OCR Text |
Show -12- Sufficiency of Water Supply. The only actual appropriation of water from the Colorado River for irrigating lands in the Palo Verde Valley is being made by this company. The records of Riverside County, California, show that numerous filings have been made in the vicinity of Black Point for irrigating lands in the Palo Verde Valley, Palo Verde Mesa and Chuchawalla Valley, but in no case have any of the locators made any effort to put the water to beneficial use and, as the laws of the State of California require that within sixty days after posting a notice of appropriation construction of the diversion works must be commenced, their rights have lapsed. The maximum flow of the Colorado River is from 70,000 to 110,000 cubic feet per second and occurs during the months of May, June and July, the period when water is most needed for irrigation, while the records of the gauging station at Yuma, Arizona, indicate that the minimum flow of 5,000 cubic feet per second occurs during the months of October, November, December and January, when practically no water would be required for irrigation in the Palo Verde Valley. The water table in this valley is within from 10 to 20 feet of the surface and the underground drainage is into the Colorado River; therefore, a large percentage of the water turned onto the land eventually finds its way back to the river and as the maximum demand of this company at that time is less than 1% of the total |
Source |
Original book: [State of Arizona, complainant v. State of California, Palo Verde Irrigation District, Coachella Valley County Water District, Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, City of Los Angeles, California, City of San Diego, California, and County of San Diego, California, defendants, United States of America, State of Nevada, State of New Mexico, State of Utah, interveners] : California exhibits. |