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21.,..23 LAW OF THE COLORADO RIVER ~ 21.03[2] Upper Basin water uses.85 That study assumed a level of wa- ter use by the energy industry which will apparently not be realized. But the Westwide Study, based on varying sets of assumptions about the intensity of water use, also concluded that the Upper Basin would face restrictions by the year 2000.86 A Bureau of Reclamation probability analysis has suggested that constraints on Upper Basin water use may be postponed somewhat-but only until about 2010.87 The Lower Basin currently consumes far more water than the Upper. In 1981 it used about 9.536 m.aJ. from the main- stream of the Colorado River.sa 883,000 acre-feet of that was diverted by the Metropolitan Water District of Southern Cal- ifornia. Inclusion of the consumptive use of water from Lower Basin tributaries would probably add 2.0 to 4.5 m.a.f. to the total. The gaping disparity between the two Basin's consumption is no doubt caused primarily by the Lower Ba- sin's larger population, greater aridity, warmer climate, and higher demands for water for agricultural, municipal, and industrial purposes. To some degree, though, it has probably also been caused by the unevenness of federal development of storage and di- version projects on the lower and upper parts of the River. Hoover Dam became the foundation for tremendous eco- nomic growth in California by regulating destructive floods, storing irrigation water for fertile desert lands, and supporting the expanding population of southern Califor- nia with water and cheap electric power.89 With the arrival of the CAP at Phoenix, the lower River has practically reached a state of full development. The Upper Basin has not been so highly favored. Only nine of the 21 85 Report on Water for Energy, supra note 76, at 60-70. 86 ' Westside Study Report, supra note 3, at 167-70. 87 Statement on the Operation of the S~n Juan-Chama Project, Presented by S.E. Reynolds. New Mexico State Engineer. to the Subcommittee on Energy Research and Water Resources of the Senate Committee on ,Interior and Insular, Affairs, at 19 (June 12, 1975). 88 Eleventh Annual Report, supra note 83, at 24, 89 Getches, supra note 7, at 449.