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<br />SU~,1MARY <br /> <br />Municipal, Industrial, Rural Domestic~ and Livestock Water Use <br /> <br />Presently, about 402,200 acre-feet of water from both surface and <br />ground water sources are used annually to supply the needs for municipal, <br />rural domestic, livestock, and industrial purposes (not including genera- <br />tion of electrical ener~y). About 45 percent is used by 451 municipal <br />systems for domestic, municipal, commercial, and industrial purposes; <br />about 22 percent is used by private systems for industrial purposes <br />only; about 7 percent is used by rural farm and nonfarm households for <br />domestic purposes; and 26 percent is used for livestock purposes. The <br />projected 2020 usage for these purposes is estimated at 1,021,300 acre- <br />feet, a 150 percent increase over present usage. This includes a 200 <br />percent increase by municipal systems; a 60 percent increase by private <br />systems for industrial purposes; a 30 percent increase for rural domestic <br />purposes; and a 180 percent increase for livestock purposes. Ground <br />water of adequate quantity is generally avai lable throughout the State <br />except in the I'ihite River-Hat Creek, lower portion of thp. tJiobrara, <br />Lower Platte, Republ ican, and Ilemaha River Basins. Both surface and ground <br />water are generally of "usable" '1ual ity but there is some objection to <br />the hardness characteristics of ground water. <br /> <br />.!.!..c.i..9.9t i on <br /> <br />About 3,355,000 acres of land in the State are presently (1968) <br />irrigated. This is about 17 percent of the acrp.age suitable for irri- <br />gation. About 15,800,000 acres of additional land are suitable for <br />deveiopment of which nearly 8,700,000 acres are of the better suitabi lity <br />types. Relatively large blocks of highly suitable lands, which lend <br />themselves to project-type developments, are located in the Niobrara, <br />South Platte, Elkhorn, Lower Platte, Republican, Little Blue, and Big <br />Glue ~iver Cas ins. Some of thp.se areas and numerous sma I ler tracts <br />scattered throu~hout the State arc under I a in wi th ground water, mak i ng <br />pump irrigation development a possibi I ity. <br /> <br />About 670,000 acres of land irrigated by surface suppl ies have <br />problems which reduce the efficiency of irrigation water use. About <br />215,000 acres in 34 systems receive an average of only 65 percent of <br />the farm delivery requirement for the crops being irrigated; about <br />1,720 mi les of canals and laterals in over 50 systems have high water <br />losses; and about 196,000 acres in 31 systems have rising water tables <br />which are causing crop losses. The most serious problem affecting pump <br />irriqators is declining water tables. This condition affects over a' <br />mi I lion acres of irrigated land in the Niobrara, Middle Platte, Little <br />L!lue, and Biq Blue River Basins. <br /> <br />3 <br />