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<br />002557 <br /> <br />per year. A portion of the diversions of Colorado River water <br />through the Metropolitan Water District Aqueduct has been used to <br />recharge depleted ground-water storage in basins along the coastal <br />area of southern California. <br /> <br />The Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, which <br />serves most of the cities of southern California, foresaw that <br />water supplies available from the Colorado River and other local <br />sources would not be adequate for future demands. Accordingly, it <br />signed a contract with the State of California in 1960 for the <br />future delivery of up to 1,500,000 acre-feet of water per year. <br />This water would be delivered through the facilities of the California <br />Water Plan, estimated at that time to meet the needs of southern <br />California until about 1990. This estimate was based on the <br />premise that the present rate of diversion from the Colorado River <br />would continue. lhe California State Water Plan is a comprehensive <br />development to efficiently utilize the surplus water resources of <br />northern California to the benefit of the entire State. <br /> <br />Two legislative acts late in 1960 made possible the implementa- <br />tion of this plan~ the congressional authorization of the San Luis <br />Project and a California State referendum, which authorized State <br />issuance of a $1.75 billion bond issue to finance the State's <br />proposed project works. <br /> <br />The California State water plan anticipates delivering surplus <br />water from northern California through an aqueduct along the west <br />side of the San Joaquin Valley southward to the vicinity of <br />Bakersfield where it would be pumped across the Tehachapi Mountains <br />and delivered to areas in southern California. The State of <br />California and the Bureau of Reclamation are fully cooperating in <br />the operational and financial aspects of joint-use facilities which <br />will benefit both the State project and the Federal project water <br />consumers. These facilities are anticipated to be constructed and <br />in operation by the year 1971. <br /> <br />The City of Los Angeles is also currently planning a new <br />addition to its Owens Valley aqueduct system which will increase <br />the existing capacity of the aqueduct. Its plan is to have the <br />first section of the new aqueduct in operation by 1965, and the <br />balance by 1968. <br /> <br />At the present "time limited quantities of sewage effluent are <br />being utilized for ground-water recharge in the coastal areas of <br />southern California. This water source also is being used to <br />combat salt-water intrusion that is occurring in fresh-water <br />aquifers along the coast. <br /> <br />II-8 <br />