WSPC04714 - Laserfiche WebLink

Home Browse Search

~, 0\)1798 . . States prevail. The United states would force all existing prOjects to accept partial satisfaction of their rights in reservoir losses, and possibly--the United States says it is not certain about this--in channel losses. Even the Arizona con- cession of 4,400,000 acre-feet to California is far less generous than it looks. Arizona and the United States both assert that there is 3,100,000 acre-feet of water available from the main stream for use in Arizona and Nevada, that it is equal in priority to the 4,400,000 acre-feet for use in California. The initial problem is, what are the states to use for water? Unless unused upper basin water is included, there is not 7,500,000 acre-feet available for use from the main stream, or anything like that quantity. The issue, therefore, can be simply stated: Is the Central Arizona Project to be built on unused upper basin water? California asks findings that the safe annual yield usable from the main stream is from 5,400,000 to 5,850,000 acre- feet per annum.lI Nevada asks findings that the main stream 11 The 5,850,000 acre-foot upper limit is based on an average annual delivery, over a climatological cycle like 1909-l956, of 8,700,000 acre-feet from the upper basin at Lee Ferry. It assumes over that period an average of l,200,000 acre-feet of "spills" from upper basin reservoirs, beyond the capacity of existing and authorized upper basin reservoirs to control. The upper basin depletions, including reservoir losses, would not exceed 6,500,000 acre-feet. About 950,000 acre-feet per annum evaporates from lower basin reservoirs, 600,000 acre-feet is lost from natural river channels below Hoover Dam, 300,000 acre-feet is lost as uncontrollable spill in the few years of extraordinary floods, 200,000 acre-feet is unavoidable overdeliveries to Mexico, and 1,500,000 acre-feet is scheduled delivery to Mexico. These losses are partly offset by lower basin tributary inflow. lO.