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<br />WELL TON-MOHAWK IRRIGATION & DRAINAGE DISTRICT <br /> <br />LOCATION AND GENERAL DESCRIPTION <br /> <br />The District is 1 Dcated in SDuthwestern ArizDna, in the <br />lower Sonoran desert. The cl imate in our service area, very hot <br />and drv, is ideal {Dr year-rDund grDwth Df crDps. (See CROF' <br />DETAILS, belDw) Summer temoeratures re'lularly reach 110 degrees; <br />days of frDst rarely exceed 30 per season. The long-term average <br />rainfall is abDut 3 inches per year. IrrigatiDn cDntinues, at <br />varyi ng rates, thrDughDut the vear. El evat iDns Df the cult i vate'd <br />lands within the District range frDm apprDximately 200 feet above <br />sea level on the west tD about 400 feet abDve sea level Dn the <br />east. The evapDratiDn rate can exceed 10 feet per year. <br /> <br />AlthDugh a user Df CDIDradD River water, the District <br />is actually IDcated within the Gila River valley. The Gila is a <br />tributary of the ColoradD River. The WelltDn-MDhawk Valley <br />be'lins about eight miles east of the cDnfluence Df the two <br />rivers. The rivers join less than ten miles upstream Df the <br />northerly international boundary between the United States and <br />Mexico, Thus, the District shares in the last significant United <br />States diversion of water from the Colorado River, at Imperial <br />Dam. The District's location, relative to state and <br />international bDundaries, means that we also share in numerous <br />prDblems, both physical and pDl itical. <br /> <br />The two visible features which are frequently referred <br />to as defining the limits of the Wellton-Mohawk project are the <br />Gila Gravity Main Canal on the west, and the dark symmetrical <br />cone of Texas Hill on the east, 60 river miles upstream along the <br />Gila River. <br /> <br />POLl TI CAL STATUS <br /> <br />The Wellton-Mohawk Irrigation & Drainage District <br />(WMIDD) was created by act of the Arizona State legislature on 23 <br />July 1951. It was organized to provide a legal entity which <br />could enter intD a contract with the United States to repay the <br />cost of this irrigatiDn and power project, and tD operate and <br />maintain the project facil ities. The irri'lation features were <br />authorized by CDngreSS on 23 July 1947 as the Wellton-Mohawk <br />Division of the 8ureau of Reclamation's Gila Project. That <br />legislation was signed intD law by President Truman on 30 July <br />1947. <br /> <br />The District, as a political subdivision of the state <br />of Arizona, is much 1 ike a city or county. We have a corpDrate <br />boundary (a "Clty limit") and our qual ified electorate, owners of <br />irri'lable land within its municipal corporate boundary, vote for <br />a nine-person governing body, or 80ard of Directors. In addition <br />to its pol itical corporate status as an irrigation district, the <br />