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regulated releases from Lake Powell <br />at Glen Canyon Dam. <br />Annual reservoir evaporation <br />consumed between 1.0 and 1.2 million <br />acre-feet. Apparent channel losses <br />ranged from 90,000 acre-feet in 1976 <br />and 1977 to 430,000 acre-feet in 1979. <br />Note that apparent channel losses were <br />calculated over the entire Lee Ferry to <br />International Boundary reach instead <br />of only the Davis Dam to International <br />Boundary reach as in the 1971-75 <br />report . <br />Total mainstream depletions de- <br />creased from 1976 to 1980, from 6.1 to <br />5.8 million acre-feet, with minimum <br />depletions of 5.7 million acre-feet in <br />1979. This reflects decreases of <br />140,000 acre-feet for irrigation <br />depletions and 130,000 acre-feet for <br />exports to California from 1976 to <br />1980. Depletions for irrigation in <br />1980 were 1.6 million acre-feet and <br />exports to California were 4.2 million <br />acre-feet the same year. <br />However, municipal and industrial <br />water use, including thermal power- <br />plants in Nevada and Arizona, increased <br />depletions 18 percent from 123,000 <br />acre-feet to 150,000 acre-feet in the <br />5-year period. Much of this demand is <br />within the rapidly expanding population <br />area of southern Nevada. <br />Lower Colorado River Tributaries <br />Tables LC-4 through LC-8 show yearly <br />water uses by tributary area, State, <br />and type of use. Onsite consumptive <br />use in 1976 was estimated to be about <br />4.1 million acre-feet. By 1980, <br />consumptive use was about 4.8 million <br />acre-feet as a result of a substantial <br />increase in both irrigated acreage and <br />population. Most of the increase in <br />water use, irrigated land, and popula- <br />tion has occurred in the Gila River <br />basin. <br />Significant ground water usage <br />occurs in Arizona, Nevada, and New <br />Mexico. For the purpose of this <br />report, groundwater overdraft has not <br />been taken into account in the computa- <br />tion of tributary consumptive use. <br />Also tributary channel loss and <br />salvage were not evaluated. It should <br />be noted, however, that present ground <br />water overdraft in Arizona has been <br />estimated to be' approximately 2.2 <br />million acre-feet per year. <br />Consumptive use for the irrigation <br />of crops represents between 80 and 85 <br />percent of the total water use in <br />the Lower Colorado tributary areas. <br />Estimated annual consumptive use per <br />area for the Lower Basin during the <br />5-year period averaged about 3.5 <br />acre-feet per acre, varying from <br />approximately 1 acre-foot per acre in <br />parts of New Mexico to over 4 acre-feet- <br />in the western portion of the basin. <br />Estimated crop consumptive use varied <br />considerably from year to year on the <br />basis of climatic conditions, from a <br />low of 3.3 million acre-feet in 1976 to <br />a high of 3.8 million acre-feet in <br />1980. Irrigated lands amounted to <br />1,067,000 acres in 1976, decreased <br />to 1,037,000 acres in 1978, and in- <br />creased to 1,132,000 acres in 1980. <br />The consumptive use of water for <br />municipal and industrial purposes is <br />estimated to have increased from <br />approximately 444,000 acre-feet in 1976 <br />to approximately 500,000 acre-feet in <br />1980 . <br />Water supply conditions were charac- <br />terized by near normal runoff in 1976, <br />exceptionally poor runoff in 1977, and <br />extremely large runoff in 1978, 1979, <br />and 1980. In addition to replenishing <br />storage reservoirs in the basin, the <br />1978 through 1980 runoff produced an <br />outflow below Painted Rock Dam of as <br />high as 2,385,000 acre-feet during <br />1980. <br />17 <br />