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<br /> <br />.' . <br /> <br />WATER RESOURCES <br /> <br />The Great Basin Region is one of the most arid of the water resource regions. The <br />average annual precipitation is 11.3 inches, most of which is consumed by vegetation <br />or is returned to the atmosphere py evaporation. For this reason, only 8.5 million <br />acre feet of the 82 million acre feet that falls as precipitation is available for develop- <br />ment. To this local supply are added imports totalling 0.1 million acre feet, river <br />inflow from other regions of 1.1 million acre feet, and a total ground-water supply <br />(underground) of 190 million acre feet in the top 100 feet of water-bearing material <br />(Illustration 12.) This total ground-water supply could provide 4 million acre feet <br />per year for 50 years at which time it would be fully used up. Much of this water has <br />severe limitations as to availability and quality. <br /> <br />Much of the available water falls as snow in the mountains during the winter and <br />appears as streamflow during the spring months. From 60 to 80 percent is dis- <br />charged in a three month period starting in April or May. <br /> <br />The principal rivers of the region are the Bear, Ogden, Weber, Jordan, Provo, and <br />Sevier in the eastern part and Humboldt, Truckee, Carson and Walker in the western <br /> <br /> <br />Illustration 12 <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />14 <br />