7806

• UCREFRP Catalog Number: 7806
• Author: U.S. Department of the Interior.
• Title: Quality of Water, Colorado River Basin.
• USFW Year: 1997.
• USFW - Doc Type: Progress Report No. 18,
• Copyright Material: NO

Chapter 4

All American Canal for exchange with the Imperial Irrigation District and the Coachella Valley
Water District. This would allow the city of Needles and others with Lower Colorado Water
Supply delivery contract to pump an equal amount of water annually from the Colorado River.
Reclamation has installed wells adjacent to the All American Canal in the sand dune area west of
Yuma. The city of Needles will be allowed to continue the existing use of Colorado River water
by paying its share of construction, operation, and maintenance costs of these wells under contract
with Reclamation.

Metropolitan Water District-Future use may be reduced when California is limited to 4.4 maf
per year after the Central Arizona Project becomes more fully developed. The district at present
diverts up to 1.3 maf out of the Basin to the southern California district's service area.

Fort Mohave Indian Reservation-The Fort Mohave Indian Reservation, located below Davis
Dam, is allocated water by the Supreme Court Decree to irrigate 20,076 acres of land of which
16,018 acres are in Arizona; 2,119 acres are in California; and 1,939 acres are in Nevada. For the
land in California, the reservation is allocated the lesser of an annual diversion of 13,698 acre-feet
or the quantity of water necessary to satisfy the consumptive use for 2,119 acres.

Chemehuevi Indian Reservation-The Chemehuevi Indian Reservation, located above Parker
Dam, is allocated water by the Supreme Court Decree to irrigate 1,900 acres of land in California,
with a maximum annual diversion from the mainstem of the Colorado River of 11,340 acre-feet.
The consumptive use required for irrigation of these lands is estimated to be 4 acre-feet per acre,
which would result in a mainstream depletion of about 7,600 acre-feet annually. The lands that
are classified as irrigable are not feasible for farming atthis time. The reservation is expected to
develop some consumptive use for municipal and industrial and/or irrigation purposes by 2000.

Colorado River Indian Reservation-The Colorado River Indian Reservation is located along the
Colorado River, just below Parker Dam, with most of the land in Arizona and the remainder in
California. In California, the Supreme Court Decree allocated the reservation the lessor of an
annual diversion of 54,746 acre-feet or the quantity of water necessary to supply the consumptive
use required on 8,213 acres of land.

Palo Verde Irrigation District-The Palo Verde Irrigation District has the first priority in
California for Colorado River water under the Seven Party Agreement to irrigate a total of
104,500 acres.

Yuma Project, Reservation Division-California lands within the Yuma Project have the second
priority under the Seven Party Agreement. In the Indian Unit, Arizona v. California reserves
water for 7,743 acres of land. The Bard Unit has about 6,294 acres of land. The second priority
allows irrigation of up to 25,000 acres.

Imperial Irrigation and Coachella Valley Water Districts-The Imperial Irrigation and
Coachella Valley Water Districts have rights to the remaining water within the first three priorities
under the Seven Party Agreement. The total apportioned to these priorities is 3,850,000 acre-feet
per year. Under the Imperial Irrigation District/Metropolitan Water District Conservation
Agreement, the first three priorities will be limited to 3,740,000 acre-feet, with the 106,000 acre-
feet made available to the Metropolitan Water District following the completion of program
implementation in 1997.

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