WSP00250

• File Number: 8220.700
• Description: Colorado River
• State: CO
• Basin: Colorado Mainstem
• Date: 11/1/1966
• Author: Charles J. Meyers
• Title: The Colorado River
• Water Supply Pro - Doc Type: Report/Study

I Vol. '9: Page,

luced the Treaty
I J<;'~dO and Tijuana
('..... . I
I . ""h!equent artlc e.

" a.~ r"ljti~lIy i~to
... end its trlbutanes
. The roain stream
L M .
~. ~od:y ountaws,
, II:: arid plateau of
~ end spec~acula:ly
, ,........;paltnbut;~nes
,. .,.J the Gunmson
~ llUin stream. The
/PfJ~[ of water to
~ acre-feet'
lol:r:. the San Juan
~= from the
~les an annual
. e the high moun-
. cnn reaches Rows
1M ~IClico. Farther
...1 d~ply eroded
Ir '"" Juan is a prin-
_ in the Lower
Pi.
~
~_ the Colorado
"... di,'ision point
~'er .Co~pact
'. obligallon is
\or Ferry for the
~~tes widely
acre,feet;

~'""" S"'Lr 0' _
~,

November '966]

THE COLORADO RIVER

justlWO years later it was barely more than a third of that-6,116,000 acre-
feet" These extreme variations have prompted the construction of large
storage units in the Upper Basin so that the Upper Basin's delivery obliga-
tions under the 1922 compact may be met.

2. Economy of the basin.

The Upper Basin is an area of sparse population and limited industry.
Its largest city is Grand Junction, Colocado, with a population of 18,694.\1
The twO principal industries are ranching and mining." Soils of the moun,
tain valleys of the Upper Basin are naturally fertile," but agriculture is
litnited by a short growing season. Crop production is almost totally de-
pendent upon irrigation and consists primarily of feed for livestock." Mov-
ing downstream to lower elevations, one encounters large areas of residual
soils so shallow or so alkaline that farming is impossible; use of the land
is limited to grazing by livestock." In its natural state the area suffered
from RashRooding and erosion; overgrazing has aggravated these diffi-
culties and added to the sediment problem."
The second important industry of the Upper Basin, mining, has evolved
from the early..day bonanzas of gold and silver mining to the mundane but
orderly development of base metals." In addition, there is a growing oil
and gas industry in the San Juan Basin" and the potential for a shale oil
industry in northwestern Colorado and northeastern Utah." Little water
is consumed in the extractive phase of mining, but large quantities are
needed to carry away wastes. Because mines are generally located in the
upper reaches of streams, present concern is over pollution control, but
future conRicts may develop with those interests desiring more water for
irrigation." Only a small amount of water is used in the production of
crude oil," but large supplies may be needed to support communities de-
veloping around this and other mineral industries."
A limited quantity of irrigable land and the short growing season will

10. 13 Uppu. CoLO. R.Jvu. COMM'N ANN. REP., app. D (l960-196J).
lJ. JUS. Du'T OF CoUN:U.CE. BURI-A.U OF THJ; CENSVS, UNITED STATES CEN'rus OF POPVLA.
nON: J960, pL 7..at J2.
n. CoLOJl.Al)O RIVEIl 72.
13. Id. at 73.
14. ~ P1tESIDENT'1 WATER REsoVRCES POLICY CoWM'N, REpORT. TEN R,vus IN A1r.c'ElUCA'S Fv.
T'l.1ll36,S (1950) [hereinafter cited as'I'F.N "RIvE.u].
IS. Ibid.
J6. /d. at 417-24.
17. ld, lilt 405.
J 8. CoLOIUDO RIVER 82:.
J9. TEN RIVER.S 360.
20. Id. at 40.5.
:31. Approximately 170,000 acre-fC'et pc=r yC'ar pu 500 million harrels of oil producm. Id. at 406.
However. wale oil production in the future may require much luger amounts of watu. SU H~arings
Be/ore rh~ Sllbrommill~~ on Im'Zlllion ImJ Rec/amaJicm 0/ the House Committee on Interior and
'''Julll1' Affairs, 89th Cong., 2d 5C=55., sa. '7. pt. :3. at 1266 (1966) (statement of Edward f. Morrill).
:32. TEN RtV'EU 405.

3