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WATER AND ENERGY IN THE WESTERN COAL LANDS 1
Author(s) -
Plotkin Steven E.,
Gold Harris,
White Irvin L.
Publication year - 1979
Publication title -
jawra journal of the american water resources association
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.957
H-Index - 105
eISSN - 1752-1688
pISSN - 1093-474X
DOI - 10.1111/j.1752-1688.1979.tb00292.x
Subject(s) - water conservation , energy conservation , agriculture , incentive , water resources , resource (disambiguation) , water resource management , irrigation , environmental science , natural resource economics , soil conservation , business , environmental protection , geography , economics , engineering , computer science , ecology , computer network , electrical engineering , archaeology , biology , microeconomics
Problems of water quality and quantity are critical to development of the energy resources of the Western U. S. Based on a number of independent measures, the Upper Colorado River Basin will experience severe water availability problems in a few decades if projected energy and agricultural development occurs. Given the impending collision between the competing interests of various Western water users, water resource management and conservation deserves the utmost attention. Substantial opportunities for conservation exist in energy and agricultural development. Selection of both conversion and cooling technologies and careful siting decisions can sharply reduce the water requirements of energy development. Agricultural water conservation strategies include improving irrigation and cultivation practices, removing phreatophytes, removing marginal lands from production, and changing crop patterns. In order to accomplish significant conservation, however, there must be changes in those aspects of Western water law that remove conservation incentives from the water use system.