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<br />{'; r 1" 8 ') <br />dd 3, <br /> <br />sources of water to be used, are known with certainty. The demand for <br /> <br />water will depend upon population growth and the extent to which water <br /> <br />conservation practices are employed. The sources of new water will <br /> <br />depend upon their cost and availability. The two primary sources for <br /> <br />front range municipalities will be transbasin diversions and purchases <br /> <br />of agricultural water rights. Trends over the past 10 to 15 years subs tan- <br /> <br />tiate the tendency to purchase agricultural water, although several <br /> <br />transbasin diversions have been completed <br /> <br />during this period as <br /> <br />well. Front range communities have purchased agricultural rights <br /> <br />totalling no more than 5-10% of the total water consumed by irrigated <br /> <br />agriculture in the South Platte River Basin. Several water condemnation <br /> <br />actions have been filed by municipalities, and most communities pursue <br /> <br />an active water acquisition program. As a consequence of the transfers <br /> <br />of agricultural water, or of suburban expansion, over 90,000 acres of <br /> <br />irrigation farmland has gone out of production since 1959, in the <br /> <br />Denver, Greeley and Ft. Collins area <br /> <br />As for West Slope energy developments, it is clear that at least <br /> <br />some industries are bound to grow during the next 15 to 20 years. Their <br /> <br />demands for water are, however, very uncertain. National and international <br /> <br />energy supply factors, economic considerations, environmental concerns, <br /> <br />and unresolved technological questions make both the size of these in- <br /> <br />dustries and their water consumption requirements highly uncertain. <br /> <br />Equally unclear are the sources of water upon which such energy <br /> <br />developments may draw. While numerous conditional direct flow and <br /> <br />storage rights exist for industrial purposes, there is no way to tell whether <br /> <br />/0 <br />