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<br /> <br />. <br />, <br /> <br />~ <br /> <br />, <br /> <br />f~ <br />I <br />k <br />" <br />I <br /> <br />.. r- .....-'" <br />.i '-i wi '. <br /> <br />INTRODUCTION <br /> <br />THE Colorado River aqueduct was planned and is being built <br />to fulfill a definite need in a large, prosperous, and growing <br />community. As of June 30,1941 the construction of the initial <br />stage of the project was almost 100 per cent complete on the basis <br />of ability to deliver softened and filtered Colorado River water to <br />constituent areas of the District, The constructing agency is The <br />Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, a public .cor- <br />poration organized under the Metropolitan Water District Act <br />(California Statutes of 1927, chapter 429, page 694), and incorpo- <br />rated December 6, 1928, The District was created to develop, store, <br />and distribute to its constituent areas, water for domestic, indus- <br />trial, and other beneficial uses, It is presently composed of the <br />cities of Anaheim, Fullerton, and Santa Ana, in Orange County; <br />and Beverly Hills, Burbank, Compton, Glendale, Long Beach, Los <br />Angeles, Pasadena, San Marino, Santa Monica, and Torrance, in <br />Los Angeles County, Its Colorado River water will also be de- <br />livered to other Southern California cities or districts which from <br />time to time become constituent areas of The Metropolitan Water <br />District of Southern California, <br /> <br />InadequlIte local water supplies <br />The area to be served by the Colorado River aqueduct contains <br />nearly half the wealth and population of the entire State of Cali- <br />fornia, but its natural water resources, exclusive of the Colo- <br />rado River, are less than one per cent of the state's total. A <br />water shortage has been slowly but surely approaching in step <br />with the rapid development of the coastal basin, and has only been <br />delayed by the recent years of above-normal rainfall. Growth far <br />beyond the permanent or safe water supply has been made possible <br />by a fortunate geophysical circumstance, The fertile top soils of <br />many coastal basin areas are underlain by deep beds of gravel. In <br />the ages preceding settlement, these beds were filled with water, <br />forming an extensive system of underground reservoirs. For many <br />years each farm, or factory, or city, had an ample water supply <br />literally under its own land, Moderate costs of shallow wells led to <br />[I] <br />