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<br />
<br />Fort Pecic Dam. AfonUna
<br />
<br />Niobrara; Smithville (under construction) in the Middle Missouri;
<br />Tuttle Creek and Milford in the Kansas; and Stockton and Harry
<br />S. Truman (under construction) in the Lower Missouri, to cite a
<br />few.
<br />
<br />These larger impoundments have served well the sev-
<br />eral purposes within their controlled drainages, however, they
<br />provide little response to land conservation and management
<br />needs on the numerous tributaries. To meet these needs,
<br />thousands of smaller reservoirs and farm ponds have been
<br />installed by the Soil Conservation Service, local'districts, and
<br />private individuals. These impoundments provide rural domes-
<br />tic, stock, and irrigation water supply, help to control sediment
<br />and rural flooding, and olten provide municipal supply and con-
<br />trol urban flooding. Other measures aid in the control of erosion
<br />and alleviate drainage problems.
<br />
<br />A recent major development in the plains areas of the
<br />basin is the advent of center pivot irrigation. Center. pivot units,
<br />which utilize ground water almost exclusively and usually irri-
<br />gate up to a quarter section of cropland each, have grown in
<br />popularity quickly during the last decade because of their ease
<br />of installation and operation. The aggregate investment in
<br />center pivot systems now ranges into the billions of dollars
<br />within the Basin.
<br />
<br />Hydroelectric power generation facilities are a major
<br />component of water development activity in the Missouri Basin.
<br />Their installed capacity currently exceeds 3,300 megawalts,
<br />representing over 15 percent of the Basin's total. The signifi-
<br />cance of this capacity is perhaps greater than its percentage of
<br />the total, since it provides a very efficient, pollution-free source
<br />of peaking power for vast areas within as well as outside the
<br />Basin. The largest hydroelectric power installations are at the
<br />main stem dams,
<br />
<br />Another major development in the Basin is navigation on
<br />the main stem of the Missouri River from Sioux City, Iowa, to
<br />the mouth at St. Louis, Missouri. Supported by regulated re-
<br />
<br />leases from the main stem reservoirs and tributary inflows, a
<br />nine-foot deep channel, 300 feet wide, is maintained over a
<br />distance of 732 river miles, normally during the period April 1
<br />through December' of each year.
<br />
<br />PRESENT AND PROJECTED
<br />WATER UTILIZATION
<br />
<br />Estimates of present and projected water use for the
<br />Missouri River Basin have been, and are currently made, by a
<br />number of entities for a variety of purposes. Several Federal
<br />agencies estimate water use for management and develop-
<br />ment studies. The Basin States also prepare water use infor-
<br />mation for their legal and operational practices, and other na-
<br />tional, regional, and local agencies compile and use estimates
<br />of water withdrawals and consumption for planning, policy, and
<br />other purposes.
<br />
<br />Significant variations exist among several recently
<br />compiled estimates of regional water supply and use. The es-
<br />timates'documented in this report reflect, with minor modifica-
<br />tion, the results of the Commission's Technical Memorandum
<br />No.2, prepared for the 1975 National Assessment by agree-
<br />ment with the U.S. Water Resources Council. The estimates for
<br />present and projected water supply and utilization were based
<br />upon Basin States' estimates of withdrawals and consumption,
<br />fiow data contained in the 1971 Missouri Basin Comprehensive
<br />Framework Study and supplemental information provided by
<br />Federal agencies. The gross estimates given in this report are
<br />presented for information and perspective only, and represent
<br />one of several sets of corresponding information currently in
<br />use.
<br />
<br />Basinwide water withdrawals from both ground and sur-
<br />face sources in 1975 were estimated at 38.3 million acre-feet.
<br />Withdrawals are projected to increase bv 26 percent, to 48.4
<br />million acre-feet by 1985; and by 40 percent, to 53.8' million, by
<br />the year 2000. Water for irrigation accounts for about 80 per-
<br />cent of all withdrawals in each time frame for which estimates
<br />were made. Withdrawals for cooling at steam electric power
<br />plants, predominantly from surface sources, run a distant sec-
<br />ond, accounting for about 10 percent of the Basin's water with-
<br />drawals over the period of analysis. All other purposes consti-
<br />tute the remaining approximately 10 percent of water with-
<br />drawn from ground and surface sources.
<br />
<br />Consumptive use of water is the estimated amount of
<br />water loss to the area regardless of the source. Thus, esti-
<br />mated totals shown for consumptive use refiect water taken
<br />from all sources including surface, related ground and mined
<br />ground water, and are not necessarily equal to streamflow de-
<br />pletions.
<br />
<br />Basinwide consumptive use of water for all purposes
<br />was estimated to be 17.6 million acre- feet in 1975. Overall
<br />consumption of water is expected to increase to 22.5 million
<br />acre-feet by 1985, and to exceed 28.5 million acre-feet by the
<br />year 2000. Irrigation dwarfs all other consumptive uses, ac-
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