PUB00030

• Year: 1978
• Title: Report on the Water Conservation Opportunities Study
• CWCB Section: Water Conservation & Drought Planning
• Author: U. S. Department of Interior, Bureau of Reclamation & Bureau of Indian Affairs
• Description: Results of a study by the Bureau of Reclamation and the Bureau of Indian Affairs to identify projects having potentially attractive opportunities for conserving irrigation water supplies in the West
• Publications - Doc Type: Brochure

The extension, rehabilitation,
betterment, and operation and
maintenance of these projects are
under the direct supervision of
Indian Affairs, with the exception
of most of the irrigation units
and projects on the Navajo Indian
Reservation. In those cases,
title to the projects has been
transferred to the Tri be in
accordance with the Act of
July 12, 1960 (74 Stat. 760).
Only that porti on of the present
Navajo Indian Project which can
be irrigated has been transferred;
the remaining portions will be
transferred as they are completed.

Today there are about 260 Federal
and private irrigation systems
and projects on the vari ous
Indian reservations west of the
Mississippi River involving
approximately 1,160,000 acres.
Those works range from subsistence
or garden units with a small
acreage to major projects.
Approximately 28 percent of the
nearly 393,000 acres i rri gated
(1977) within the study areas
on the Indian reservations are
owned by non-Indians who either
purchased these lands from Indians
or homesteaded them under the
Homestead Law of the United
States.

The studies on the Indian
Reservations are based on the
actual acreages irrigated over the
preceding 5-year period. In the
general case, these figures are
considerably smaller than those
ori ginally authorized by Congress
and the Secretary of the
Interi or. The di fferences are
attributable to a number
of factors including the
inadequacies, in some cases, of
the major delivery systems to

serve all the 1 ands con temp 1 ated
in the planned project; fragmented
land ownerships which are
distantly removed from the main
supply systems; and lack of
economic incentives to bring lower
class lands into production.

Present Water Distribution

.

Opportunities for conserving water
exist throughout the project
conveyance and distribution
system and at the onfarm level.
System water management and
del ivery to the farm is generally
the responsibility of the water
user organization while the
responsi bi 1 i ty for water use and
management on the farm is the
responsibility of the farmer.

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Del iveries

The conveyance and del i very of
irrigation water to the farm and
application of the water on the
farm are affected by many factors
which vary from one irrigation
servi ce area to another and from
farm to farm.

The pattern of delivery of
irrigation water in the delivery
system is dependent upon its
source or supply. When reservoi r
storage is available, the water
may be released as irrigation
appl i cati ons are needed. I f the
irrigation water is diverted
directly from seasonal streamflow,
a v ail a b i 1 i ty and t i m i n g 0 f
the supply are dependent upon
streamflow conditions, and
i rri gat ion app 1 i cati ons are made
when the water is available, not
necessari ly when needed.

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The type of canal and 1 ateral
system and its physical condition

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