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<br />b. The major cropS produced are winter wheat, alfalfa,
<br />corn, barley, sugar beets, field beans, hay, forage sorghum,
<br />grain sorghum, oats, potatoes, :rye, and spring wh.!S.t. All water
<br />supplies, including imported water from the western slopes of
<br />the Rocky Mountains, have been appropriated for beneficial uses.
<br />The South Platte River basin has been and continues to be a
<br />critical water-short area.
<br />
<br />c. Denver is the commercial, financial, professional, and
<br />cultural hub of the region, and is also the marketing and
<br />distribution center. The city's leading industries are manu-
<br />facturing, retail trade, wholese.le trade, public utilities, service
<br />indust:ries, construction, finance, and mining. Denver is also
<br />the gateway city to the Rocky Mountains and their rapidly-growing,
<br />year-around vacation lams. The 1970 population of the Denver
<br />Standard Metropolitan Statistical Area. was 1,229,800.
<br />
<br />d. North Platte River baSin. The drainage area of the
<br />North Platte River basin includes 34,900 square miles, of which
<br />2,081 are in Colorado, 23,041 in Wyoming, and 9,7'78 are in
<br />Nebraska. The Wyoming, Nebraska, and Colorado segments of the
<br />basin are characterized by different predominating types of
<br />industrial development and, taken altogether, the;r cover a wide
<br />range of agricultural, mineral, and manufacturing activities.
<br />For the basin as a whole, agriCulture, including grain, hay,
<br />sugar beets, potatoes, and other crops, and livestock and dairying,
<br />is the most valuable industry, with manufacturing and mineral
<br />production not far behind.
<br />
<br />e. The Wyoming segment of the basin is predominantly a
<br />mineral-producing region. The value of petroleum and other mineral
<br />products' is somewhat in excess of other industries; the other
<br />major industries are stock raiSing and agriculture. The Nebraska
<br />section of the North Platte River basin is devoted almost entirely
<br />to farming and livestock, although the value of manufactured
<br />products, for which agriculture provides the raw materials,
<br />reaches an iDlposing figure eacn year. In this area of the basin,
<br />irrigation has been developed to a high degree, and the soil and
<br />climatic conditions are favorable to the production of excellent
<br />yields of clover, oats, barley, rye, sugar beets, potatoes, wheat,
<br />and forage crops. In the Colorado and Wyoming portions of the
<br />basin, agricultural production is limited by soil and weather,
<br />and forage crops predominate.
<br />
<br />f. Irrigation has been developed to such a degree in the
<br />North Platte River basin that all natura'l flows have been over
<br />appropriated. Supplemental storage has been provided tllrough
<br />
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