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<br />0009S~ <br /> <br />irrigation districts in implementing conservation programs, it seemed necessary to first (1) define <br /> <br />what we mean by conservation in this context, and (2) describe what kinds of conservation we <br /> <br /> <br />would like to encourage. Beyond the role of the irrigation districts, there may be roles for state <br /> <br /> <br />and federal government, and for the private sector, in achieving the objective of conserVing <br /> <br /> <br />water that is used or managed by irrigation districts. Finally, we identify barriers to <br /> <br />conservation and make recommendations for overcoming these barriers. <br /> <br />What do we mean by "conservation"? <br /> <br />We discovered that we had different views of the meaning of water conservation, <br /> <br />Ultimately there was general agreement on the need for a simplified definition: conservation <br /> <br />means a reduction in water divened or withdrawn, However, several other definitions were <br /> <br />discussed, as follows: <br /> <br />. Reducinl! the amount of water that is applied to the land bv irril!ation districts <br /> <br />without reducinl!: their net income. This would not mclude storage unless storage is a <br /> <br />component of a conservation measure. But maybe this is not a good definition because it <br /> <br />ignores recharge: water applied and not used goes to recharge groundwater aquifers in the <br /> <br /> <br />form of return flows. Maybe only the amount of water otherwise lost to deep percolation <br /> <br /> <br />should be considered water saved because this is irretrievable water. <br /> <br />" Reducinl! water consumption. in a manner that does not reduce the intended end use. <br /> <br />with DO si~ificant adverse third party imDacts. For example, leaving water in the main stream <br /> <br />for a lo'ager distance and taking it furth,er ~Wnstream c6uld be it form of co~ervation. <br /> <br />16 <br />