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<br />Projected Livestock Water Needs <br /> <br />Livestock production Is expected to double by 2000 and approximately <br />triple by 2020. This wi I I Increase the water requirement to 200,000 <br />acre-feet and 284,000 acre-feet respectively for those years. Obtaining <br />these water requirements is not expected to be a serious problem except <br />in those areas now with inadequate supplies. <br /> <br />Ground water wi II remain the principal source of livestock water <br />and wi II furnish most of the additional requirements. But even in <br />areas with ground supplies adequate to meet the needs, some of the <br />requirements wi I I be met from surface sources. The number of ponds and <br />dugouts for livestock water is expected to remain fairly constant. <br />However, there is expected to be a shift toward installation of larger <br />reservoirs for a more dependable supply. Table 16 summarizes estimated <br />future livestock water requirements by basin. <br /> <br />A major problem in developing supplies from surface sources is <br />locating sites for replacement reservoirs. The best sites have been used <br />and often times additional sites are not avai lable at locations required <br />for the proper spacing of watering facilities. These problems can be <br />solved by constructing dams on larger drainage areas and piping water to <br />the locations required for proper uti lization of the grazing area. <br />The larger reservoirs would ~rovide a more dependable supply by collecting <br />water from larger drainages ~nd reducing the proportion of water lost <br />by evaporation and seepage. <br /> <br />Rural community pipeline systems provide a means of improving <br />livestock water supplies. In the White River-Hat Creek Basin, six systems <br />serve 52 ranches at 343 locations. Additional systems are being investi- <br />gated in this Basin and in the Nemaha and Niobrara River Basins. <br /> <br />33 <br />