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<br />the Hiver" bristles with favoritism for agri~ultur31 interests. <br /> <br />Although river develop~ent historically has been tailored to accommodate <br /> <br />agriculture, the areals de:r.J.ographics and economy have radically changed. Ag- <br /> <br />riculture has ceased to expand significantly and urban growth abounds. Popu- <br />2 <br />lation centers outside the Colorado River Basin, like Los Angeles and San <br /> <br />Diego, Denver, Phoenix and Tucson, and Salt Lake City, place heavy demands on <br /> <br />the river. More than half of the Colorado River water used in the United <br /> <br />. 3 <br />States is exported from the basin. Users elsewhere can pay enough to make it <br /> <br />advantageous for farmers and ranchers in the basin to sell their rights plus <br /> <br />enough to transport the water hundreds of miles. <br /> <br />Even in rural areas of the Upper Basin, increased water demands are pro- <br /> <br />jected for industrial develop~ent. Energy-related projects such as oil shale <br /> <br />development and coal slurry pipelines can justify prices for water hundreds of <br />4 <br />times the prices irrigators now pay. Nany projects are temporarily stayed by <br /> <br />economic conditions, but once revived, they could tap huge supplies now used <br /> <br />for agriculture. <br /> <br />Although there are strong economic forces that may influence the shift <br /> <br />away from irrigated agriculture, legal and political forces may prevent trans- <br /> <br />actions. Many state laws limit transfers of water rights.S In addition, <br /> <br />federal projects operate under reclamation laws that erect barriers to market <br />6 <br />transfers of water. Legal obstacles to changing water use from agriculture <br /> <br />to municipal and industrial uses are inspired, at least in part, by a desire <br /> <br />to protect farming and ranching interests. The same policy may create resis- <br /> <br />tance to allocating large amountS of unappropriated waters to a major project <br /> <br />that would prevent future agricultural development. A good example is the <br /> <br />proliferation of legislative attempts to control or prevent water use for <br /> <br />slurry pipelines. <br /> <br />- 4 - <br />