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~ ~ ~ ~ The main importance of weather modification to EETs is that their relatively junior surface water rights would yield more reliable water supplies than would otherwise he the case. This would occur because more flow, primarily between April and July, would be available to junior appropriators, tbereby enabling them to fill reservoirs more consistently or to avoid being shot off as often as would normally be the case. The other important aspect of weather modification is that it could conceivably alleviate situations in which EET development 'in anyone State might be con~trained by compact considerations. Improvements in the Efficiency of Water Use by Others Another means of supplying water to EETs is improvements in the efficiency of use by non-EET uses. This alternative is a potential source of supply in that reductions in the projected demand for water ror non- EET uses would effectively increase the supply of surface water remaining for EETs. Municipal Uses. Within the Upper Basin itself, municipal uses are projected to account for less than 2 percent of future depletions. Any reductions in consumption by imprOVing the efficiency of municipal use would be insignificant. The greater opportunity for reducing depletions of Upper Basin surface water supplies lies in improving the efficiency of use in the urban areas outside of the Upper Basin which import at least a portion of their supplies from the Upper Basin. For example, if one assumes no municipal recycling 'of water and a 20 percent reduction in per capita use by only that increment of popula- tion growth that is the basis of projected increases in transbasin ex- ports, a reduction of 60,000 to 80,000 acre-feet per year in projected exports could be achieved. This is a higbly conservative estimate. If one takes into account the fact that techinques to reduce per capita consumption would apply to all customers, not just projected increments of population growth (i.e., new customers), then exports for municipal use could be reduced by perhaps as mucb as 200,000 to 300,000 acre-feet per year. If recycling were employed or if reductions in per capita consumption exceeded 20 percent, exports could be reduced by even larger amounts. The important a~pect of potential r.eductions in exports insofar as water availability for EETs is concerned is that such reductions could alleviate possible compact constraints on the consumption of water by EETs. The physical availability of water is not likely to be significantly affected by reductions in exports since tbe subbasins most likely to experience major EET developme~t (i.e., tbe White River Basin in Colorado and Utah) are not tbe source of projected exports. ~9