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<br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br /> <br />0007 <br /> <br />-3- <br /> <br />technology, western water supplies will remain a limiting <br />resource. <br /> <br />For various reasons it is difficult to define precisely <br />the relationship between water supply and water use in the <br />West. These reasons include the varying factors of timing <br />and location of available water, water quality fluctuations, <br />and "third-party" effects such as maintenance of non-consumed <br />return flows and priority of rights, <br /> <br />Notwithstanding these difficulties, the following table <br />gives an idea of the water supply/water use relationship in <br />the western states. The table's definition of "water use" <br />includes both instream needs and off-stream consumption. In- <br />stream needs are defined as the minimum flow necessary for <br />maintenance of fish and wildlife populations or for navigation. <br />Off-stream consumption is estimated as the total water that <br />would have been consumed or lost assuming a demand based on <br />1975 levels of activity, Although there is an absence of <br />consensus as to the amount of water which should be allocated <br />to instream uses, this does not mean that including them <br />overstates the degree of water scarcity in the West. Recently <br />increasing concern with instream values probably indicates <br />that future water use for maintenance of such values will not <br />dimish and may increase. <br /> <br />The "average" column in the table is based on precipi- <br />tation levels that will be equaled or exceeded 50% of the <br />