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0012H Dr aft - 9/ 8 1 has lost 19 percent of its irrigated cropland--a decline of 67,000 acres. now accounts for a tenth of the state's agricul- tural sales, down from its one-fifth share in 1959. Second, the 27 percent increase in Colorado's irrigated acreage over the past 20 years is the net result of two opposing trends: (i) steady declines in Western Slope and Front Range (excluding Weld County) irrigated acre- age; and (U) dramat ic increases in irrigated acreage in Eastern Colorado, principally in the eastern High Plains area. The significance of these trends lies in the difference in water sources for these areas. Whereas snowmelt and natural precipitation annually replenish the rivers and streams which irrigate lands on the Western Slope and along the Front Range, the Ogallala aquifer [the nontributary water source upon which most irrigation in the Northern High Plains hydrologic regIon depends] is essentIally nonrenewable . Thus, the, state's 27 percent increase in irrigated acreage since 1959 can only be regarded as temporary, given the increasing pressures on agricultural water outside the eastern High Plains, and the uncertain future of additional water storage projects in Colo- rado.9 ) ~ Coa110 Colorado coal production reached an all-time high of over 18 million tons in 1979. Given the current energy situat ion and the fact that Colorado ranks seventh among states in total demon- strated reserve base (15.3 billion tons), it seems likely that production will continue to increase in the foreseeable future. Coal deposits of varying quality are distributed widely throughout the state. Indeed, all but two of the state's eight hydrologic regions--the Northern High Plains and Rio Grande Regions--contain coal resources. 9Source: Colorado Department of Agriculture. 1979. pp.14-17. lOSources: Dawson, Louise C., and Murray, D. Keith. Colorado Division of Mines, 1980. Volume I, 1978. 11