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<br />CHAPTEn 1
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<br />Operation and Maintenance
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<br />MAIN AQUEDUCT
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<br />The Colorado River Aqueduct System consists of a !\lain Aque-
<br />duct and a Distribution System, The Main Aqueduct extends
<br />242 miles across the state of California from Lake Havasu on
<br />the Colorndo Riv'er, 9 miles above Parker, Arizona, to Lake
<br />Mathews, the terminal reservoir located near Riverside, California,
<br />It consists of 92,09 miles of tunnels 16 feet in diameter, 54.45 miles
<br />of 16-foot diameter concrete conduits, 62,81 miles of concrete lined
<br />c,mals, 1,05 miles of unlined canab, 28.53 miles of siphons, Gene and
<br />Copper Basin Reservoirs. five pumping plants spaced over the east-
<br />erly 124 miles of the line, and 240 miles of 280-kv transmission lines
<br />from Hoover Dam to the plants,
<br />The Main Aqueduct is designed for the firm delivery of 1.605
<br />cubic feet per second, or the delivery of 1,212,000 acre-feet annually
<br />of Colorado Riycr water, the amount allotted to the Distl'ict by the
<br />United States, Parker Dam, on the Colorado River, that forms Lake
<br />Ha vasu and provides for the storage of the water of the District,
<br />was completed on August 31, 1938 by the U,S, Bureau of Reclama-
<br />tion with funds provided by the Metropolitan \Vater District. The
<br />initial construction program on the Aqueduct \Vas started in 1932
<br />with the drilling of water wells for the construction water supply,
<br />and the cun~trllction of water supply lines. road.s, power lines and
<br />telephone lines, The first construction contract on the Aqueduct was
<br />awarded on December 12, 1932 for the San Jacinto Tunnel. Work on
<br />the tunnels, except the San Jacinto Tunnel was completed by July
<br />1937, San Jacinto Tunnel was completed October 31,1939, The work
<br />on the canals was finished by' Julv 1937 and oa the cut and cover
<br />conduits and siphons by Ma)' 19~~8,
<br />Lake Havasu was filled sufficientlv so that the W, p, Whitsett
<br />Intake pumping plant started pUmlJing on January 7, 1939, the
<br />water flowing 1.5 miles through the Colorado River tunnel to the
<br />6,300 acre-feet capacity Gene Reservoir, This reservoir was filled so
<br />that the Gene pumping plant could start pumping on January 31,
<br />1939, the water flowing 3.4 miles through the Copper Basin tunnel
<br />to the 24,200 acre-feet capacity Coppel' Basin Resenoir, located
<br />4,9 miles west of the river, Copper Basin Reservoir was filled by
<br />February 27, 1939 and on March 13, 1939 the first water was re-
<br />leased from the reservoir to fiow 62 miles through the Whipple
<br />Mountain tunnel. canals, conduit, and siphons to the Iron Mountain
<br />]lumping plant, located 67,5 miles west of the river, The Iron MOlln-
<br />t" in Illant started pumping on April 5, 1939, with the water being
<br />rlelivered 41.5 miles through the Iron Mountain and Coxcomb
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