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<br />
<br />,":t,."':,;'
<br />
<br />.:..~"
<br />
<br />[Vol. '9: Pag< 1
<br />
<br />II com pared to
<br />many commu-
<br />. A short dis-
<br />cies of Denver,
<br />Mexico. These
<br />,. Upper Basin
<br />'I.of,basin uses,
<br />dl believe thar
<br />,.basin irrigated
<br />-rJ at some 2.7-
<br />.e City, Denver,
<br />JI also by farm-
<br />and in parts of
<br />
<br />,I be allotted to
<br />iians within the
<br />~j\"dy used for
<br />3 million acre,
<br />
<br />nail streams on
<br />, precipitation is
<br />. Since the rains
<br />,. line percolates
<br />III of the courses
<br />-id land, wbere
<br />lion is 10 inches
<br />, ""fore reaching
<br />the virgin /low"
<br />
<br />Uw, and north-
<br />Wn stream, espe-
<br />Dulation of sedi-
<br />... One hundred
<br />
<br />"'-.II corners" are2 of
<br />
<br />-
<br />"llIt7\otting the period
<br />
<br />~'~ ;:.,~:;'~:,~:;~:;
<br />
<br />'..'.":'
<br />
<br />., . ~ '
<br />
<br />.' . ~-
<br />
<br />No,"<mb<r 1966J
<br />
<br />THE COLORADO RIVER
<br />
<br />5
<br />
<br />thousand acre-feet of sediment are deposited annually in Lake Mead, and
<br />'t is estimated that 43 per cent of the storage space in the major Upper
<br />~asin projects will have to be devoted to sediment detention."
<br />Another narural force affecting water supply is the growth along the
<br />ri\'er of water-consuming vegetation such as willow, salt cedar, and cotton-
<br />wood trees. One estimate places the total consumption of "valley bottom
<br />vegetation" at 20 to 25 million acre-feet per year for the Upper and Lower
<br />Basins."
<br />
<br />4. Storage works and irrigation projects.
<br />
<br />Large,scale irrigation projects were first constructed in the Upper Basin
<br />after the passage of the Reclamation Act in lCf:J2," but irrigation has de-
<br />veloped "mainly in scattered small developments on the main Stream and
<br />many tributaries."S6
<br />When the Upper Colorado River Compact of 1948 was negotiated,
<br />average annual depletion at the sites of use for the period 1914-1945 was
<br />as follows: (1) agricultural "cropped lands," 10449,000 acre-feet; (2) trans-
<br />basin diversions, 43,713 acre-feet in Colorado and 79,000 acre-feet in Utah;
<br />)d' f ..
<br />(3 omestlc use, 14,100 acre- eet.
<br />Reservoir and evaporation losses and depletions for incidental uses for
<br />the same period brought total Upper Basin consumption to 1,923,124 acre-
<br />feet at sites of use and to 1,849,900 acre-feet of depletion at Lee Ferry.
<br />Ratification of the 1948 compact gave new impetus to Upper Basin de-
<br />velopment and resulted in passage of the Colorado River Storage Project
<br />Act of 195b"' the present master plan for Upper Basin development. The
<br />act authorizes three types of projects: (I) major storage units, four of which
<br />were authorized so that the Upper Basin could meet its 1922 compact de-
<br />livery obligations at Lee Ferry; (2) initial irrigation units, called "partici-
<br />pating projects," eleven of which were authorized; and (3) projected irri-
<br />gation units, twenty-four of which are the subject of srudies authorized by
<br />the act. It has been estimated that prior uses, uses by the initial participating
<br />projects, and reservoir evaporation will consumptively use 4.187 million
<br />acre-feet annually."
<br />The principal storage units in the Upper Basin are Flaming Gorge Dam
<br />and Reservoir at Green River, Wyoming, a multipurpose project storing
<br />3.92 million acre-feet; Navajo Dam on the San Juan River, storing nearly
<br />
<br />3:1. lJ. at 4:19-30.
<br />33. Id. at 439.
<br />304. 32. Stat. 388-390 (Jg02) (codified in SC2Uered st'CliDnsof S. 43 V.S.C. (J964)).
<br />35. CoLORADO RJVER 56-57.
<br />36. :1 RECORD, Mc=c=ting No." at:2l. The breakdown by SUIt!> for agricultural UM: was: Arizona,
<br />3.790; Colorado, S.B,3,8; New Mexico, 56,174; Utah. 384,043; and Wyoming, r63.6.20.
<br />3'. 6 U.S.c. H 610-:200 (1964)'
<br />)8, HearirJgs Befor~ th~ Subcommittu on lm'gatio" tlnd R~cltlmatjon oj the House Comm.itt~~
<br />on 'nurior 1m' Insular AOairs. 83d Cong., 2.d Se:ss., ser. JI, at 147 (1954)'
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