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~ (,,;) '-0 C\l o o area is 1,882,000 acres, approximately 36% of which is In the National Forests and 14% are Bureau of Land Management lands. The population is 8,700 and is devoted primarily to farming and ranching. There are a few mineral mines' in Saguache County. Timber is harvested in the Rio Grande National Forest. There are 338,750 acres of irrigated crop land, and irrigated meadow and pasture lands in the area. N The average annual stream flow into the Basin is 237.5 MeD. There is diverted into the Basin from the Rio Grande an average of 293.7 MGD annually for' irrigation uses. It is estimated that 239.4 MGD annually is withdrawn from the groundwater for irrigation. All irri- gation return flows and surface flows settle in the low-lying areas in the southeastern part of the Closed Basin where it is non-bene- ficia11~ consumed by evaporation, and by 371,800 acres of phreatophytes. (1) Water Issues. During late season stream flow and drought periods, the water supply is insufficient to meet irrigation require- ments. During an average irrigation season the total water withdrawn amounts to 724.9 MGDfor irrigation. The average annual requ!rement is 858.0 MGD, leaving an average annual shortage of 133.1 MGD. The low flows in fall are less than the amount required to satisfy mini- mum flows for fish and wildlife. The water that cpllects in the low area of the Closed Basin has high concentrations of salts as a result of the salts in the irriga- tion return flows reaching the area, and mine tailing ponds on Kerber Creek pollute the stream with,hlgh concentrations of minerals and acids. (2) Related Land Issues. The lower part of the Closed Basin has high water tables which have encroached upon crop lands and encouraged the growth of phreatophytes. There are estimated to be 371,800 acres of phreatophytes which non-beneficially consume 415.0 MeD annually. These lands need to be drained in order to return to production the formerly cropped lands and to salvage water that is now being'non- ~eneficially consumed by the phreatophytes and by evaporation. , , There is a need to improve land use practices in order to reduce damages on crop lands and over-grazed pasture lands from wind ero- sion, and from gullying caused by storm runoff. These natural events cause sediment damages to fields and irrigation systems. (3) Institutional Issues. There is a need to settle the issue of Federal claims for water rights on public lands with the date of priority as date of problem land withdrawals. These,claims should be quantified in order to determine their effect on present water users. 6