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)(',;:,:* - ~k~~vj :~~j f ? , , 1 ; i , C"':o .... ~ N - 2 - c works and forebay for the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California pumping installation, to provide power and to assist Hoover and Davis Dams in re-regulation of the river. ~ ~ * h , Headgate Rock Dam is a diversion dam for diverting water to the Colorado Indian Reservation in Arizona. ~; On December 7th we visited the Palo Verde Dam, a diversion structure to divert water to the Palo Verde Project. The project itself was inspected, including the waste canals. Only one waste canal, the outfall drain, is measured. Six other drains return water, highly saline, to the river. !,:i . :[. After completing inspection of the Palo Verde Proj- ect, we drove to El Centro, California, where we were met by Mr. Kennedy and Mr. Weeks of the Coachella Valley Irrigation District, who conducted us through the project. The signifi- cant items observed were: ~ h &' ['I f~ 1. Salinity is a serious problem and control a constant headache. Water is tested frequently and farmers are advised as to the amount of "saline balance" water needed for the particular crop he is growing. Incoming water has a saline content of 600-800 p.p.m. (parts per million) and drainage water from 3000- 5000 p.p.m. 2000 p.p.m. is the upper limit for any crop and is too high for some. The salinity of the incoming water is too high for germination of some crops, carrots for one, so that very clever and ticklish techniques for planting and irrigating have been developed to overcome the saline hazard. At the time of our visit, farmers were using an average of 5.2 acre feet per acre for crop consump- tion plus 30% for saline balance. Water is ordered about one week ahead. The Coache1la Canal has a small amount of forebay storage just ahead of the first irrigation lateral turnouts. f ~ ~ ~I ~~ " " ~~' , ~: 2. The entire distribution system in the Coachel1a Valley is piped as is most of the drainage system. The drains discharge into Whitewater Creek and thence to the Salton Sea. ~ ~;~ D i -~'. t~ .~, ~ 7$; 'iI. ;lJ; ~ ~. ~ ~,~ ~ ~~, ~ ! ~ ~"t }!- }~; ':-; ~ 3. All water deliveries are metered to the individual farmers, through accurate pipe line meters. /4. The project water is accurately controlled and well managed. For example, in 1957 approximately 500,000 acre feet were diverted and only 30,000 wasted.