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<br />GLOSSARY <br /> <br />Acre foot is the volume of water required to cover one acre of land to a <br />depth of one foot: 43,560 cubic feet or 325,850 gallons. <br />Adjudication is the judicial decree dating a water right. <br />Alpine Climate is characterized by altitudes of 11,000 to 14,000 feet, ex- <br />tremes in temperature (-40oF) and severe winds. <br />Appropriation is the establishment of a water right by diversion, due diii- <br />gence and beneficial use. Must be adjudicated to estabiish seniority <br />of right. <br />Anticline in rock layers is an upward fold, elongated arch or crest. <br />Aquifer is a geological basin-type formation under the earth's surface which <br />is porous enough to hold water and permeable enough to transmit <br />water to wells. A confined aquifer is the same formation with non- <br />porous walls. <br />Artesian well is an aquifer in which the water is under pressure. <br />Carrying capacity is the maximum population of a species which can be <br />supported by any given eco-syslem at any given period of time. <br />Consumptive use is a diversion which has no return flow. <br />Diversion is removai of water from any body of water by canal, pipe or <br />other conduit. <br />Domestic use water is water used by people for personal needs, home <br />and business. <br />Effluent is an outflowing branch of a stream or lake; the liquid that flows <br />out of a waste treatment plant. <br />Erosion is the wearing away of land surface by various natural agencies, <br />including seas, rivers, rain, glacial ice, hoarfrost, and melting snow. <br />Evaporation is the process by which a substance changes from a liquid to <br />a gas or vapor. <br />Groundwater is water which saturates the pores and cracks in soil or rocks <br />below the land surface; groundwater and underground water are <br />used interchangeabiy. <br /> <br />Interstate waters are rivers that flow from one state to another in which all <br />have some rights. Interstate waters are governed by compacts. and <br />are subject to federal law. Intrastate waters are the streams and <br />rivers within a state. They are subject to state law. <br /> <br />Irrigation is the artificial distribution of water on the land surface to facilitate <br />and promote the cultivation of crops or to increase crop yield in areas <br />of inadequate rainfall. <br /> <br />Municipal use is domestic use plus industrial use in urban areas. <br /> <br />Navi9able waters are waters on which it is possible to float a boat: lake, <br />river, stream. <br /> <br />Point of diversion is a specifically named place where water is removed <br />from a body of water. <br /> <br />Precipitation is water in any form which falls to the ground from the atmos- <br />phere, including rain, snow and hail. <br /> <br />Reserved rights are an amount of water which cannot be appropriated <br />from a body of water. The only appropriator permitted is a specific <br />group such as an Indian tribe or governmental body. <br /> <br />River basin is the land area surrounding one river from its headwaters to <br />its mouth. <br /> <br />Salinity is the amount of dissolved material in the water. Saiinity is not <br />restricted to salt (NaC!). <br /> <br />Semi-arid region is an area which has annual average precipitation of 10 <br />to 20 inches. <br /> <br />Transpiration is the process ,by which water vapor escapes from living <br />plants and enters the atmosphere. <br /> <br />Watershed is the area from which water drains to a single point; area which <br />contributes flow to a given place or point on a stream. <br /> <br />Water table is the zone of saturation in which all rocks are saturated with <br />water. <br /> <br />ADDITIONAL RESOURCES <br /> <br />A River No More, Philip Fradkin, 1981 <br /> <br />Cadillac Desert, Marc Reisner, 1986 <br /> <br />Critical Water Problems Facing the Eleven Western States, Department of <br />Interior, 1975 <br /> <br />Colorado Department of Health, Water Quality Control Division <br /> <br />Colorado Department of Natural Resources, The Office of the State En- <br />gineer, The Water Conservation Board <br /> <br />Colorado Water Resources and Power Development Authority <br /> <br />Safety On Tap, League of Women Voters Education Fund, 1987 <br /> <br />Water Efficiency; Opportunities For Action, Water Working Group Report, <br />Western Governors' Association, 1987 <br /> <br />Western Water Made Simple, High Country News, 1986 (special water is- <br />sues, Volume 18: Nos. 18, 19, 20, 21) <br />Western Water Made Simple, High Country News, 1987 (Reprint of special <br />water issues in book form) <br />Western Water: Tuning the System, Task Force on Water Efficiency, Western <br />Governors' Association, 1986 <br /> <br />f'>ge31 <br />