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... It is obvious that the facilities for advising water users are substantially different in a large, highly developed irrigation district, as compared to a great number of small districts which may not have even one full-time employee, Along the Upper Colorado and its main tributaries, the Green, Yampa, White, Gunnison, and San Juan, water supplies usually exceed the present demands for agricul- tural purposes. This is not the case on some other tributaries such as along the Pine, Florida, and Dolores Rivers in Colorado, and along the Duchesne and Price Rivers in Utah. On these stream~ there are some restrictions on water use in most years. The effects of the 1961 drouth in Utah, forecasted by the lack of mou nfain snow cover and depleted reservoir storage last spring, was minimized by concerted action by all water users under the leadership of state government. Under the direction of the Governor's drouth committee, a substantial program of information to water users and detailed planning for best use of irrigation water was carried out. ~ . I have touched lightly on several phases of snow surveys and water supply forecasts. However, I wou Id like to mention what has been called the Colorado River Water Forecast Committee. This is an informal group that meets annually about mid-April. Its member- ship includes representatives of federal and state agencies, public and private power aqencies and other water using organizations. Actual specific forecasts are not determineCI at the meeting but rat,her the water supply outlook for the current year is reviewed for the basin as a whole. This meeting also provides an opportunity to exchange technical information among those interested in water supply forecasting. While the Soil Conservation Service attempts to provide continuity for these meetings, several other groups participate, co-spon$or and plan the program, Among these groups have been the California Depart- ment of Water Resources, the Upper Colorado River Commission, and the Bureau of Reclamation. The committee meeting is usually planned in connection with a meeting at some time, particularly if you have a session during the spring months. Brief proceedi'ngs are published after the meetings, < looking forward to the future, I am certain that water supply forecasts as a part of water management will increase rapidly in importance in the basin. We anticipate that increases in the program of collecting basic data will be required to efficiently operate not only the major storage features on the Upper Colorado River, but for the participating projects as well. - 5 -