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<br />] <br />] <br />J <br />J <br />1 <br />1 <br />1 <br /> <br />Sectio/l 5 - Colorado mller Use Trends <br /> <br />16,000 <br />14,000 <br />12,000 <br />10,000 <br />8,000 <br />6,000 <br />4,000 <br />2,000 <br />0 <br /> 0 ~ R g 0 g 0 <br /> ~ a - <br /> a ~ a a 0 <br /> - - - - N N <br /> <br />Future irrigation water use <br />could be governed by a <br />number of factors. making <br />it very difficult to reliably <br />project the trend. <br /> <br />j <br />) <br />J <br /> <br />A projection of statewide agricultural water requirements is il- <br />lustrated in Figure 13. This projection was derived based on an <br />extrapolation from the USGS agricultural water use estimations <br />for years 1980, 1985, and 1990. A power function was fitted to <br />these three years of data. Based on this projection. irrigation <br />water use could decrease by over 30 percent during the next cen- <br />tury. However, future irrigation ..vater use could be governed by <br />a number of factors, making it very difficult to reliably project <br />the trend. Factors which could influence the reduction of future <br />irrigation water use include transfer of irrigation water to mu- <br />nicipal use; improvement of irrigation efficiency; regional or glo- <br />bal climatic fluctuations; and other environmental, social, eco- <br />nomical, and institutional issues. In order to gain greater insight <br />into the magnitude of future irrigation water use, more detailed <br />studies are needed to accurately analyze the impacts and the in- <br />ter-relations among these factors. <br /> <br /> <br />1 <br />i <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />~ <br />~ <br /> <br />Est. Irrigation Waler Usage (USGS) <br /> <br />g <br />o <br />N <br />Year <br />- - - Projected Irrigation Water Usage I <br /> <br />o <br />;! <br />N <br /> <br />:il <br />o <br />N <br /> <br />o <br />~ <br />~ <br /> <br />~ <br />N <br /> <br />~ <br />N <br /> <br />~ <br />o <br />N <br /> <br />o <br />o <br />N <br /> <br />FIgure 13 <br />Historical and Projected Irrfgation <br />Water Use In Colorado <br /> <br />5.4 <br /> <br />__ COLoraOO <br />,._ Farm Bureau <br /> <br />- <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />. <br />