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7 WATER REQUIREHENTS AND SUPPLY GENERAL .' Water Is as vital to the continued growth of the metropol itan area as It Is to the successful practice of irrigated agriculture, and In Water District No.8 the demand for municipal water has inexorably replaced the use of water for Irrigation. Adequate:' records are not avall'able to document the gradual decline of agrlcul tural activity In the area encompassed by Water District No.8. as the urbanization surrounding the City of Denver has extended in several directions with a continual conversion of land from farms to sub- divisions, condominiums and industrial parks; but It can be assumed that prior to World War II the pace was relatively slow, whereas following the War the process was rapidly accelerated. This is illustrated by census figures which show the population growth in the metropolitan area since World War II to be one of the fastest in the nation, This growth has, however, slowed somewhat during the past several years, The 1960 census showed the four- county metropolItan area as having a populatIon of about 855,000. It Is estimated that the four-county metropolitan area population passed the one mill ion mark in 1964 and will double to two million by 1990. By the end of the Twentieth Century the population of the area could be about 2.5 million people. The 1960 census indicates the metropolitan Denver area contained approximately one-half the population of the state. In 1964 the Inter-County Regional Planning Commission, recognizing the Importance of water to continued growth of the metropolitan area, undertook the Inventory phase of its Metropolitan Water Study. The need for such a study was stated In the Inventory Report published in 1965 as follows: liThe need for the Metropolitan Water Study derives from the close relationship that exists between community growth and water service. The current study Is as closely related to concern over continued economic growth in the Denver area as it Is to apprehensions of possible water shortages. Three major considerations Cause this concern: 1. Water is the key factor in growth of this semiarid metropolis. 2. Water development policies and practices are at the heart of many problems affecting economic growth. .. 3. Failure to recognize these problems may jeopardize the long range water supply. ,- Additional reasons for undertaking the Inventory portion of the study at this time are: 1. To list the range of variations in water qual ity, quantity, degree of service, and price that exist within the metropolitan area, 2, Continuing concern over adequacy of available water supplies and the need for maximum efficiency In utilizing these supplies. 3, The relationship of municipal water supply to long range planning')