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<br />12
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<br />CALIFORNIA'S STAKE IN THE COLORADO RIVER
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<br />of that year held in the several cities proposed to be included in the
<br />proposed district. The 11 cities wbich ,.oted approval aud were included
<br />in the district, comprised the following: Bt'verly Hills, Burbank, Glen-
<br />dale, Los Angeles, Pasadena, Santa Monica, San Marillo, San Ber-
<br />nardino, COltOll, Anaheim and Santa Ana. San Bernardino and Colton
<br />subsequently withdrew, Permanent organization of the District was
<br />effected in 1929. In 1931 the cities of Compton, Fullf'rtOIl, Long Beach
<br />and TOrrance joined the distr-ict and these four, combiu{'d with tbe
<br />fOrmer nine remaining, comprise the" 13 original cities."
<br />According to the fiNit annual report of tbe Metropolitan Water Di,,;.
<br />trict, issued in ]939, the Colorado River Aqueduct was planned "uot
<br />as a Los Angeles project, but Il.S a Southern California enterprise, not
<br />on the basis of meeting immediate needs alone, but on the far broader
<br />bll.Sis of insuring for generations to come an adequate water supply for
<br />the region as a whole."
<br />It was estimated by the district that a suppl,)' from the Colorado
<br />River of 1,000,000 acre-feet annually in combination with full practi-
<br />cable development and utilization of local supplies and the importa-
<br />tions from the Owens River augmented by an additional supply from
<br />Mono Basin, would provide a total gTOBS Bupply for this genl'ral metro.
<br />polita.n srl'S of approximately 1.4 acre-feet per acre. A.!. pointed out
<br />in that report, this amount of water considerl'd for irrigation purposes
<br />is a modest Bupply, and it is low considered a.s a domestic supply e"'l'n
<br />for sparsely settled sections and makeij no allowanee for hes\'j" usage
<br />in congested and industrial areas. It i'l now evidl'nt that the amount
<br />of water eontemplated to be importl'd from the Colorado River by the
<br />Metropolitan 'Vater District rl'presents tbe very minimum required to
<br />provide a reasonably adequatl' supply for Ul'8r future Jll'eds of the
<br />area. Additional water from other sources will be required under con-
<br />ditions of maximum ultimate development.
<br />The City of San Diego was also modest ill considE'riug what its nf'f'ds
<br />might be for Colorado River water to suppleml'llt local sources of snp-
<br />ply. On April 15, 1926, the city fi.lt'd an application to appropriate 15:')
<br />second-feet of water from the Colorado Riwr. Its plall'> for which sub-
<br />sequent provision was made contemplalf"d all aqueduct to bring in to
<br />San Diego and vicinity 112,000 acrt'-fet't annually of Colorado River
<br />water. In the light of recent population trends in Sail Dil'go and \'icill-
<br />ity, tbis is obviously a small amount considering thl' rt'latively limited
<br />local water supply that can be made available under full practicabll'
<br />development. Additional W.!ltl'r from other sourct''> will be J"t'quired to
<br />provide for roa:zimum devl'lopml'nt of Sftn Dif'go County.
<br />The San Diego County Watl'r Authority, consiBting originally or
<br />five cities including San Diego, thrt'e irrigation di5trictB and one public
<br />utility district, was orgsnizl'd JUlie 9, 1944 under an enabling Act of
<br />the California. Legislature. Its primary pUrpose was the importation
<br />of Colorado Ri\"er water to San Dil'go County. On December 17, 1946,
<br />the Authority following a fourteen to one ma.jority vote of the electors
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<br />CALIFORNIA. 's STAKE IN THE COLORADO RIVER
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<br />13
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<br />became a. membt'r of the Metropolitan Water District of Southern Cali-
<br />fornia. The rights of the City of San Dil'g'o 10 water from th{' Colora10
<br />Ri\'l'r under ib; 1926 filing were Imrt;!'ed with those of the Metropulitan
<br />WatE'r District by agrpemf'llt of March 14. 1947. As of 1961, the Au-
<br />thoritj- comprist'd 10 municipal water district'l, 4 irri~Htion districts,
<br />tht' Fallbrook Public lItiJit). District and the citips of Escondido, Na-
<br />tional Citr, OCl'an...ide and San Dil'go.
<br />
<br />BOULDER CANYON PROJECT
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<br />Prior to 1\lld during the early twentif''', California agpncil'!' initil\tf'd
<br />1\1111 formulatPd plElns to angment the water supply of Southf'ru CElli-
<br />rorllin by storage aud diwrsiOIl of \vstf'r from thl' Colorado River, alld
<br />incidt'ntall)', for rll'\'l"lopml"nt of h....droelt'ctric powl"r. Thpfle p1811S WE're
<br />8ubsequeDtl~' crystallizl'd and curil"d out by the Boulder Can....on Proj.
<br />t'ct and its related devt'lopruell~. This projeet was thp outgrowth of the
<br />varied combined nel'ds of Soutbern California. Its initiution and piau-
<br />ning came as a logical step in the development of the Colorado River to
<br />provide necessary cOlltrol, cOllservation aud rE'gulatioll or thE' waters
<br />of the Colorado Riwr for California dl'wlopml"nts. It had its initial
<br />impetus ill the studies Bnd invel'ltigationfl surroundiJ1g' the proposal of
<br />an All-American Canal. Bllt its further impetus and tinal scope grew
<br />out of othl'r important neeesaitie8 in addition.
<br />By the twenties, rights had been perfected to tht' u!,e of Colorado
<br />River water embracing the entire low water flow of the strt'am along
<br />the borden of California. Junior appropriations upstream combined
<br />with subnormal flow in dry years had resultl'd in many inlltances of
<br />substantial shortages in water supply for the existing irriga.tion de\'el-
<br />opml'nt in tbe Imperial Valley. On the other hand, there were recur-
<br />rent floods whieh were 110t only a menace to tbe developed irrigated
<br />lands along the river and in the Imperial Valley, but also resulted
<br />in large amounts of water heing wasted into the Gulf of California.
<br />]0 addition, the silt problem in connection with these irrigation
<br />developments was becoming more serious yt'ar by year, in\"olvill[l: not
<br />only large expense in the maintenance of the canal facilities, but also
<br />jeopardi.z.illg the continued successful irrigation of tbe lands and mate-
<br />riall)' adding to the flood menace. It has been stated that unlt's'l some
<br />means could have been found to control the silt of the Colorado River,
<br />irrigation of lands from the lower river might have been faced with
<br />abandonment.
<br />Altbough the junior appropriators upstream might have bt'en en-
<br />joined, such litigation would have been long and costl.... and it was
<br />decided that efForts should he directed to a more cOllstructive BOlution
<br />to obtain adequate water "upplil'S as weU as other important benefits.
<br />It was recognized that storage would be needed to regulate and COll-
<br />lieI've the floodwaters in order to obtain an adequatr. 8uppl:)" not only
<br />for irrigation but also fOr importatioJl into the metropolitan arl'as of
<br />Southern California, and to pro\'ide for control of floods and silt.
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