BOARD02551

• Board Meeting Date: 8/11/1965
• Description: Minutes and Resolution
• Board Meetings - Doc Type: Meeting

I

into one of these low. cycles because the ten-
year successive mean will always equal
75,000,000 acre-feet. So it will be 7,500,000
acre-feet one year after another year. with
that limitation in delivery to the Lower Basin,
there is no water remaining in the.Lower Basin
for any substantial increase in use in the
Lower Basin, such as contemplated by the Cen-
tral Arizona project. That contemplates, in
the original report and I think it is still
good, diversion from the river - depletion
of the river - of 1,200,000 acre-feet. Bene-
ficial consumptive use is diversions minus
return to the river of water tha t can be used
in the United States or available for satis-
faction of the Mexican Treaty burden. Some
of us believe that the central Arizona diver-
sions will equal beneficial consumptive use
the same as the California projects. We do
not believe that any water will ever get back
to the main stem from diversions for the bene-
fit of Central Arizona. So we can just call
it a flat 1.2 million. They'll have a little
more water left, maybe 300,000 feet. Randy
Riter and I were talking about it this morn-
ing. We thought it should be dumped right in
with Central Arizona at the time it is built,
if it is ever built, so it would be 1,500,000.

I

Our studies covered a great number of
study periods; a great number of assumptions;
to satisfy various interests in the upper
Basin. They covered a whole range in order
that they could not be criticized. There is
not a single one of the studies which is, as
I recall 34 in number, detailed operation
studies, but what show by the year 2000 short-
ages in the Lower Basin from 1,200,000 acre-
feet on up. Some of the studies showed over
2,000,000 acre-feet shortages by the year
2000. That's on the assumption that the
stage of Lake Mead would be kept at rated
power head in order that power might be gen-
erated. The compact makes power subservient
to consumptive uses. If it is assumed that
the consumptive use demand is such as to