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<br />\ <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />data indicato that an aCl'e foct of water app~ied on upper <br />basin project lands produces as much or more per acre in <br />food products and crop v21ues than along the lower Colorado <br />Rivet. _, In addition to crop productioni liveStock is depend- <br />ent on agriculture, and in the last analysis should be added <br />in any economic comparison of two areas. <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />TRANS-MOUNTAIN DIVERSIONS: A special study of all possible <br />trans-mountain diversions from the Weste~n Slope indicates <br /> <br />, <br />a probuble feasibilit-y of less than 500,000 acre-feet per <br />year, about 5% of the unused waters of the Western Slope and <br />3% of lower river flow at Yuma. The feasible diversions all <br />lie above an elevation of 9,000 feet. The headwater tribu- <br />taries of the Colorado River and streams of the Western Slope <br />have generally cut deeper into the Continental Divide than <br />Eastern Slope streams because of greater water supply. Hence, <br />elevations of eastern portals of the proposed tunnels a~e <br />usually the controlling feature. Tunnel lengths below 9,000 <br />feet increase unduly for volume of wate~ procurable. The <br />Continental Divide is an effective barrier to any pronounced <br />depletion of Colorado River wate~ supply by trans-mountain <br />diversions to the Mississippi Basin because of <br />(1) Tunnel lengths required; <br />(2) Long and expensive collection canals along steep <br />mountain sides are a necessal'y part of trans-mountain diver- <br />sions; <br /> <br />~ <br /> <br />(3) The diversion period at high altitudes is limited <br />D <br />