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<br />002558 <br /> <br />Arizona--Irrigated areas along the river in Arizona include <br />the Yuma Project, the Wellton-Mohawk Project, the Gila Project, <br />Indian projects along the river in the vicinity of Parker and <br />Blythe, and others including unauthorized diversions. These <br />adjacent-to. the-river developments have not been impaired in develop- <br />ment and have not been short of water. However, the Indian develop- <br />ments have been slow in expanding, for lack of financial assistance <br />to construct diversion and storage works. <br /> <br />Other small tributary basins adjacent to the river have experi- <br />enced shortage in water supply. This is particularly true in the <br />vicinity of Kingman, which is dependent upon local ground-water <br />supplies. This area and other similar small basins adjacent to the <br />river are now experiencing ground-water overdraft, which will <br />continue until additional supplies are made available. A portion <br />of Arizona's Colorado River water entitlement could be made available <br />to these areas by pumping directly from present or proposed reser- <br />voirs in the vicinity. <br /> <br />The Gila River Basin above Painted Rock Dam is the area of <br />primary development. This area encompasses the large metropolitan <br />areas of Phoenix and Tucson. Dependable surface-water flows <br />available to this area have been completely used for many years. <br />Municipal and industri~l expansion is being made at the expense of <br />a continuing depletion of ground-water storage. Urbanization has <br />not only occurred on areas previously devoted to agriculture, but <br />also on desertlands. These desertlands previously did not have a <br />water requirement and now must depend entirely upon ground water. <br />It is presently estimated that the ground-water overdraft in the <br />Gila River Basin is approximately 2,200,000 acre-feet per year. <br />This overdraft is expected to increase until such time as addi- <br />tional water is made available to meet the present water demands <br />of the area. With the water from the Gila and its tributaries <br />,almost entirely committed to meet the demands of the lower eleva- <br />tion valley lands, the mountainous tributary areas have been <br />forced to curtail their growth. The growing urban population centers <br />in the lower valleys are now exerting pressure on these tributary <br />areas to provide home and recreation facilities in the higher <br />elevations. <br /> <br />The other principal tributary of the Colorado River within <br />the State is the Little Colorado River. Its basin is traversed <br />by an intercontinental railroad and highway, along which are a <br />number of small, scattered communities that are at present experi- <br />encing ground-water overdraft situations similar to other munici- <br />palities throughout the State. Agricultural development in the <br />Little Colorado River Basin is limited because of the lack of a <br />dependable water supply. A large portion of this basin is within <br /> <br />11-9 <br />