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<br />f Report of W~ter Committee, Agricultural Council of C"lifornio,
<br />June 10. 1954.
<br />8Bulletin No. I, "Water Resources of Cc.IHornia," Stote Water Re.
<br />sources Boord (1951).
<br />'Assemblr Concurrent
<br />Session Chapter 211.
<br />lOSixth Portiol Report by Joint Committee on Water Problems of CIloIi-
<br />fernio Legisllllture (1953 Regular Session).
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<br />ar.!e state's waters are conserved and.eO,a 2 t' 37Fin.. Many problems are yet to be determine.re,
<br />there will b. sufficient water to take care of pres- including finance (an estimated I V2 billion dollars would
<br />en' needs and future developments.' . 'be required) and the final determination of the route to
<br />Afull use and conservation of all the state's waters pre- ! be followed.
<br />supposes a solution of a variety of problems-legal, en- ' A consideration of the Feather River Project points up
<br />gineering, financial, administrative, and political. with emphasis the need for an orderly administrative re-
<br />organization of a' new Department of Water Resources.
<br />. DI~TRIBUTION.. Actually the State never has been in the water business be-
<br />. Pr?b~bly the most v~xl~g c~use of water problem ,n Cal. fore. Mr. Samuel' B. Morris, General Manager and Chief
<br />,for",a IS the uneven dlstrlbu~lon of natural supp!y throug?_ Engineer of the Los Angeles Department of Water Power,
<br />out the State. About two-thirds of the supply,s found In who is recognized as one of the outstanding water engineers
<br />t~e northern on.e.thir~ of the State,. where~s the c?nsump- in the whole country is authority for the statement that
<br />hon. for domestic, agricultural, and .lndustrlal uses IS great. "All existing large water system. are owned by local gov-
<br />est In the souther~ and. central. sec~lon~.8 .. ernmental agencies." In considering the Feather River
<br />In .Southern CaI.fo~",a, the S/t~ahon " particularly acute. Project he .tated, "It should be made certain that the State
<br />St.udl~" have determined that with all the local water sup- will have the necessary machinery to build and operate
<br />p~les ,n ~hat ~r;a fully developed and co?ser~ed, together the project [Feather River). Devising the most satisfactory
<br />with Cahfornla s rights to the Colorado River In the amount plan to do so is of the greatest urgency and should be under
<br />of 5,36~,OOO acr~-feet an~ually, !he area south of the T e- study right now, while preliminary engineering surveys ar.
<br />hachapl M~~ntalns will stili require some. ,5,000,000 acre; being made. Before going further into a discussion of what
<br />feet of add,tlonal w~ter annually to meet Its fut~re need.; we should be doing about this plan, it would be of interest
<br />Sh~rtage of ~vall~ble surface waters has. esulted In to know the physical features of the Feather River and of
<br />alarming depletions 'n our u!,derground. ba~lns. In so,,!e the preliminary plans initially prepared by the State
<br />coastal areas the wells that 'n 1907 maintained a static Engineer. . ."
<br />water level of 35 feet above sea level, have now d~opped Mr. Morris poinls ouf that there is much to be done in
<br />to 9~ feet t? 100 feet below sea level. The re.ultlng hy. determining the best and most economic location for bring-
<br />?raullc gradl;nt, ~r ground water table slope, ha. resulted ing Feather River water to Southern California in that the
<br />In salt water InvaS/on from the, ocean. ~ great many wells preliminary route selected provides for conveying all of the
<br />h.ave cons;quently been aban~oned. Drafts of !hree 1,773,000 acre-feet of waterfor use. south ofthe Tehachapi
<br />hmes the Inflow are reported. Tn some areas. Log!cally to an elevation of at least 3,375 feet and then into the Ante-
<br />these natural storage reservOirs sho?ld be replen!shed lope Valley. As late as June 10, 1954, this outstanding
<br />rat~erthan depleted so that a sulliclent reserve will be expert stated,
<br />available for dry-cycle years.
<br />.rw. face the challenge of Rnding an alternate route
<br />PLANS AND PROJECTS that would cut the present planned pump lift to an eleva-
<br />I. S I. b . . I d . d I tlon 3,375 feet to somewhere around the 1,600 foot level.
<br />. T? tate as aen mterm~ttent y stu YIn.9 an. p ~n- At the higher elevation, at fun capacity, it would require
<br />nlng In the field of water use since the early mveshgatlon more than twice the firm power output of Hoover Dan to
<br />made in 1878. In 1921 substantial funds were appropriated operate the pumps. This i. a big !actor In the coat of Feather
<br />by the legislature to investigate the State's water resour.. River water, which at the estimated. amount of $50 an
<br />. . . . acre-foot under full capacity uae Will be expen.ive by
<br />ces. The water sltuahon worsened and In 1929 enabling comparison with present suppUes. It ia too costly for agrl..
<br />legislation for the development 01 the State Water Plan cultural. ule In the high de.ert areas south of the leha..
<br />was adopted. The Plan itself was presented to the Legis- chapl."
<br />lature in 1931. Using the Feather River Project as illustrative it points
<br />Except for the Feather River Project, the actual con. ur. the need for careful consideration of all of the propos-
<br />.truction of the Central Valley Project, as conceived in a s and all of the sources of supply. It is inconceivable that
<br />the State Water Plan was done by the United States the many important decisions can be made at one and the
<br />Bureau of Reclamation due to the State's lack of funds. same time or even as part of the compromised plan. A great
<br />The Feather River Project was finally approved in 1951, deal of time will be required to solve these problem. and
<br />and filings for the appropriation of 1,773,000 acre-feet it is my view that we must adhere to the 100-year principle
<br />of water have already been made by the Department of that has had '0 much in making California probably the
<br />greatest state in the Nation and has certainly kept Cali-
<br />fornia counties strong-the principle of grass.roots and
<br />local home rule government must continue to be applied
<br />in solving California's water problems. In order that I may
<br />not be misunderstood I wish to make it crystal clear that
<br />nothing presented in this paper is recommending an over-
<br />all water authority that would transfer from the people and
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<br />Resolution No.8, 1952, First Extroordinory
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