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<br />"3 <br />0024... <br /> <br />modeling activities of this project have been divided into areas of responsi- <br />bility of development and application among the Yampa River basin assessment, <br />the regional residuals-management analysis, and other coordinated studies, as <br />indicated in table 2, It is noted that several modeling areas are still in <br />developmental stages. If a specific model component is not completed within <br />the time frame of the basin-assessment project, the particular modeling anal- <br />ysis wil'l not be included. <br /> <br />Availability and Development of Water Resources <br /> <br />Feasibility of various coal-development proposals in the Yampa River <br />basin will be aligned closely with the associated water requirements. These <br />must be related to existing and projected competitive uses of water supplies, <br />as well as water-rights allocations, Proposed water-development programs must <br />be all ied with projected water-use requirements in terms of areal and 'seasonal <br />demands. Possible external uses of Yampa River basin water have been suggest- <br />ed, and these would affect net avai'lability for in-basin development. For ex- <br />ample, water-demanding technologies for oil-shale conversion are being tested <br />in the Piceance and Parachute Creek areas to the, south of the Yampa River ba- <br />sin in Colorado and in the Uinta Basin in Utah, Possible realignments of Col- <br />orado's appropriation of the Upper Colorado River basin water supplies may be <br />influenced by the anticipated water requirements associated with these devel- <br />oping technologies. <br /> <br />Water Rights, Basin Compacts, <br />and Institutional Aspects <br /> <br />Consideration needs to be given to possible constraints of water 'availa- <br />bility and use as a consequence of legal requirements. The U,S. Geological <br />Survey has contracted with the Colorado Dlvisloh of Water Resources" Office of <br />the State Engineer, to collate and summarize information on water rights, well <br />permits, and water-diversion data for water districts in the Colorado part of <br />the Yampa River basin. A compilation of similar information for the part of <br />the Little Snake River subbas in in Wyoming wi 11 be undertaken by the U,S, Geo- <br />logical Survey. <br /> <br />Information on water rights and well permits wi 11 be summarized and pub- <br />lished, Compilation of water-diversion data for the Colorado part of the Yam- <br />pa River is to be completed by the State Engineer's office by September 1976, <br />The last part of the contract stipulates that the State EnQineerts office will <br />prepare a written report to the project describing legal aspects and institu- <br />tional constraints on water availability in the Yampa River basin, Deadl ine <br />for completion of this report is March 1977, and it will be incorporated into <br />the basin-assessment Phase-I I summary report, These findings will help deter- <br />mine the feasibility of various coal-resource development proposals, <br /> <br />A substantial amount of Yampa River basin water is diverted for purposes <br />of irrigating an estimated 100,000 acres (40,470 ha) in the basin (Colorado <br />Water Conservation Board and U,S, Department of Agriculture, 1969), Aided by <br />the contract with the Colorado State Engineer, the basin assessment will util- <br />ize available water-diversion records for the basin to reconstruct streamflow <br />unaffected by diversions at gaging stations throughout the basin, Diverted <br /> <br />15 <br />