| OCR Text |
Show There will be remaining damages after implementation of the program because it is impracticable to provide structural measures against all floods at all locations or to deny flood plain use for all purposes. The regional framework flood control program is directed mainly toward the collective needs in areas where damageable values are of sufficient scope to justify the costs of projects. Figure 18 shows the effects of the flood control program. Irrigation and Drainage The framework program, including a modest net increase of 298,000 acres of irrigation development and drainage measures on 188,000 acres, will satisfy essentially 100 percent of the projected irrigation and drainage needs. The satisfaction of these needs will assure the regional capability of meeting the projected requirements for agricul- tural production. The framework program for irrigation development will utilize only a small fraction of the Region's 36 million acres of potentially irri- gable land. This is primarily because of the paucity of local water supplies available for irrigation and the high cost of importing water for new irrigation development. In addition, economic constraints are indirectly imposed on large-scaled irrigation development because the Region's allotted share of OBE-ERS projected national agricultural production requirements justifies only modest additions to the present level of irrigation development. Municipal and Industrial Water The framework program provides for the municipal and industrial needs of the urban centers. Further study is needed, however, to identify the needs of the small rural communities, many of which do not have ade- quate water supplies. Recreation If the projected 2020 demand for recreation in the Lower Colorado Region is to be satisfied, the present recreation resource capacity would need to be quadrupled. But it is not feasible to develop a program that would meet the particular recreation desires of every individual in the Region. The program presented would meet approximately k-2 percent of ttie Region's recreation needs. New or modified legal, institutional, and financial arrangements are necessary if any part of the remaining 58 per- cent of recreation needs are to be satisfied. Physical constraints, such as the shortage of surface area of water, preclude complete satisfaction of recreation needs. The distribution of population relative to resources 111 |
