks, that you <br />had to look at it all the way from the point of diversion to <br />the point of reuse and look at what you're really accom- <br />plishing and where you potentially make your investments. <br />I also agree with what Ed was saying that once you've done <br />that and it potentially gets into back as a base flow, that <br />may be a very effective way of actually providing for <br />additional uses. But the other point that Ed made was once <br />it's in a ground water basin, then you have limited use <br />you're going to be pumping it out and you have limited <br />utility you can potentially make if you kept it in the <br />reservoir, you may have greater opportunities to get <br />multiple uses out of that same drop of water. So, sometimes <br />I mean you do have to look at the system, but there is some <br />real merit to basically strategically where you keep the <br />water how can you get the greatest utility out of it in terms <br />of meeting multiple uses as opposed to just one or two <br />uses. <br />A-(Jeff Appel) One approach I might suggest to reduce <br />the controversy. I don't think you're going to have a <br />problem with these return flow issues if you start with an <br />end user. The person at the end of the line probably ought <br />to conserve, and some money ought to go toward that <br />purpose in which case there'll be more available upstream, I <br />think. <br />37