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Show PART II NATURE, USE AND MANAGEMENT OF WATERSHED LAND assistance provided by the United States Department of Agriculture. USDA agencies, principally the Agricultural Stabilization and Conservation Service, Farmers Home Administration, Soil Conservation Service, and the Forest Service provide technical or financial support for some of these measures. The trend toward developing irrigation projects is expected to continue even though funding by Federal and State agencies, and the com- petition for water has slowed the pace. Water availability is the determining factor rather than land availability in projecting trends. Irrigation water control aids in the control of runoff from watershed lands. Dry cropland acreage has reached a peak and the trend is toward a gradual reduction of this land use. Cultural practices applied on crop- land has reduced sediment yields. Private rangelands are managed to supplement the use of the Federal or State land. The trend is toward more intensive management of the private watershed land to protect and provide forage to replace outside grazing. State land, through lease and rental arrangements, is included in private operating units and are managed similarly. The feed producing capacity of the irrigated land is a primary factor in determining the size of an individual ranch operation. On the Indian Trust land there is less dependency on irrigation as a feed base. The trend is toward develop- ment of irrigation on Indian land to put the Indians in a more competitive livestock farming position. This takes grazing pressure off the rangeland and allows better watershed management. As a result of competitive watershed uses, private lands must provide more grazing due to public land adjustments. The more intensive use of private lands has required a better management program. Private watershed land management programs are assisted by soil conservation districts and small watershed programs. Substantial progress has been made by individ- uals and groups in solving the watershed problems. Table 2 "Summary of Watershed Management Land Treatment Practices," shows the most common land treatment practices and measures which have been applied in the region. Cropland-watershed treatment has been mainly Conservation Cropping System or the rotation of crops with grasses and legumes to improve soil condition. Over 656,000 acres are under this system. Another practice is the use of plant residues and minimum tillage to prevent erosion and improve the soil. This has been applied to over 380,000 acres and with the reduction of operating costs the use will increase. Structures on irrigated land are a necessary part of watershed land management. Nearly 96,000 water control structures have been 17 |