WSP05673

• File Number: 8210.140.20
• Description: Colorado River Basin Organizations and Entities - Colorado River Basin States Forum - California
• State: CA
• Basin: Western Slope
• Date: 5/1/1969
• Author: Myron B Holburt
• Title: Annual Report For the Calendar Year 1968
• Water Supply Pro - Doc Type: Annual Report

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may approach $52 million, of which 22 percent
is planned for fish and wildlife and 3 percent for
recreation. Approximately $25 million has been
spent as of December 31, 1968.
After analyzing the problems of the river and
program de;:vduped by the Bureau of Rcclama-
cion to meet these problems, the Colorado River
Board supports the program as trulv a multi-
purpose one.
The Board reaffirmed its position regarding
the program by the following resolution adopted
on June 5, 1968;

In view of recent discussions concerning exist-
ing and proposed water conservation and manage-
ment programs of the U. S. Department of the
Interior for the Lower Colorado River area, Ihe
Colorado Ri vcr Board of California rcaffim1S its
position taken in May 5, 1965:

The Colorado River Board's responsibility
10 those dependent upon the Colorado River
for their supplies of waler for agricultural,
municipal, and industrial use, and the fact that
California's share of Colorado River water i,
already fully com mitred to Ihe,e long-estab-
li,hed uses (and will in patt be inadequate to
supply them) makes it imperative Ihat thi,
Board support all reasonable and feasible
means fOf conservation of the water of the
main stream, including river channdization
and the elimination of phreatophvtes.
Potential conllicts with other' uses of the
stream should be reconciled as rapid!v as pos-
sible so that the Reclamation Bureau's chan-
nelization and conservation program as previ-
ously authorized by Congress shall not be
delayed.

One of the elements of the river management
program is the establishment of a workable grade
on the river by dredging above and below To-
pock Gorge.

Dredging the upper 1.7 miles of the Topock
Gorge Division commenced in October 1967
and has been completed. However, in response
to pressures from sportsmen and preservation-
ists, including a letter from the Governor of
Arizona, Secretary of the Interior Udall an-
nounced on June 23, 1968, the postponement
of the planned dredging below Topock Gorge.
1 he Secretary of the Interior included the fol-
lowing statement as a portion of his announce-
ment on the postponement of dredging:

The prime purpose of the dredging is to make
good Ihe water salvage planned for the Division.
My. ~ecision to postpone Ihe work in the Topock
DlVlslOn should not be interpreted as any lessen-

30

ing of the Department's interest in water salvage,
rather it represents another aspect of our contin-
uing efforts to balance the many values involved
in Ibis kind of work.

It is interesting to note that the stopping of
cJrecJging activities in the T opock Division is in
conflict with other wildlife interests in T opock
Marsh. located upstream from Topock Gorge.
The T opock Marsh area is patticularly vulner-
able to the continual action of the river's flow
on channel sediments, which action causes the
periodic raising and lowering of the channel bed.
The marsh was originally formed by the aggra-
dation of the channel following construction of
Parker Dam (downstream from Topock Gorge).
This same aggradation raised the river bottom
to the extent that lower sections of the City of
Needles were subject to flooding. To protect
the city from flooding, the adjacent river bottom
was lowered and levees were constructed. These
moves then reacted adversely on the marsh with
the. lower river levels resuldng in some dr;ining
of It.

To keep the marsh as an aquatic wildlife ref-
uge, a dike was built along the lower end, and
a canal constructed to introduce fresh water into
the upper end. This phn was predicated on a
proposed five-foot lowering of the river bottom
through T opock Gorge, just downstream of the
marsh, as part of the Bureau of Reclamation's
river management plan. However, as stated pre-
VIOusly, because of protests former Secretary
Udall halted dredging in Topock Gorge.

Under existing conditions, the water surface
in the river during the summer months is so high
that practically no water can be released from
the marsh. This has resulted in very serious prob-
lems such as high water remperatures and algae
growth, associated with stagnation of water.
Partially to relieve these problems, the Secretary
wrote the May 30, 1968, letter discussed in the
Arizona v. California subsection of this repott.
In compiling data, the Board has found that
the marsh exceeded its decreed diversions by
62 percent in ] 967, with no noticeable lessening
of the stagnation problem. Accordingly, it ap-
pears that the requested increase in diversion
rights will not, by itself, alleviate the sragation
problems, and that the river channel will have
to be lowered through Topock Gorge in order
to obtain effective summertime water circula-
tion.