ABSTRACT
Colorado shares a number of characteristics with Arizona and California—a rapidly growing population with urban centers and productive agricultural land located in arid areas far from substantial water sources. In Colorado, agriculture and urban life take place in the arid plains and foothills east of the Rocky Mountains. Water to serve agricultural and urban needs is transported hundreds of miles east from major surface water projects built on the water-rich western slopes of the Rockies. As the cost and the contentions surrounding new western slope water projects increase, municipalities and farmers on the eastern slopes are turning their attention toward better coordination of ground and surface water as a means of developing additional water supplies.
