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<br />~~'152:) <br /> <br />47 <br /> <br />librium" position in which the average annual return flow to the river <br />from grou~dwater was about 1 million acre-feet. <br />Neveritheless, irrigators in the lower basin could not get enough <br />water for their crops, from the river flow available. By 1950 they were <br />beginning to construct wells for supplementary water; An estimate of <br />pumping iri 1980 is l,million acre-feet from over 5000 wells. <br />Al thqugh the surface water in the river and groundwater in the <br />alluvial aquifer are intimately (hydraulically) connected, they have <br />been developed at separate times under entirely different laws. <br />Initially" groups of f~rmers joined together in cooperative mutual <br />associations (later to become incorporated mutual irrigation companies) <br />to finance' and construct surface water diversion projects. A't'a 'later <br />time, groundwater was developed by indivi'dual initiative and financing. <br />No law regulating groundwater withdrawal existed when this development <br />began. Most well owners assumed they owned all the water underneath <br />their pro~rty. <br />When ~urface water flows are affected by groundwater pumping, under <br />the prior~ty system, pumps can be stopped by order of the State <br />Engineer. By the late 1960's, the pressure from surface water right <br />owners to have pumping stopped in the early summer was intense. The <br />ingenuity of water users led to a partial solution to this problem. <br />Recognizing that shutting off pumps in mid-season would legally satisfy <br />surface water right owners but would at the same time prevent productive <br />use of the large volume of water stored in the aquifer, a river augmen- <br />tation strategy was adopted. <br />The Water Right Determination and Adm'inistration Act of 1969 <br />allowed a groundwater user to continue pumping, provided he would make <br /> <br />i <br />~" 4" <br /> <br />,''>, <br /> <br />" <br /> <br />, - '-'.> ~, <br /> <br />)" <br />" " :"_1 <br /> <br />,.tL,: ~';~'~ '~ik.. ,i~~J <br />