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<br />-~-----~-- <br /> <br />.\ C ;:,:-: '" g <br />Li l... U \J <br /> <br />District, Yuma County Water Users, the Yuma Desalting Plant <br />(4 miles west of Yuma), Imperial, Laguna, and Morelos Dams, <br />Diversion works for Imperial Irrigation District and <br />Coachella Valley Water Districts and the By-Pass Drain to the <br />Santa Clara Slough, Mexico. <br /> <br />YUMA DESALTING .PLANT <br /> <br />BACKGROUND AND HISTORY <br />The Colorado River drains a large area covering portions of <br />Wyoming, Colorado, Utah, Nevada, Arizona, California, and New <br />Mexico, and ultimately empties into the Gulf of California. The <br />long-term natural annual average flow, based on a 78-year period <br />from 1906 through 1983, and computed for Lees Ferry (a Colorado <br />River gauging station located about 0.4 miles above the mouth of <br />the paria River), is about 15 million acre-feet (Maf) of water. <br />A number of reservoirs on the main stem of the Colorado River and <br />its tributaries store runoff for later release when natural flows <br />are inadequate to meet downstream needs. <br /> <br />A series of laws, interstate compacts, court decisions and <br />decrees, contracts with the United States, an international <br />treaty, operating criteria, and administrative decisions <br />collectively known as the "Law of the River," define the <br />~onstraints and guidelines used by Reclamation, in behalf of the <br />~. Secretary of the Interior, to deliver Colorado River water to the <br />seven basin states (Wyoming, Colorado, New Mexico, Utah, Nevada, <br />Arizona, and california) and Mexico. <br /> <br />Rights to the Colorado River water (as delineated in the Colorado <br />River Compact of 1922) are divided among the Upper Basin States <br />(Wyoming, Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah), and the Lower Basin <br />States (Arizona, Nevada, and California) and Mexico. Each Basin <br />has a right to the beneficial consumptive use of 7.5 Maf of water <br />per year. In addition Mexico has a right to 1.5 Maf per year as <br />provided for in the 1944 Treaty. <br /> <br />Water quality is generally good near the headwaters of the <br />colorado River system but deteriorates as the wat~r flows toward <br />the Gulf of California. As the Basin States approach full use of <br />their apportionment, water quality is expected to deteriorate. <br />However, salinity control measures are being implemented which <br />should maintain salinity at or below the standard of 879 parts <br />per million (p/m) at Imperial Dam. <br /> <br />In the mid 1960's, the salinity of water being delivered to <br />Mexico became so high that Mexico filed a formal protest with the <br />United states. As a result, Minute No. 242 of the International <br />Boundary and Water Commission (Minute 242) was adopted in 1973. <br />Minute 242 provided that the united States would deliver to <br /> <br />5 <br />