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-1lIiII"i, J J. 1 , Section 5 Colorado Water Use Trends J J J 1 . 1 . 16,000 14,000 12,000 10,000 8,000 6,000 4,000 2.000 o ~. . 1 . I . J J J Approxinullely 60 percent of the state's daily water use is attributed to irrigated agriculrure. 1 . . ] Agricultural 'Vater Use For every fifth year from 1950 to 1990, the U.S. Geological Sur. vel' (USGS) estimated the magnitude of water use in the United States by states and categories (MacKichan, 1951. 1957; MacKichan and Kammerer, 1961; Murray, 1968; Murray and Reeves, 1972. 1977; and Solley et al., 1983, 1988, and 1990). Figure 9 illustrates the estimated irrigation water withdrawn in Colorado as published by the USGS. Estimated historical usage is compiled based on information about the number of acres irri- gated and the quantity of \Vater withdrav..n. These data were ob- tained from a variety of sources such as State agencies, the U.S. Soil Conservation Service, U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, county Cooperative Extension Service, individual farmers. agricultural research stations, and the U.S. Bureau of the Census. Agricul- tural Census. and Farm and Ranch Survey. 1950 1955 1960 1965 1970 1975 1980 1985 1990 Yea, Figure 9 HlstorJcallrrlgatlon Water Use In Colorado A similar, yet more refined, study on water use in 1985 for the entire State of Colorado was published by USGS (Litke and Appel, 1989). Figure 10 illustrates one of the findings of this report. This figure shows that of the 20.844 million gallons used each day in 1985, approximately 60 percent is used by irrigated agriculture. Irrigation in Mesa County and Weld County each used about 10 percent of the State's total agricultural water (1.300 1 5-1 __ COLOraCO ,._ Farm Bureau