AZ vs. CA:04 California Exhibits, Vol. IV; Nos. 151-192

page 10

-10- The steadily increasing elevation of the channel of the river and the poor material available for levee construction make the situation extremely dangerous and the engineers of the District have from time to time favored the diversion of the river into its old channel southward to the Gulf. Inundation by the Colorado River is the greatest and most imminent danger of the Imperial Valley and the most difficult to meet. Water Shortage. The prosperity of the Valley is further menaced seriously by the increasing diversion of water from the Alamo Channel for the irrigation of lands in Mexico, as shown by the following table compiled by the Imperial Irrigation District: June Deliveries of Water in Acre-Feet. Percentages Year United Mexico Total United States States Mexico 1915 132,253 17,187 149,440 88.5 11.5 1916 154,502 28,348 182,850 84.5 15.5 1917 169,639 41,880 211,519 80.2 19.8 1918 161,573 60,512 222,085 72.8 27.2 1919 183,159 69,918 253,077 72.4 27.6 The areas now irrigated from the Colorado River at times require all the water flowing in the river and sometimes suffer from shortage. No further acreages can be irrigated without increased damage from shortage in the low water season, which in this dry country is disastrous in proportion to the length and severity of the shortage.