WSP03894

• File Number: 8281.950
• Description: Colorado River Studies and Investigations -- Upper Colorado Comprehensive Framework Study
• Basin: Colorado Mainstem
• Water Division: 5
• Date: 6/1/1971
• Title: Upper Colorado Region Comprehensive Framework Study - Main Report
• Water Supply Pro - Doc Type: Report/Study

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SUMMARY

This report summarizes the results of comprehensive investigations
for the formulation of proposed plans to provide a broad guide to the best
use, or combination of uses, of water and re1.ated land resources to meet
foreseeable needs. It provides appraisals of natural resources and their
geographic distribution, makes projections of fUture requirements, defines
problems ,and needs, and presents a framework program and alternatives
thereto to serve as a genera1. guide for resource development and conserva-
tion for the years 1980, 2000, and 2020.

The Upper Colorado Region comprises the drainage of the Colorado
River above Lee Ferry, Arizona, and the Great Divide Basin in south-central
Wyoming. The region includes parts of Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, Utah,
and Wyoming and totals 113,496 square miles in area. Nearly two-thirds of
the 1.and is in public ownership.

The region is and probably will remain largely an exporter of raw and
partially processed materials and other resources, including water and an
importer of finished products. A majority of the availab1.e water is now
committed to downstream de1.ivery and transmountain diversion.

Agriculture is livestock oriented, with beef cattle being the ,major
product. They are produced on the range- and irrigated-farm base and
mostly marketed outside the region. About 87 percent of the projected
production of electrical energy wil1. be exported. The bulk of mineral
development will be f'or petroleum, uranium, coal, molybdenum, and trona
production. The 1.965 population of' 366,000 is projected to almost doub1.e
by 2020. This includes the hydrologic portion of Arizona.

Outstanding opportunities are availablef'or year-round recreationa1.
activities. A great number of' visitors f'rom adjoining regions and through-
out the United States enjoy the f'ishing, hunting, skiing, camping, and
other outdoor activities withiri the region.

The 1965 leve1. of' water and related land utilization, management, and
development was used as the base year f'or planning. The total water supp1.y,
which assumes no depletions by man's activities, averages 1.4.87 million
acre-feet annually based upon the period 1914-65. On-site dep1.etions p1.us
the evaporation f'rom reservoirs on the main stem of'the Co1.orado River f'or
1965 normalized conditions were 3.45 million acre-feet. Irrigation and
associated depletions accounted for 62 percent of' the 1965 use, main-stem
reservoir evaporation 19 percent, export to adjacent regions 15 percent,
and the remaining 4 percent was used for all other purposes. '

The Of'f'ice of' Business Economics and Economic Research Service (OBERS)
March 1968, projections were modified to better fit the situation in the