WSP10396

• File Number: 8056
• Description: Drought Preparedness
• State: CO
• Basin: Statewide
• Date: 1/1/1964
• Author: USGS
• Title: General Effects of Drought on Water Resources on the Southwest
• Water Supply Pro - Doc Type: Report/Study

B48

DROUGHT IN THE SOUTHWEST, 1942-56

dini, we were told that similar plants in other sections of the
United States were producing as much as 8 milUon gallons a
day of liquid industrial waste. Because of the hazard of water
pollution ana nUiStlllCe, we determined that these wastes could
not be discharged to the ground or to the draInage channels in
the vicinity of the proposed plant. Also, the limited capacity
of the .sanitary sew,er system precluded the discharge of such
quantities of waste from a single Industry. Finally, the cost of
water in the Los Angeles metropolitan area indicated tbat
wastage of the quantities mentioned would be unfeasible.
In this case the industry employed sanitary engineers who
were able to develop methods for reclamation and reuse of
water from various industrial operations to such an extent that
the plant is now wasting only 0.286 million gallons a day to the
sewer system .. .. ...
>/I ol< >/I We have <mcouraged many industrial plants including
industries manufacturing paints, synthetic rubber, automobiles,
aircraft, and hundr~s of other products to install facilities for
the treatment and reuse of process wastes. Of great interest
to us have been the changes at some of our major refineries
where management: and engineers have been actively engaged
in development of comprehensive programs for such reclama-
tion, reuse, and conservation of all available water lie lie "'.

In most of southern California the maintenance of
an adequate water supply throughout the dry years has
been achieved by importations, of which some have been
going on for a long time, For example, an aqueduct
has carried water from the Owens V alley to the city
of Los Angeles since 1913, and practically at its capacity
of 330,000 acre-feet per year since 1950, The Colorado
River aqueduct of the Metropolitan Water District
first delivered water to southern California in 1943; the
imports increased from 50,000 acre-feet in 1945 to
430,000 in 1956, These figures include the water car-
ried by the San Diego aqueduct, whose first barrel was
completed in 1947 and second barrel in 1954, The
Colorado River has been the sourCe also of progressively
increasing quantities of water for irrigation in Imperial
and Coachella Valleys, In the southern part of the
San Joaquin Valley, the Friant-Kern Canal began to
deliver water southward from t.he San Joaquin River
in 1949, and the deliveries increased progressively from
184,000 acre-feet in 1950 to 1,322,000 in 1956, The irri-
gat.ed area in the southern part. of t.he San Joaquin
VaHey increased.from 11h million acres in 1945 t.onearly
2 million acres in 1955,
In t.he south coastal area which includes the metro-
politan areas of Los Angeles and San Diego, t.he irri-
gat.ed acreage decreased substant.ially during the
drought., but there the agricultural land was a casualty
in the increasing urbanization, as shown by the figures
for the heavily urbanized and industrialized Los
Angeles County, beginning as early as 1920. (See.fol-
lowing table,)
It is likely that, had there been no urbanization, some
agricultural land would have been forced out of pro-
duction during the drought because of increasing cost

of wat.er. The prices of wat.er have risen because of in-
creasing pumping lift., increasing need for artificial
recharge of ground~water reservoirs, and increasing
costs of storage and importation of surface water, The
municipal and industrial users of water pay more pel'
acre-foot of water than most farmers can afford at
present prices for crops,

Irrigate(l area, in thousands of acres, in California's south coastal
basin

[Figures lor l000--fiO rounded from U.S. Census; lor 19M rounded Irom Agricultural
Department 01 Los Angeles Oha.mber of Commerce
County llJ1XJ 1910 1920 1980 1940 1950 1954
Los Angeles_ _ __~.u__~__~__u____________ 86 146 248 206 185 184 147
San Dernardlno.__._.~____~_u__u________ 38 70 10' lOB 111 107 102
Orangc_ _ ____~__"_U_______u__________"__ 42 .. 87 112 11. 12. 101
San DJego________________________________ 15 25 25 43 52 .. 63
- -
Total__.______uu______________u.. 195 296 46' 46' 467 472 413

The; increasing water cost has been borne especially
by the newcomers to the Stat.e, who have been respons-
ible for expanding urbanization and industrialization
and who upon arrival found the local supplies of sur-
face and ground wat.er already developed and in use.
To many of these immigrants, the only water available
for t.heir requirement.s was relatively expensive im-
ported wat.er. For many long-established users of the
local water supplies t.he cost of water increased during
t.he drought, as ground-water storage was deplet.ed,
Some of the increased cost resulted from purchase of
import.ed wat.er, which was used for artificial recharge
of the deplet.ed ground-wat.er reservoirs (Thomas and
others, 1963d) ,

ALLOCATION OF WATER
By H: E. THOMAS
Regulation of the development and use of water has
been influenced by drought in som~places in the South-
west, Legal and administrative controls are effected
through some form of allocation or apportionment of
the water wherever there has been competition and con-
troversy over it. Thus allocat.ion is made necessary
by water shortage, whether the shortage is created by
aridity, by drought, or by such artificial fact.ors as con-
centrat.ed draft or excessive demand, Because of
drought, it may be necessary to apportion supplies
which under normal conditions would be ample for all
requirements. Also, drought provides an excellent. test
of. the efficacy of the systems of allocation t.hat have
been devised in various areas, The following discus-
sion therefore includes some consideration of the
strengths and weaknesses of various devices of alloca-
tion as pointed up by the drought, as well as mention of
modifications in systems of allocation during the
drought.
The bases for allocation of water in the Southwest are
contained in statutes, court decisions, administrative