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<br />OOaS?9 <br /> <br />is much less than the national average. The require- <br />ments for some uses, such as cooling and ore <br />processing, are often met by water of such poor <br />quality that it is unfit for most other uses. <br /> <br /> <br />Municipal, Industrial, and Domestic Water <br /> <br />Status <br /> <br />About 3.3 million acre-feet of water for municipal, <br />industrial and domestic uses was consumed in the <br />Pacific Southwest in 1965. This represented about 8 <br />percent of the total water used in the area. <br />The largest centers of population and industry are <br />in arid or semiarid areas where the bulk of the local <br />water supplies was developed and appropriated for <br />irrigation. <br />As the cities expanded onto land formerly irri- <br />gated, their needs were met by acquisition of rights to <br />the irrigation water, by overdraft of groundwater, and <br />by importation from distant sources. Phoenix and <br />Tucson, Arizona; Las Vegas, Nevada; and Bakersfield <br />and Fresno, California, are all in areas of heavy <br />groundwater overdraft. Most of the large cities on the <br />California coast rely heavily on importation. Water <br />from the Owens Valley east of the Sierra Nevada was <br />imported to the Los Angeles Area as early as 1913. <br />Colorado River water was imported to the Los <br />Angeles area by 1941 and to the San Diego area by <br />1947. The San Francisco Bay area imports water <br />from the western slopes of the Sierra Nevada. <br />Although several desalting plants in both the <br />eastern and western parts of the United States have <br />supplied water on an experimental basis, only two <br />small communities (Buckeye, Arizona, and Coalinga, <br />California) have relied on desalted water to meet their <br />domestic needs. <br />The per capita use of municipal water in the <br />Pacific Southwest generally is above the national <br />average because of the large quantities of water used <br />for lawns and gardens. Lack of metering in some areas <br />and low water rate structures are contributing factors. <br />Projections indicate higher per capita consumption in <br />the future because of rising living standards and <br />expanding use of water-using appliances. However, <br />many factors, such as increasing costs and scarcity, <br />may alter the trend. <br />Except for mining, industry did not become a <br />major influence in the development of the Pacific <br />Southwest until World War II. Then many industrial <br />plants - chiefly in the electronics and aerospace <br />industries which required water for the employees <br />but little or none for industrial processing - were <br />attracted to the area by the favorable climate and <br />labor market. Because of the nature of these plants, <br />the use of industrial water in relation to productivity <br /> <br />Needs and Problems <br /> <br />When facilities for diversion of Colorado River <br />water into central Arizona are completed, California <br />will have to reduce its use of surplus Colorado River <br />water. Pursuant to a California intrastate agreement it <br />is anticipated that the reduction (more than 1/2 <br />million acre-feet) will be taken from water now <br />delivered to the southern California coastal plain. <br />Southern California water agencies have already made <br />arrangements to replace this water. <br />The annual withdrawals and depletion of water for <br />municipal and industrial needs summarized for the <br />area by time frame are ,hown in figure 6. The <br />requirements for municipal and industrial use are <br />projected to increase at a rate slightly faster than the <br />rate of population growth (pacific Southwest per <br />capita average - 149 gallons per day in 1965 to 192 <br />gallons per day in 2020). <br />Some of the water withdrawn for municipal and <br />industrial use is consumed; some, after adequate <br />treatment, may be discharged to a stream where it <br />can be withdrawn again. The estimates of the <br />consumptive use (depletion) range from 25 to more <br />than 50 percent of the water withdrawn in the Great <br />Basin and the Upper and Lower Colorado Regions. <br />Much of the waste water from coastal cities in <br />California is discharged to the ocean and conse- <br />quently is not available for reuse without waste water <br />reclamation facilities. <br /> <br />Plan Response <br /> <br />The needs for additional water for the urban areas <br />are met in the framework plan by continuing over- <br />draft of groundwater, by conversion of agricultural <br />water as urban areas expand onto irrigated areas, by <br />additional importation or diversions, by more effici. <br />ent use of available water, by salvage, and by <br />construction of desalting plants. The proposed im- <br />portation of Colorado River water into central <br />Arizona will not be sufficient to eliminate overdraft. <br />The transfer of water from northern California to <br /> <br />41 <br />