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<br />. <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />of energy resources--including oil, oil shale, tar sands, coal, and <br /> <br />~ <br />o <br />tv <br />...;t <br /> <br />geothermal power sources all in the area of the Colorado River Basin <br /> <br />therefore becomes a critical consideration in assessing sociological <br /> <br />impacts of water quality and management decisions. The primary con- <br /> <br />straint on the development of these energy resources may be water. <br /> <br />Therefore, decisions relating to the allocation of this water will largely <br /> <br />determine the nature and degree of the exploitation of the resources that <br /> <br />are available. This, in turn, will have an impact upon the nature and <br /> <br />rate of population and community change that will occur. Because of <br /> <br />this relationship, one of the priority problems is the effect that decisions <br /> <br />relating to water quality and use in the Basin will have on the people that <br /> <br />now live or will live there and their various social institutions. <br /> <br />Many of the counties and planning areas included in the Colorado <br /> <br />River Basin have been experiencing significant out-migration and popu- <br /> <br />lation decline for several decades. Largely because of declining local <br /> <br />employrr>ent opportunities, and, particularly, agricultural employment <br /> <br />opportunities, many of the young people have migrated from the more <br /> <br />rural counties to seek employment and education elsewhere. This has <br /> <br />resulted in important consequences for these rural counties, including <br /> <br />such things as declining school enrollments and increasingly high average <br /> <br />age of the persons left behind. <br /> <br />35 <br />