WSP02638

• File Number: 8210.140.20
• Description: Colorado River Basin Organizations and Entities - Colorado River Basin States Forum - California
• State: CA
• Basin: Western Slope
• Date: 1/1/1981
• Author: Myron B Holburt
• Title: Annual Report for the Calendar Year 1980
• Water Supply Pro - Doc Type: Annual Report

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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 over 3.0 million residents of the
third largest city in the United
States. The Department's assets in
1980 were $3.6 billion, making it
the nation's largest municipal
water and power utility system.
The City encompasses 464 square
miles and has 635,000 water
services and 1,240,000 power
services.
The City normally imports
approximately 80 percent of its
water supply from the Owens
Valley through the First and
Second Los Angeles Aqueducts.
The remaining supplies are
derived from local groundwater
basins (15 percent) and The
Metropolitan Water District of
Southern California (5 percent).
William Mulholland, head of
the Los Angeles water system
who planned and directed the
construction of the Los Angeles
Owens River Aqueduct, saw the
need for a water supply greater
than was available. On October
23, 1923, voters of Los Angeles
approved bonds to give
Mulholland the authority and
funds to study the possibility of
obtaining water from the
Colorado River. He led a small
group of engineers on an
expedition to study 150 miles of
the river and its terrain. Los
Angeles survey crews surveyed
50,000 square miles of the desert
area between the Colorado River
and the Coastal Plains and laid
out many possible alternative
aqueduct routes. Mulholland, on
July 28, 1924, after reviewing the
results of the preliminary surveys,
filed a request with the State
Bureau of Water Rights for
permission to divert 1,500 cubic
feet per second of water from the
Coloradu River.
The City is the founder and 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 512 rnillion
gallons a day or 172 gallons per
capita per day.

Colorado River Board
of California

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 6,000 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 1980, these
crops had a value of about $100
million. Livestock values from
cattle and sheep feeding
operations during the year
amounted to about $15 million.

San Diego County
Water Authority

The San Diego County Water
Authority encompasses
approximately 898,733 acres and
includes most of the developed
areas in San Diego County. It has
a population of about 1,806,000
and an assessed valuation of
$10.4 billion.
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 24 mernber agencies is
delivered through the San Diego
Aqueducts.

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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
since 1941 has delivered water to
the coastal plain. Additionally,
Metropolitan is the largest of J 1
contractors for Northern
California water from the State
Water Project.
Since northern water became
available to the District in 1912, it
has gradually decreased pumping
on the Colorado River Aqueduct
as it has increased the amounts of
State Project water imported.
Blending these two waters has
enabled Metropolitan to supply a
good quality municipal and
industrial water. In 1976, MWD
had adjusted its take of water
from the two sources to some
790,000 acre-feet from the
Colorado and 600,000 from the
State Project. The impact of the
great drought, however, abruptly
turned things around In order to
make more water available to
stricken northern areas, in 1911
Metropolitan imported about
1,290,000 acre-feet from the
Colorado and took only 190,000
from the State. Today its goal is
to keep as close as possible to a
50-50 blend while operating the
system in an economical fashion.
Metropolitan's service area
covers 5, 1 ()() square miles, with a
population of more than 12
million and an assessed valuation
of about $69.4 billion.
To deliver northern water to its
27 member agencies, the District
is expanding its facilities at a cost
of nearly $1.5 billion and has an
investment of more than $500
million in its Colorado River
Aqueduct and its distribution
system.