WSP02396

• File Number: 8210.140.20
• Description: Colorado River Basin Organizations and Entities - Colorado River Basin States Forum - California
• State: CA
• Basin: Western Slope
• Date: 1/1/1978
• Author: Myron B Holburt
• Title: Annual Report for the Calendar Year 1977
• Water Supply Pro - Doc Type: Annual Report

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Colorado River Board
of California

City of Los Angeles,
Department of Water
and Power

The City of Los Angeles.
Department of Water and Power,
supplies water and electric service
to 2.8 million residents of the
third largest city in the United
States. The Department's assets in
1977 were $3.0 billion making it
the nation's largest municipal
water and power utility system.
The City normally imports
approximately 80% of its water
supply from the Owens Valley
through the Los Angeles Aqueduct
system. The'system has been in
operation since 1913 and the
system capacity was increased by
nearly 50% with the completion
of a second aqueduct in 1970.
The city is one of the original
member cities of the Metropolitan
Water District and receives
Colorado River water through the
Colorado River Aqueduct. Water
use in Los Angeles averages 514
million gallons a day.

4

The Palo Verde Irrigation
District

The Palo Verde Irrigation
District is located along the
Colorado River in eastern
Riverside County. The principal
city is Blythe. It includes 120,500
acres, of which 92.000 in the
valley and 5,000 on the lower
Palo Verde Mesa are under
cultivation.
The District obtains its irrigation
water from the Colorado River
and has one of the oldest water
diversion rights on the entire river
system. Use of Colorado River
water for the irrigation of lands in
the Blythe area dates back to
1877. The expenditures on
Colorado River water facilities by
the District and its predecessors
amount to approximately $25
million.
Principal agricultural products
of the Palo Verde Irrigation
District are alfalfa, wheat, cotton,
lettuce, cantaloupes, watermelons,
onions, and citrus. In 1976 these
crops had a value of $70 million.
Livestock values from cattle and
sheep feeding operations during
the year amounted to about $25
million.

The San Diego County
Water Authority

The San Diego County Water
Authority encompasses
approximately 763,647 acres and
includes most of the developed
areas in San Diego County. It has
a population of about 1,624,550
and an assessed valuation
$7,106,157,703.
The Authority is a member of
The Metropolitan Water District
of Southern California, having
annexed to the District in 1946.
At that time, the Authority
merged its right to 112,000
acre-feet of Colorado River water
annually with the District's
original right of 1,100,000
acre-feet.
Colorado River water is
delivered to the Authority through
two branch aqueducts which
carry the water south from the
main Colorado River Aqueduct.
Approximately 90 percent of all
water distributed by the
Authority's 23 member agencies is
delivered through the San Diego
Aqueducts.

The Metropolitan Water
District of
Southern California

The Metropolitan Water District
of Southern California built and
operates the 242-mile-long
Colorado River Aqueduct which,
for more than a decade, delivered
over 1,000,000 acre-feet of water
annually to the coastal plain. The
District is the largest of 31
contractors for Northern
California water from the State
Water Project. Since northern
water became available to the
District in 1972, it has gradually
decreased pumping on the
Colorado River Aqueduct and
increased the amount of northern
water. Blending increasing
quantities of northern water with
lesser amounts of Colorado River
water enabled the District to
supply a good quality municipal
and industrial water and, at the
same time, discontinue expensive
softening treatment. In 1976,
MWD had adjusted its take of
water from the two sources to
about 780,000 acre-feet from the
Colorado and 638,000 from the
State Project. The impact of the
Great Drought, however, abruptlv
turned things around. In 1977, the
District imported about 1,290,000
acre-feet from the Colorado and
took only 190,000 from the State
Project.
The coastal plain service area
of the District covers 5,100 square
miles, with a population of nearly
11 million and an assessed
valuation of about $45.7 billion.
To deliver northern water to its
member agencies, the District is
expanding its facilities at a cost of
more than one billion dollars. It
has an investment of more than
$500 million in its Colorado River
Aqueduct and its distribution
system.