further explore potential benefits that might accrue from scientific exchanges with other regions of the nation and the world.

This report points to several important scientific findings as they relate to Colorado River hydrology and climate. It also includes findings related to cooperation among the basin states and between scientists and water managers. The report recommends that a comprehensive assessment of contemporary urban water management practices and other relevant water supply-and-demand issues be conducted, and that this assessment consider both the full implications of agriculture-to-urban water transfers and future development of regional water demand forecasting. In doing so, it defines an action-oriented study that could provide a more systematic blueprint for improving water management across the rapidly growing and arid Colorado River basin. As the Colorado River basin enters a new phase of coping with aridity and drought, future challenges promise to be more exacting than those faced in the past, and the cooperation that such a study would entail will be of great value. In the 21^st century, good scientific information regarding Colorado River flows and variability, and close cooperation and communication at all levels, will prove more important than ever.