OCR Text |
Show the figures from Table 6 by 20,000 acre feet to handle increases in government water demand.) The precision of this estimate may be questionable, but the magnitude, given the method and assumptions, is not. Water could well be a constraint on the economic development of Utah. It is recognized that water consumption is, in most sectors, significantly lower than water intake. Unfortunately, 60 per cent to 70 per cent of irrigation water intake is consumed. Polluted waste water can, of course, be treated and reused. In any case a projection for increased water consumption would approach 1,000,000 acre feet. Substitution of other factors for water and/ or increased efficiency in the use of water could result in reduced water demand. The magnitude of this reduction would depend upon the amount of pressure brought to bear on the water users-- pressure in the form of rationing or increased price. It seems almost inevitable that Utah will have to import an increasingly larger portion of animal feed and foodstuffs. In input- output language, the purchase coefficients in the Crops row will fall and shift to the Import row. The long run increase in the final demand for products from the Crops sector will undoubtedly outstrip the increase in production that can be supported by, at best, only a moderate increase in the amount of water intake available to the state and some increased efficiency in the use of the present water supply. The following is a brief summary of methods used and assumptions made in making the projection of each of the final demand categories. ( 1) Households: Estimates of 1975 population and per capita income were used to arrive at 54 |