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Early in 1953 a Bureau .of Reclamation crew closed with bulldozers the old river channel and forced an the river through the 1947 cut. Hence, with a lower river flow during 1953. the average water surface of Outfall Drain at the gage in Section 36-9-21 was 221.9. """' Bonded Indebtedness Diversion The bonded indebtedness of the. District WCII reduced by $29.000.00 leaving a balance of $511.000.00 which is approximately $7.68 per culti- vated acre. or $5.38 per assessed acre. The interest rate on the balance has also been reduced to 21fa per cent, this will increase future principal payments to over $30,000.00 annually. The temporary rock weir in the Colorado River at the intake received normal maintenance during the year. A Bureau of Reclamation crew quarried rock and added it to the weir during the months of July and August. Cost of this work was borne by the federal government and was well within the $25,000 appropriated annually by Congress for this purpose. The Palo Verde Irrigation District Board and officials work diUgentIy each year to have this appropriation granted, and it is granted only for one year at a time. The suction dredge operated in January and February of this year to give the settling basin a thorough cleaning. The Colorado River flow through Grand Canyon during the crucial four months, April through July 1952. was 14.064,000 acre feet. an average of 58,000 second feet. The flow during the same period 1953 was 5.434.000 acre feet. an average of 22,600 second feet. The maximum flow of record for the same four month period was 16,480,000 acre feet in 1917. The average is 8.900,000 acre feet. The minimum was 2,247,000 acre feet in 1934. Records have been kept since 1913. Average flow of the river past Blythe. as determined by releases from Parker Dam, was 11,900 second feet for 1951. 21,100 second feet for 1952. and 14.600 second feet for 1953. Following the weir failure in Tanuary 1952 your Board considered means of assuring a supply of at least the minimum requirements of water in event such a failure should occur again. Two centrifugal pumps. each with a capacity of 90 second feet. were purchased and installed at the intake. Two propeller-type pumps. each with a capacity of 50 second feet. were purchased for installation at the river south of Highway 60-70 bridge to pump into F Canal. A third propeller~type pump. also with a capacity of 50 second feet, was purchased for installation in Township Drain southeast of Ripley to pump into C Canal. """' """' Land Sales Sales of District lax deeded land were as follows: 10 Ripley 1018......,................,...........,..........................$ 700.00 Third Plan Land - 162.75 acres...._____._nm.mn.......___..4125.00 In addition to the above. collections in the amount of $32,305.00 were received from land sold in 1952, making this years total receipts from land sales $37,130.00. As stated in the 1952 report all proceeds received from this source are deposited in a special reserve fund acco~ and earn 10/0 interest. The balance in this account as of December 31, 19'5'3 is $48,973.00. It was monies from this reserve account that saved the Valley from a possible special assessment for the repair of the Weir break in January 1952. The district still has 138 Ripley lots that can be sold with a guaranteed clear title. The District also has four or five isolated parcels of possible farm land, each smaller than 80 acras. Levee "^"-....,.~~ "" Your Board of Trustees has continued the policy of maintaining the Levee in its present condition since the river is not entirely under control. Unusual snowfalls in the Rocky Mountain area could result in flows which would force Bureau of Reclamation officials to use the spillways at Hoover, Davis and Parker Dams. Likewise, Bill Williams River flows could force the use of the spillways at Parker Dam. In either case, the river banks in Palo Verde Valley would probably overflow. """' Collections Collections are generally considered to be a key to the prosperity of an area. A high delinquency in collections in an area denotes that cash is scarce. A low delinquency in the collections denotes an era of prosperity. The year 1953 had the lowest delinquency on record being less than 1%. 10 II SI610G