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<br />002036 <br /> <br />ARlliUNA V. CALIFORNIA AND PACIFIC SOUTHWEST WATER PROBLEMS 39 <br /> <br />feet a year will be lost from evaporation on Oolorado Hiver Storage <br />Project reservoirs in the Upper Basin. Evaporation control research, <br />however, is now being conducted by several entities. <br />In addition to reservoir losses there is the matter of channel losses <br />along the Oolorado HiveI' below Hoover Dam. A number of agencies <br />have made studies to determine the amount of water lost in this manner. <br />'l'here are several indeterminable factors including unauthorized diver- <br />sions, channel and open ground evaporation, unaccounted consumptive <br />uses, etc., so that estimated losses are not considered as accurate as the <br />reservoir evaporation figures. 'l'he Bureau of Heclamation, in the Pacific <br />Southwest Water Plan, shows 670,000 acre-feet annually in channel losses <br />for the period 1957-61. Estimated annual regulatory losses of about 230,- <br />000 acre-feet were used as representative of "optimum operational con- <br />trol with present facilities and scheduling methods. " Thus, it can be seen <br />that reservoir evaporation losses and channel losses below Hoover Dam <br />total approximately 1,270,000 acre-feet annually. If significant ad- <br />vances, particularly in reservoir evaporation .control, are made in the <br />coming years it should result in increasing the supply in the Oolorado. <br />In any consider.ation of water requirements and water supply the mat- <br />ter of evaporation and channel losses must be considered an important <br />factor. It can be seen from Figure 1 that the amount lost through <br />evaporation and channel losses in the Lower Basin alone is equal to <br />that required by the Oentral Arizona Project. <br />The conflicting estimates of water supply include complex factors <br />such as reservoir release, scheduling, etc. <br />Not only is there this disparity in estimates but Arizona Governor <br />Paul Fannin registered a strong objection to the bureau's estimates <br />of Oolorado Hiver Water supply in his state's comments on the original <br />Pacific Southwest Water Plan. <br /> <br />Arizona does not concur in the estimate of water supply contained <br />in the Pacific Southwest Water Plan. Arizona's estimate of the <br />future water supply available in the main stream of the Oolorado <br />Hiver is much higher than that presented in the report. I feel that <br />there would be little to be gained by a discussion by me of the <br />technical aspects of figures as to water supply. This problem was <br />debated at great length during the trial phases of the Arizona v. <br />California, et al., litigation. . . J3 <br /> <br />An adequate inventory and study of the Oolorado Hiver has not been <br />made and is sorely needed. For example, the quantity of water avail- <br />able effectively determines the amount of power generation possible on <br />the river. The Lower Basin states cannot plan with any certainty when <br />there are gross variations in water supply figures utilized by the various <br />agencies. In the long run, of course, this committee and all Oalifornia <br />water agencies are in agreement that the ultimate needs of our state <br />and our neighboring states in the Lower Basin will require that addi- <br />tional water be imported into the Oolorado HiveI' Basin. <br />A detailed discussion of the water supply and requirements of the <br />Lower Basin is presented in Ohapter IV of this report. <br /> <br />13 Hearings on S. 1658 Before the Subcornmittee on Irrigation and Reclanwtion of <br />the Senate Committee on Interior and Insular AfJair8~ 88 Congo 2d Sess., Part <br />II, at 708-9. <br />