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<br />";;"33 <br />,)H ,l.J... , <br /> <br />.' <br /> <br />I <br /> <br />Water SuDDIY of the Western Slope <br />of Colorado <br /> <br />by <br />Ivan C. Crawford, Director <br />Colorado Water Conservation Board <br /> <br />Is there any surplus water on the Western Slope? How much water <br />does this part of Colorado yield each year? Should any more of this <br />water be diverted to the Eastern Slope? These are the questions that <br />have produced differences of opinion between the Western and Eastern <br />siopes. <br />The following article presents the physical facts so far as they <br />are known and attempts to set forth the conflicting viewpoints ,of the <br />two portions of the State., <br /> <br />\ <br />'. The answers to the first and third questions depend upon agricultural <br />economics and national political policy and therefore are not capable of <br />exact answer at this time. However, the facts on which to base answers <br /> <br />, <br />are known and must be taken into account in any thorough study of the <br />problem. <br />Colorado's present water difficulties are due to the physical <br />characteristics of the State and the distribution of precipitation. <br />Stated briefly the situation is this: Thirty-seven percent of the area <br />of the State lies west of the Continental Divide and possesses sixty-nine <br />percent of the State, surface water yield; or, conversely, sixty-three <br />.' percent of the area of the State receives only thirty-one percent of <br />the surface yield. <br />In a recent ten-year period, 1941-50, an annual average of 9,347,000 <br />tIl~re~feet of water originating in Colorado passed out of the State each <br /> <br />, <br />i <br />