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<br />"It is understood tha., 1944 figures would increase this total acreage <br />in the Colorado River Basin in the United States to about 2,650,000 <br />acres. That is a few more acres than were ilTigated in 1940. <br />"Mexico is now irrigating approximately 300,000 acres from the <br />lower Colorado. About 200,000 acres of this is under the Alamo canal <br />system, which prior to 1942 was used jointly for the supply of these <br />lands in Mexico and the Imperial Valley in the United States. The <br />remaining 100,000 acres in Mexico is scattered along both sides of <br />the river, generally south and east of the area under the Alamo canal. <br />The total area now being served from the Colorado River thus aggre- <br />gates nearly 3,000,000 acres. . . . <br />"As to present water use, the best estimate we have been able <br />to get of the total water now being used for irrigation from the Colorado <br />River in the United States, including uses in the Gila Basin, is about <br />6,200,000 acre-feet, which is less than 40 percent of the 16,000,000 <br />acre-feet of water now allocated under the Colorado River Compact. <br />* * * <br /> <br />"Mexico's use in recent years has approximated 1,800,000 acre- <br />feel annually, and that is increasing. In other words, the develop- <br />ment that is taking place in Mexico is increasing much faster than <br />it is in the United States today. The total use in both countries is <br />about 8,000,000 acre-feet each year. During the last 4 years the <br />average flow below all points of diversion from the Colorado River <br />that was wasted into the Gulf of California has approximated 9,000,000 <br />acre-feet. That is the average of the figures for 1941, 1942, 1943, <br />and 1944." <br /> <br />Charles A. Carson, Attorney, Colorado River Commission of Arizona, at page 251 <br /> <br />corroborated the figure of waste into the Gulf of California and predicted that it would <br /> <br />be 40 to 50 years before the flow through Mexico would be substantially reduced <br /> <br />below 5,000,000 acre-feet. <br /> <br />Mr. R. J. Tipton, the proponents principal witness in regard to water supply, <br /> <br />testified in support of the estimates of return flow used by the negotiators on page 316 <br /> <br />through page 327: <br /> <br />"Mr. TIPTON. I will indicate now three assumptions that were <br />made and will indicate to the committee the estimates of return flow <br />that were made on those three assumptions. <br /> <br />-16- <br />