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Existing Programs and Recharge Activities <br />Reclamation has been involved in an extensive array of groundwater recharge operations <br />associated with ongoing water management activities. However, recharge is not always a <br />primary objective in these activities. Consequently, individual projects may be effective in <br />meeting specific objectives but may not allocate benefits and costs of recharge operations <br />equitably. Nevertheless, future recharge activities could take advantage of these existing <br />administrative mechanisms, technical capabilities, and analytical tools. <br />As a leading water management agency, Reclamation has longstanding experience and <br />expertise in western water issues and has continuously worked on various groundwater <br />and related issues associated with water supplies, conveyance systems, and irrigation <br />operations. Reclamation, by virtue of its historic and current western water management <br />activities, may be better positioned than any other Federal agency to develop an effective <br />groundwater recharge strategy and integrate recharge into ongoing water operations. <br />General Conclusions <br />Groundwater is extremely important in the historic development of the Western States and <br />to the overall national welfare and economic growth. As demands for water increase, the <br />ability to manage and sustain surface and groundwater supplies effectively will be essential <br />to continued economic prosperity. Planned recharge applications could play an important <br />role in sustaining groundwater and the fundamental productivity it supports. <br />In large sections of the West, groundwater is the only dependable source of <br />water for agricultural production and home consumption. Yet many of the <br />aquifers are being depleted at a rate that will suck them dry within a century. <br />Furthermore, dependance upon groundwater in many areas will only increase in <br />the future. This dependance is already having serious consequences for small <br />towns on the Great Plains (Ashley and Smith, 1999). <br />Although the impacts of declining groundwater levels are felt in smaller communities first, <br />long range implications are also of nation -wide concern. The agricultural base and ability <br />to produce inexpensive food and surplus grains has longstanding significance in economic <br />stability and international trade benefits. <br />It follows that, as water resources are increasingly constrained, the valuation (price) will <br />rise accordingly; however, water is a unique natural resource in that there are virtually no <br />substitutes at any price to replace the essential properties of water. <br />Institutional framework and water rights doctrines vary considerably and, in some cases, <br />mechanisms to promote efficient groundwater use or accommodate recharge operations <br />are ineffective or incomplete. Regulatory requirements and water quality monitoring are <br />important factors in project planning. It is important to examine relevant legal, regulatory, <br />and institutional issues before proceeding too far with technical planning. <br />E12 High Plains States Groundwater Demonstration Program <br />