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<br />" <br /> <br />OU12'i'J <br /> <br />and in time. Whereas two-thirds of the precipitation falls in <br />the northern part of the State, two-thirds of the requirement is <br />in the southern part--i.e., south of Sacramento. Practically all <br />of the precipitation falls in the late fall and winter months, <br />oftentimes resulting in destructive floods in the lower elevations. <br />Offsetting these disadvantages are two important factors in the <br />State's water supply regime: the sno~pack at higher elevations of <br />the Sierra Nevada and Cascade ranges, and numerous ground water <br />basins widely distributed throughout the State. These two hydro- <br />logic features in our regime store and regulate many times more <br />water than all the surface reservoirs we could possibly build. <br />At the present time 90 percent of the water diversions <br />in California is utilized for irrigated agriculture. Although we <br />anticipate that an increasing proportion will supply our growing <br />urban population, more than 70 percent will still be required for <br />agriculture by the year 2020. The overall irrigation efficiency <br />for the State under 1950 conditions has been estimated to be about <br />70 percent--that is, the estimated consumptive use on irrigated <br />lands was 70 percent of the estimated water requirement on a <br />system basis. As will be pointed out later, irrigation efficiency <br />is not a very reliable indicator of overa.ll effic iency of water <br />supply utilization. <br />Chairman Holmer requested a statement regarding our <br />plans and achievements in reducing avoidable wastes in the storage, <br />conveyance, and use of available water. In broad context, this <br />SUbject probably would include the measures we are taking to <br /> <br />-3- <br />