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OJ2{}1 b ARIZONA V. OALIFORNIA AND PACIFIC SOUTHWEST WATER PROBLEMS 19 Thus today the rights of Mexico are fixed 1;ly the treaty and the duty of both the Upper Basin and the Lower Basin to deliver water to Mexico is required by the compact. The Upper Basin therefore insists that Lower Basin tributaries be taken into account in computing thp. "snrnlns" available for. Mexico. even thoue-h such tributaries as the Gila River furnish no physical supply for Mexico. The requirement that 1.5 million acre-feet be delivered to Mexico has implications with regard to the efforts of United States entities to meet water needs within the United States.6 Serious problems have also resulted from the recent high quantities of salt in waters transported to Mexico. . , PRESENT DEVELOPMENTS Lower Bas;n First large-scale use of Colorado River water for irrigation purposes in California was in the Palo Verde area in 1901. California has made constant use of the river's supplies through several pioneering projects. The importa,nce of the Colorado River was made clear by Special Master Rifkind: . Today it is perfectly clear that the viability of numerous com- munities in the Lower Basin is conditioned on and limited by the availability of Colorado River System waters. It is thus manifest that in the Lower Basin the water of the Colo- rado River System is "more than an amenity"; it is more than a "treasure." It is 'indispensable to life; no substitute for it has yet been invented or envisaged. Described below are the major storage and irrigation projects now in existence in the Lower Basin along the Colorado and its tributaries. It has been appropriately pointed out that California's investment alone in Colorado River development of dams, aqueducts and canals is in excess of $600,000,000. In addition the federal government has invested millions of dollars. These facilities supply more than 5,000,000 acre-feet of water a year to more than 8 million persons and a major part of California's agricultural economy.7 MAINSTREAM Hoover Dam This is the largest single dam on the river with a usable storage capacity of 27,200,000 acre-feet. Located in Black Canyon 330 miles above the Mexican border this dam first impounded water on February 1, 1935 and was constructed and is operated by the Department of the Interior. Parker Dam This is the diversion point on the river for the Colorado River Aque- duct of the Metropolitan Water District and is located 155 miles below Hoover Dam and 17 miles above Parker, Arizona. The dam, which has a capacity of 648,000 acre-feet, first impounded water on June 29, 1938, I) For an interesting comment on the Mexican treaty see "The Colorado Waters Dis- pute," Foreign Affairs Quarterly Rev'iew~ April 1964 at 495, which includes a large amount of historical material. '1 Northcutt Ely, "The Supreme Court's Decision in Ar.izona v. California and its effect on California's water supply," statement before Feather River Project Associa- tion, Long Beach, July 12, 1963, at 5.