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1 THE WATER SITUATION IN THE LOWER RIO GRANDE VALLEY OF TEXAS In the rower Rio Grande Valley of Texas there has been an increase in the number of acres of land being irrigated, requiring an increased water supply, at the same time the area has suffered a major drought, which caused a reduction in the water supply. The result has been detrimental to the econoll\Y of the Valley, and efforts are being made, through Court action, to alleviate the problem. Ob- viously there is insufficient water available to irrigate all acres wanting water, so some restrictions must be imposed. The situation was brought out be W~e D. Criddle, of Salt Lake City, Utah, .at the 1964 Winter Meeting of the American Society of Agricultural Engineers in New Orleans, when he remarked: "No longer can water disputes be settled by water administration and courts simply allowing the amounts of water allotted to be governed by historical uses. We must now approach these matters from a more scientific base. And because of increasing pressures for water, beneficial use must be determined for irrigated land, the city, the steel plant, the wildlife refuge, etc. Sound water require- ment figures are essential if the earlier rights are to be limited to only bene- ficial use and so that water can be made available to others. "The amount of consumptive use and. stream depletions caused by various users upstream must be caref'ully evaluated and the results used to aSj;lure that each water right gets its proper allotment in terms of its priority or other legal basis that must be developed by society." Any sound solution must restrict the number of acres irrigated to the amount of dependable water. There is an allnost unlimited number of acres that oould profitably be irrigated, so the problem is to determine the dependable water supply. This paper has been prepared to present information that may be helpfUl in making this determination. f r : f",. f' ~ . :'; "'~ ..... I.., k.;' f