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<br />tA.) <br />...:l <br />co <br />"" <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />High Institutional DevelopmeIl.t. To assure needed water supplies <br /> <br />for these many uses, the river has also become one of the most highly <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />developed rivers from an institutional standpoint. There are numerous <br /> <br />and complex legal, legislative and administrative requirements and <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />agreements for the allocation and use of the water between nations (U. S. <br /> <br />and Mexico) among the seven basin states, and among individual water <br /> <br />users. Consequently, decisions on management of the river range from <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />local issues to problems of international relations. In this vein, other <br /> <br />important institutional aspects also affect the management of the river. <br /> <br />The first is that much of the decision-making affecting the river takes <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />place in the large population centers servedby the basin (Los Angeles, <br /> <br />San Diego, Denver, and Salt Lake City) which lie outside of its <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />hydrologic boundaries. The second is the strong federal role and <br /> <br />presence in the development and .utilization of the river. <br /> <br />Degradation of Water Quality. The utilization of the Colorado River . <br /> <br />is imposing an increasingly heavy load upon this limited resource from <br /> <br />both a quantity and a quality standpoint, Indeed, the water of the <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />Colorado cannot be used as both source of supply and a carrier of return <br /> <br />flows without experiencing some degradation. <br /> <br />The actual .effect of maIl.-iIl.duced changes in altering the natural <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />quality of the Colorado River water is a difficult all.d complex question. <br /> <br />However, the quality parameter which COIl.stitutes a general problem <br /> <br />6 <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />. <br />