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<br />1305 <br /> <br />17. DISCUSSION OF LOWER :BASIN SUMMARY <br /> <br />and in the Lower BaSin, including the Gila River, will aggrec;a.te 8,762,300 <br />acre feet annually; <br />The potential power, irrigation and other projects listed in the Report, <br />if and when constructed, will cause depletions in the three divisions of <br />2,310,300 acre feet, and bring the total therein to 9,922,600 acre feet, which <br />is 591,600 acre feet more than the estimated water supply available to said <br />division; and including the Gila Basin will bring the total depletions in the <br />Lower :Basin to 11,092,600 acre feet annually, which is 2,592,600 acre feet <br />more than the 8,500,000 acre feet heretofore apportioned to the Lower Basin <br />by Par. (a) and (b) of Art. III of the Colorado River Compact, <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />The Report might properly state that any right to the use of any waters <br />of the Colorado River system which the United States of America shall recognize <br />in the United States of Mexico shall be supplied first from the surplus over <br />and above the 7,500,000 acre feet allocated to the Upper Basin and the <br />8,500,000 acre feet allocated to the Lower Basin by Par. (a) and (b) of Art. III <br />of the Colorado River Compact; that any surplus thereafter remaining is subject <br />to further equitable apportionment, as provided in the Colorado River Compact, <br />at any time after Oct 1, 1963, if and when either Basin shall have reached its <br />total beneficial consumptive use as set out in Par. (a) and (b); and that the <br />allowances herein made for future use, and the potential depletions herein <br />listed, are subject to all provisions, including those above mentioned, of the <br />Colorado River Compact. <br /> <br />The Report should also point out that the water supplies available for <br />utilization in the Boulder division under normal climatic conditions, can be <br />maintained under drought cycle cnnditions such as 1931-1940. While the flow <br />at Lee Ferry may decline from a normal average (under ultimate upstream <br />development) of 8,771,000 acre feet to an average of 7,500,000 acre feet in a <br />drought decade, the difference of 1,271,000 acre feet can be supplied from <br />existing and potential reservoirs in the u:>wer :Basin, - that being among the <br />purposes for which such reservoirs have been and will be constructed. <br /> <br />Final Note: Time has not permitted this review to cover Chap. VI and Chap. VII <br />entitled: "Wealth from Water," nor the Eight Appendices to the <br />Report. Chap. III: "Dividing the Water," between the two nations <br />and the two :Basins, should be critically reviewed by those familiar <br />with the Proposed Treaty and with the Colorado River Compact and <br />related documents, particularly in the light of modifications <br />suggested by the State of California. <br /> <br />(27) <br />