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" low,cost alternatives for improving water supplies in the study area would have to be included in the planning. It also became apparent that close coordination on a frequent basis with local study participants would be a key activity in the planning process. The public information and participation program developed for the San Miguel Study was one of the most comprehensive programs of this nature ever undertaken by the CWCB or the study consultant. The study participants included a water conservancy district, a water conservation district, three ditch companies, the County Extension Service, the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, the Town of Norwood, and a number of other agencies and organizations who participated from time to time as well as irrigators and local residents in the study area. Participation in the study process was accomplished by frequent study meetings (on the average of every two months), workshops on special topics, newsletters, reports and interviews with individual water users. A major objective of these efforts was to gain acceptance of the planning process in a somewhat remote area of Colorado when there is a fair degree of skepticism regarding water planning by governmental agencies. One measure of the acceptance gained was a voluntary participation rate of 90 percent in a water user interview program conducted in September 1989. The Phase One study was a comprehensive reconnaissance investigation which identified six alternatives ranging in capital cost from $1.9 million to $20.6 million. The need for low-cost methods of improving water supplies resulted in the selection of an alternative with a capital cost of $2.9 million composed of a combination of structural and non-structural improvements. The non-structural aspects of the selected alternative are primarily improvements in irrigation efficiency and water system operations to better utilize existing water supplies, 8