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Show A58 APPENDIX 2 07 The United States geological survey and the United States reclamation service have been exceedingly helpful, the former in collecting and collating the water supply in detail of the whole basin as well as an analysis of the needs of the upper and lower basins; the latter in furnishing an accurate statement of present irrigated acreage and use of water in each state, as well as the prospective or irrigable acreage and need of water in each state; as well also the results of investigations as to return flow from irrigation, losses by evaporation and seepage. A careful, searching study of the Colorado river and tributaries will disclose a varying condition of flow from as low as approximately 9,000,000 acre feet to as high as 26,000,000 acre feet in a year measured at Yuma. This, however, is what is left in the river after all diversions have been made above that point, including all diversions from the Gila and tributaries, and also from the Colorado for the Yuma project, and from which is taken only what is diverted by the Imperial valley and Mexico, approximately 2,250,000 acre feet per annum in California and 950,000 acre feet in Mexico, the balance wasting into the gulf. The study discloses the Colorado river basin is divided by nature into two basins, which may be called the upper and lower basins, separated by many hundreds of miles of mountains and high, rocky plateaus, an uninhabited country, through which the river flows in deep canyons, in some places almost a mile deep; the two divisions or basins differ materially in climate, in farming conditions, in economic and living conditions. The upper basin has a comparatively high altitude, a cool climate, a short growing and irrigating season, and portions of it have a heavy precipitation, while the lower basin is for the most part low in altitude, a warm, dry climate, and a long growing season. The study discloses the drainage in square miles in the states and the production of water to the river as shown by the following interesting table prepared by the United States geological survey: Acre feet of Square miles water Wyoming________________________________________ 18,000 2, 300, 000 Colorado_________________________________________ 39,000 11, 800, 000 Utah____________________________________________ 40,000 2, 300, 000 New Mexico______________________________________ 23,000 1, 260, 000 Arizona__________________________________________ 113,000 740, 000 Nevada__________________________________________ 12, 000 negligible California________________________________________ 4,000 negligible From the above table it will be seen that the first four states named produce 17,600,000 acre feet of water per annum to the river. The first principle of the Colorado river compact is a division of the basin into two divisions in accord with the division by nature, |
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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] : |