WSP03032

• File Number: 8272.600.60
• Description: Colorado River Basin Salinity Control Program - Basin Member State Info - Utah
• Basin: Colorado Mainstem
• Water Division: 5
• Date: 3/7/1975
• Author: Utah State Univ
• Title: Colorado Regional Assessment Study - Phase One Report for the National Commission on Water Quality - Part 1 of 2 -- Title Page - end Chapter V
• Water Supply Pro - Doc Type: Report/Study

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agricultural, municipal, industrial and recreational water needs of the

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basin. The basin itself is divided for water allocation purposes into

an upper and lower basin, the dividing_ point being Lee Ferry below Glen

Canyon Dam. High mountain watersheds in the upper basin support

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forests and multiple use activities; other areas along the Green River

and Upper Colorado River are mostly: range lands varying from poor to

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good quality.

Most of the lower basin is adjacent to the River except ror the Little

Colorado River (mostly Indian lands and relatively virgin country) and

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the Gila River. The Gila is completely utilized in the state of Arizona

for recreation and water supply in the mountain watersheds and irrigation

and municipal-industrial uses in the Phoenix and Tucson areas.

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In the lower basin extensive quantities of main stem Colorado River

water ~delivered to the Los Angeles megalopolis and irrigation projects

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outside the basin in California.

Institutional Development

In this arid basin water is in relatively short supply compared to the

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many possible competing uses. Consequently, as growth and development

over the years have placed greatEor demands on the limited supply, decisions

on allocation of waters have likewise evolved to a complex state of develop-

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ment. This body of legal, legislative and administrative decisions governing

the use of the Colorado is commonly referred to as the "Law of the River."

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Of course, the institutions dealing with this resource have also become more

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