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5.2 NON-STRUCTURAL COMPONENTS <br />5.2.1 Water Management and Conservation Measures <br />A number of water management and conservation measures were evaluated as <br />potential non-structural means of satisfying future water demands. Although ___ <br />it may seem that agricultural demands can be reduced through more efficient <br />irrigation practices, most of the water that appears to be unnecessarily <br />diverLed actually returns to the stream within a short period of time and is <br />available for other uses. It was also determined that most other <br />non-structural measures related to the agricultural sector were generally not <br />practical because of economic or legal considerations. <br />The M&I sector in the study area presently accounts for less than 1-.5 <br />percent of the total consumptive use in the study area. Any savings achieved <br />through conservation and/or improved management of M&I water supplies would <br />therefore have practically no impact on reducing the overall future demands in <br />the Study Area. <br />The two measures which were judged to have potential for implementation <br />are: drought insurance whereby the owner of an agricultural water right agrees <br />to lease his water during drought periods for other purposes; and water rights <br />transfers, exchanges, and/or purchase. <br />Table 5.1 identifies the water management and conservation measures that <br />were evaluated and the resuits of screening them. <br />5-2 <br />