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<br /> <br />A <br />'1-~ <br />'\. <br /> <br />1 <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />1111 <br /> <br />-7- <br /> <br />No rro,1!'ct ever oper~t~s r~rfectly for lone; at a tim.:. Present established <br />;'Irior ri,e;hts on Color~do river will caIre nearer doln;: so than any of the future <br />projects proposed. The later the priorities of the future pro.~ectsJ the less <br />likely these are to avoid even minor shortages, to say nathin? of Inrgeones, when <br />the~e is ~ctuRl lack of W3ter in the areas of their supply. Fifty-two percent of <br />the futu~'e projects, in terms of depletion, are within the physical basin of Colo- <br />rado river with an estimated totlll depletion of 3,6H5,400 acr,:-l'eet. If these <br />rrojects were to f~il by an average of only 7%, of perfect o~eration every year <br />5u~h fAilure would be equal to the average annual deficit. Unless all the projects <br />were more than 93% settled Vie same result would obtai n. <br /> <br />It hardly 5e~~s likely t~P.t pro,1ects in the nat.ural basin tl1king over 93% of <br />thd deplet.ions shown in the basin r~rort will be found felisible, certainly not <br />for r.lMIy years. ~eir builciinfl and settler.'lOnt re~ch~s far into the futurE'!. From <br />every point of vi~l\ it seems certain thRt th'1 shorta~e inferred by the t-Rsin re- <br />port will not be realized for 'l gr~flt m;my ~!elll'S, if evp.r, provided middle river <br />storA.ge proves feA.sible and is built to a proper size as needed. <br /> <br />Ther~ ~s a ph~se of tho oneration of trans-basin div~rsions that has not yet <br />b...en broutht into the picture. For /l'IA:ny YP.....rs tl,is office h~s had it in mind, but <br />since it constitutes the last lin~ of d~fens~ fo~ Westprn Color~do, nothing has <br />be~n s;l.id ::tbout. it.. EVl"n now it is felt to he so importAnt thAt it should he held <br />in strict confidence. It is fundamental in thp Colorl'l.rio Rivp.r CO"lpact that power <br />C"il1 !\cquire no ri,?ht to water but must ore rate with w:\ter as rp.lc"lsed for other <br />uses. This af'plies within or without the physic",} basin. Hater diverted froM the <br />physic~l basin must, therefore, be used onLv for beneficj~l cons~ptive purposes <br />within one of the basin st",tes, and cannot be wastnd. Pow~r pl~nts on tr~n5-basin <br />diversions outside the Jilysic:'ll tasin ar"" sharplv lim1tfO!d by this comD~ct provi- <br />sion. Th~ srune rrovision also lir.tits beneficial usps by such div~rsions, so t.hRt, <br />in yea.rs w!1P!l "'lat~r C"lnnot be used for beneficial consumptive t'urposps or stored <br />for such subsequent use, it c~nnot be diverted. E~tiro~t.~ !luoted for such diver- <br />sions ar'~ ust1.111v in tp.rms of the w~t('r Rv:\ihbJe for diversion r~th"r thp.:1 in <br />terms of water that might be used, in the liWlt of the fO!'"t.'~oing lir.ti.tations, and <br />so are alw~~:s J;:"('~ter' th'1n oper'1tion will "fford, even if it is perfect operation. <br /> <br />To illustn.te the effect of thesl: orovisions, A.3 .....cll "S th~ pr'lctic1.1 oper- <br />ating difficl.uties a..::tually encountered th~ records of two mod'~r:ltt~ sized cpera- <br />tinr div~rsions to E"lstern C'.lor"ldo wi 11 b~ of intp.rl'!st. tJHit.h"r h"s any power <br />fe1.tures so thilt t.hat. proposition as outlined ...bovc 1'IS to po....er, h~'s not been <br />tested b:r either of' them. Westt'rn Colorado cnn t.,ke only one rosition v.hen this <br />qUfOstion cO"..;'s to !l test. Wl:lt.-r of Color"do river c"!nnot b(> diverted for power <br />and then w~sted out of ~ Color1do basin st~te. <br /> <br />The fir~t is ~n irrjg~tion div~rsion, for Which preliminary study showed an <br />av~r~~e yield of 5~,OOO qcre-fc~t y~~rly. It w~~ f~lt th~t th~ pro~~ct hRd enough <br />EAstern Color"do stor~ge but w~s scmcWhat hAndic"~red by ~ lonv, collection system <br />expensive to build Rnd to m~int.,in. After the first ye~r of only p?rti11 opera- <br />tion, this nro.iect div"!rt~d for 8 y~,q,rs 2n an"u"l.! ave:rl'ge of 32,900 3.cre-fep.:t, <br />61% of its lon~-tir-~ rltini_ F"l.rt of t~~ coll~cticn syst.~m w~s cut off by slid~s <br />and not repl,..ced. In one \"e;')r ~t least stOI"'l '"e proved in"ldequ~te bec1.u~e it ....'lJ.S <br />f-illed by l~rr'e E.'l~t"rn Col:)r<:.do runoff. Tht'r~ "11'<: tl,~ USU'l.' run of mnor operA- <br />tin, difficulti~s. A great addition~l invest~nt would bp. np~dad to s,lv~r.R ninor <br />losses th~t ~ltoE~th~r ~~e a l~r~~ tot~l. Th~ users under th:s rro~ect need ~ll <br />tre w~t~r they c~n divert, no divertiblp.: w~t~r h"s ~~n d~lib~r..tcly refused. . <br />