AZ vs. CA:18 California Exhibits, Vol. XVIII; Nos. 3500A-3550

page 21

[21] 3. Present Investigations The Honorable Harold L. Ickes, then Secretary of the Interior, by his memorandum of May 3, 1944, addressed jointly to the Commissioners of the Bureau of Reclamation and of the Office of Indian Affairs, authorized an investigation and joint report to the United States Department of the Interior with a view to determining a permanent solution of the diversion problem of the Palo Verde Valley Irrigation District. As a temporary expedient to relieve the diversion difficulties of the Palo Verde Irrigation District during the 1944 irrigation season, until a permanent solution of the District's water supply problem could be effected following investigations, Congress included an item in the First Deficiency Appropriations Act, approved April 1, 1944, making available $250,000 for "construction, operation and maintenance of a temporary weir in the Colorado River below the heading of the diversion canal for the Palo Verde Irrigation District, California." The purpose of the temporary weir was to maintain a water surface elevation sufficient to permit gravity diversion by the District. Work on the weir was started shortly after the bill was approved, and initial construction was completed on March 30, 1945. Four alternate plans for a permanent solution of the diversion problem were investigated for this report and are discussed in detail in Appendix E. Briefly, they are as follows: Plan A-Pumping Plant A pumping plant would be constructed in the vicinity of the Palo Verde Irrigation District head-works to pump water from the river into the main