WSP00256

• File Number: 8210.140.20
• Description: Colorado River Basin Organizations and Entities - Colorado River Basin States Forum - California
• State: CA
• Basin: Western Slope
• Date: 6/1/1969
• Author: Myron B Holburt
• Title: Californias Stake in the Colorado River
• Water Supply Pro - Doc Type: Publication

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CALIFORNIA DEVELOPMENTS
ON THE COLORADO

Colorado River water serves three major economic
functions in Southern California, in addition to the
recreational aspects of the river. These are: water for
irrigation, mostly in the southeastern desert areas;
water supply for the metropolitan coast; and 'hydro-
electric power.

Nearly all the agricultural use of the water takes
place in the hot, natutlllly barren Colorado desert,
north and south of the famous Salton Sea in the south-
eastern part of the state, and along Colorado River
near Blythe, California and across from Yuma, Ari-
zona, Much of the Salton Basin is below sea level. In
these areas summer temperatures often soar above 120
degrees, frosts arc rare, and growing seasons afC as
long as the calendar, Annual rainfall, averaging only

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three inches, is sometimes less than half an inch. 'l-'llCllCr-
the less, rhe irrigated agriculture there supplies the
nation a large part of its fresh winter fruits and vege-
tables, and many other products of the soil. All told
more rhan a million acres of irrigable land in California
:Irc within organized irrigation districts being served
ftom rhe Colorado, of which about 700,000 acres are
now irrigated, producing some 5300,000,000 worth of
food and fiber annually, In this desert, enterprising
Californians undertook the first major diversions from
rhe lower river, and srill make the largest single diver-
sion anywhere in the seven states of the river Lasin.

\Varer from the Colorado is brought to and dis-
tributed throughout the coastal plain from Ventura
(0 Mexico, for domestic, municipal, industrial and
minor agricultural use. Southern California gets over
three billion kilowatt-hours a year of electricity from
generating stations on the river. The bountiful effects
of rhe vast industrl' supporred by this water and
power fan out o\'e~ the earth, occasionally to the
moon, and even inw outer space.

Six large public agencies own among them the ma-
jor rights in Southern California to water and power
from rhe Colorado, and operace the works which
bring those commodities to the users, These are: Palo
Veede Irrigation Oiscricr, located along the river about
100 miles north of the Mexican border; Imperial Irri-
gation Districr, in Imperial County south of Salron
Sea; Coachella Valley County Water Districr, in

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