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<br />0;)2rl33 <br /> <br />36 <br /> <br />ASSEMBLY INTERIM'.COMMITTEE"ON WATER.. <br /> <br />As is indicated in other sections of this report, the Colorado River <br />Board and others are particularly critical of 'what they consider over- <br />estimated amounts of potential water salvage. This difference is shown <br />in the board's estimates in this report and was called to the committee's <br />~++~._.L~_._ _"- _ 1.____.:____ ,_ _ J..l__ 1 o.P ____" '. .J:!.L.1- r'l 1____,:]~ T)_~.___.. <br />(LlJL~ULlUJ.J. alo a. l1tat.U.lig uy (,Ht:: CIUta t::llgulel;'j1" U1. lIue \..IUIUl.i;tUU .1."\IIVt::.1 <br />Board: <br /> <br />The composition of the U.S.D.!. figure for salvage is 170,000 acre- <br />feet per annum savings from Senator If ash Regulator Reservoir, <br />220,000 from groundwater recovery, 100,000 from phreatophyte <br />eradication and control, imd 190,000 from channelization. Deducting <br />these quantities from the amount of the..present losses would leave <br />only 160,000 acre-feet a year to take' care of the remaining net <br />. river losses in the over 200 river miles 'from :Davis Dam to Mexico. <br />In only the 49 miles from Davis Dam to Topock the net losses have <br />averaged 186,000 acre-feet a year since 1953 when extensive chan- <br />nelization work in that .reach was completed. Furthermore, it is <br />difficult to see how Senator Wash, although a worthwhile project, <br />can save 170,000 acre-feet a year. In each of several months of the <br />past 3 years excess arrivals in Mexico were less than 5,000 acre- <br />feet, without Senator Wash. Much of the excess arrival during the <br />past 3 years has been caused by salinity and sediment problems <br />and winter flow factors which Senator.Wash will not solve. Mexico <br />has already protested the ground water recoyery program. Fish <br />and game. and recreational interests are pressing for more,_not <br />less, recreational and wildlife area along the Colorado River; A <br />channelized river with large denuded areas wi.!l surely' be resifi.ted <br />by outdoor enthusiasts. Whereas the C.R.Bc favors all feas~blc <br />water salvage programs, it believes that realism should be made <br />part or the hydrology studies. Large savings -such as assumed by <br />the U.S.D.I. might be realized, but 'should not be assumed until <br />the 'programs have been accomplished. 12 ' . <br /> <br />Figures 1 and 2 which f~llow arc graphic illustrations of the differ- <br />ence in water supply anticipated by the state and federal agencies. <br />To as great an extent as possible the two charts illustrate compjuable <br />considerations. _, <br />These figures are illustrative or the past quagmirc of contradictory <br />hydrological data upon which far-reaching water developments are <br />expected to be predicated. ,; <br />It can be seen from the foregoing material that a large amount or <br />water evaporates each year from reservoirs on the Colorado. Accord- <br />ing to the Bureau of Reclamation gross evaporation rates froni'reser- <br />voirs along the mainstream varied from 60 to over 80 inches annually. <br />Net evaporation from Lake Mead during the five-year period ending in <br />1962 was estimated to average approximately 845,000 acre-feet a year <br />while reservoir evaporation losses below Hoover Dam including Lake <br />Mojave and Lake Havasu are estimated to average 370,000 acre-feet <br />annually. Also, it is estimated by the Colorado River Board that 700,000 <br />acre-feet a year and by the Bureau of Reclamation that 680,000 acre- <br /> <br />1:01 Statement of Dallas Cole, hearing, August 14, 1964, at 2. <br />