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CHAPTER II - NEEDS, OPPORTUNITIES, AND ISSUES Within the setting described in the previous chapter exists many prob 1 ems, needs, and opportun i ti es. Th is chapter presents information on these and focuses on the more important issues facing decisionmakers about the water and related resources of the Upper Platte River Basin. Water needs are essentially determined by people and the service they require of the water resource. A deciding factor of future water needs is the growth of population in an area or water basin. Consequently, an investigation into future population growth is presented first in this chapter. POPULATION PROJECTIONS Population projections were obtained for the Upper Platte Basin and for each respective state portion of the basin. Three levels of pro- jections, including a low, median, and high, were arrayed to show the many variables that can affect future populations. For purposes of this report, however, only the median range is shown on table 6. The total population in the Upper Platte Basin is projected to be 4,873,000 in year 2020. This represents a 97 percent increase over the 1980 population. The largest concentration of population is, and will continue to be, in the Colorado portion of the basin. In 1980, Colorado contained almost 80 percent of the population of the basin and is projected to have 84 percent, or 4,083,000 people by year 2D20. Within the Colorado portion of the basin, the six-county Denver metropolitan area contained 82 percent of the population in 1980 and is projected to contain 80 percent or 3,277,000 people in year 2020. Between 1980 - 2020, the population of the Denver metropolitan area is estimated to increase over 100 percent, or by 1,659,700 persons. Other Front Range counties, including Larimer and Weld, also show substantial projected growth. The Wyoming and Nebraska segments of the basin are projected to contain 9.7 and 6.5 percent of the total basin population in year 2020. These percentages refl ect a sl ight increase for Wyomi ng and a decrease for Nebraska according to each segment's 1980 popul ation in comparison to total basin population. Within Wyoming, the urban areas of Cheyenne and Casper are expected to grow rapidly while growth in the urban areas of Nebraska will be moderate. MAJOR WATER-RELATED PROBLEMS AND NEEDS The major water-related problems and needs in the Upper Platte River Basin can be categorized as municipal and industrial water supply, irrigation water supply, flood control, recreation, and fish and wild- life habitat. 29