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<br />001449 <br /> <br />suggested that constraints on Upper Basin water use may be <br />postponed somewhat -- but only until about 2010.67 <br /> <br />The Lower Basin currently consumes far more water than <br /> <br />the Upper. <br /> <br />In 1981 it used about 9.S36 m.a.f. from the <br /> <br />mainstream of the Colorado River.68 883,000 acre-feet of <br /> <br />that was diverted by the Metropolitan Water District of <br /> <br />Southern California. <br /> <br />Inclusion of the consumptive use of <br /> <br />water from Lower Basin tributaries would probably add 2.0 to <br /> <br />4.5 m.a.f. to the total. The gaping disparity between the <br /> <br />two Basin's consumption is no doubt caused primarily by the <br /> <br />Lower Basin's larger population, greater aridity, warmer <br /> <br />climate, and higher demands for water for agricultural, <br /> <br />municipal, and industrial purposes. <br /> <br />To some degree, though, it has probably also been caused <br /> <br />by the unevenness of Federal development of storage and <br /> <br />diversion projects on the lower and upper parts of the River. <br /> <br />Hoover Dam became the foundation for tremendous <br />economic growth in California by regulating <br />destructive floods, storing irrigation water for <br />fertile desert lands, and supporting the expanding <br />population of southern California with water and <br />cheap electric power.69 <br /> <br />with the arrival of the CAP at Phoenix, the lower River has <br /> <br />practically reached a state of full development. The Upper <br />Basin has not been so highly favored. Only nine of the 21 <br /> <br />projects authorized by the Colorado River storage Project <br /> <br />Act, as amended, have been completed.70 Development of <br /> <br />Colorado and Wyoming has lagged particularly. <br /> <br />It has been <br /> <br />especially disheartening for Coloradans to observe water <br /> <br />-24- <br />