OCR Text |
Show 56 50 miles long, one mile wide at the north end and eleven to twelve miles wide in the center.19 The soil is fertile, light, sandy loam. The Valley enjoys low humidity helpful to agriculture, but its average rainfall of three inches per year falls mostly in cloudbursts harmful to growing crops.20 Crops raised in the Valley include citrus fruits, grapes, specialty crops21 and dates.22 In fact, Coachella Valley is the only locality in the United States where dates are grown commercially.23 As of 1956 double cropping was practiced on approximately 20% of the land.24 Total gross acreage within the District is 267,620 acres. The gross area of the Coachella Service Area, a division of the District, is 161,153 acres and the net area to be irrigated from the Colorado River is approximately 137,900 acres.23 At the time of trial all irrigation occurred within Improvement District No. 1, the gross acreage of which is 135,275 acres,26 although only 53,026 acres of this land were actually irrigated in 1955.ST Approximately 10,500 unirrigated acres in Improvement District No. 1 are Indian lands which can be served by the system should laterals be installed.28 Ground water is present in the Valley and almost all farmsteads have private wells for domestic use. The sole 19Tr. 8407 (Weeks). 20Tr. 8410-8411 (Weeks). "Specialty crops are vegetables and other truck produce grown out of season which fetch premium prices. 22Tr. 8410, 8473 (Weeks). 23Tr. 8410 (Weeks). 24Tr. 8476-8477 (Weeks). 25Tr. 8488-8491 (Rowe); Calif. Ex. 318. The Coachella Service Area is land which is to be served by Colorado River water. The Area is denned in a contract with the United States dated October 15, 1934. Tr. 8377-8378 (Weeks); Ariz. Ex. 36. 26Tr. 8377-8379 (Weeks). "Calif. Ex. 318, Table 4. 28Tr. 8397 (Weeks). |
Source |
Original Report: State of Arizona, complainant v. State of California, Palo Verde Irrigation District, Imperial 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 |