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I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I has been confined to a few larger-sized communities and those situated near the population and employment centers of the Transition zone. Economic statistics for three counties (Logan, Morgan and Weld) which typify the Plains zone illustrate the character of the regional economy (Table 1). The character of the Plains zone is revealed in economic statistics for employment and income. The principal employment occurs in agriculture (15 to 22 percent) and services (29 to 31 percent) within the 3 counties that typify the Plains zone (Table 1). Families with income below poverty level range between 11 and 14 percent in the same counties (Table 1). The future of the Transition zone of the South Platte River basin depends upon national trends, such as the rate of migration from the urban northeast to the sunbelt states, the rate of development of the coal, mining, oil and gas, and synthetic fuel industries, and the rate of development of high technology light industry. Continued growth and prosperity are expected. The economy of the Mountain zone will be tied more closely to that of the Transition zone and will share its growth and prosperity. In contrast, the Plains zone of the South Platte River basin faces a possible future of continued economic decline, which increases with the factor of diminishing availability of surface and ground waters for irrigated agriculture unless other potential economic development is realized. Agriculture Land use changes within the South Platte River basin will exert the most pronounced impacts on agricultural production in the basin and, as a consequence, in the state as a whole (Colorado Department of Agriculture, 1979). Within the South Platte River basin, Front Range communities have purchased rights to 5 to 10 percent of all water presently consumed by irrigated agriculture (The Colorado Foundation, 1979). According to the -19-