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<br />0026!t~ <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />. <br /> <br /> <br />Colorado River BUlml oi California <br /> <br />RELEASE <br /> <br /> <br />NEWS <br /> <br />Contacts: <br />. Gerald Zimmerman, Colorado River Board - (818) 543-4676 <br />. George Spencer, Colorado River Board - (818) 543-4676 <br /> <br />July 20, 2002 <br /> <br />SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA'S WATER SUPPLY WILL BE DEBATED <br /> <br />LOS ANGELES - With the continuing drought in the Colorado River Basin, what is <br />Southern California's water supply expected to be next year? The Colorado River Board of <br />California is sponsoring a workshop that will explore this question, <br /> <br />The workshop will focus on the severity of the current drought in the Colorado River Basin, <br />next year's water supply outlook, and the role that California's Colorado River Water Use Plan <br />and the water transfers will play. The workshop will be held on July 24th beginning at 10:00 a,m, <br />in the Board Room of the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California located at 700 <br />North Alameda Street, Los Angeles, California, <br /> <br />Water officials from the State of California, the U.S, Department of the Interior, the <br />Colorado River Basin States, and local water agencies are meeting to discuss water conditions <br />along the Colorado River and California's outlook for receiving water from the River. Mary <br />Nichols, the Secretary of the California Resources Agency; Bennett Raley, the Assistant <br />Secretary for Water and Science of the Department of the Interior; Pat Mulroy, General Manager <br />of the Southern Nevada Water Authority; and Wayne Cook, Executive Director of the Upper <br />Colorado River Commission, are among the distinguished water officials that will explore the <br />possibility of a water supply crisis next year and what can be done to avoid or minimize such a <br />consequence. <br /> <br />Drought and wildfires have plagued the western states that comprise the watershed that <br />drains the Colorado River, Southern California, including the coastal and desert regions, <br />receives about 60 percent of its annual water supply from the Colorado River to serve the 17 <br />rrrlllion residents in Southern California and to provide a water supply to irrigate 900,000 acres of <br />farmland in Southern California, including the Imperial, Coachella, Palo Verde, and Bard <br />Valleys, The Los Angeles and San Diego metropolitan areas, where 16 million people reside, <br />receives over 50 percent of its imported water supply from the Colorado River. <br /> <br />Runoff in the Colorado River Basin is approaching the lowest level since records have been <br />kept in 1896, Only 7,0 million acre-feet of water are expected to reach the Colorado River this <br />year. California's use of Colorado River water in 2002 is expected to be over 5,1 million acre- <br />feet, while the total use in the Colorado River Basin is expected to be about 15 million acre-feel, <br />