upr000318 56

diversion routes were carried out under the direction of Mr. Mulholland and EL A. Van Norman by the-City of Los Angeles. During 1924 general sentiment developed for the construction of an aqueduct from Mie Colorado River which would benefit all of the metropolitan areas of Southern California. The Colorado River Aque­duct Association was organized to sponsor the project. Through the efforts of this association, an act was passed by the Legislature and approved by the Governor on May 10, 1927, authorizing the organiza­tion of metropolitan water districts. The Metropolitan Water District of Southern California was incor­porated on December 6, 1928, following an election on November 6th of that year held in the several cities proposed to be included in the proposed district?. The 11 cities which voted approval and were included in the district, comprised the following: Beverly Hills, Burbank, Glen­dale, Los Angeles, Pasadena, Santa Monica, San Marino, San Bernardino, Colton, Anaheim and Santa Ana, It may be noted that San Bernardino and Colton subsequently withdrew from the district. The district now comprises 15 municipalities and districts including, in addition to those named that have stayed in the district, the following: Compton, Puller-ton, Long Beach, Torrance, Coastal Municipal Water District (Laguna Beach and vicinity*], and the San Diego County Water Authority. Permanent organization of the district was effected in 1929. The final planning and the construction of the Colorado River Aqueduct project was carried out by the district. According to the first annual report of the Metropolitan Water District, issued in 1939, the. Colorado River Aqueduct was planned “ not as a Los Angeles project, but as a Southern California enterprise, not on the basis of meeting immediate needs alone, but on the far broader basis of insuring for generations to come an adequate water supply for the regjon as a wholes? ’ The ultimate aqueduct capacity was fixed at 1,500 sebond-feet, based upon aijjhorough study, of population trends and probable growth of domestic and industrial water demands in the metropolitan area of the. south, coastal basin, comprising approximately 2,200 square miles of habitable area. . It was estimated by the district that a supply from the Colorado River of 1,000,000 acre-feet annually in combination with full practicable development and utilization of local supplies and the importations from t he. Owens River'augmented by an additional supply from Mono Basin, would provide a total gross supply for this general metropolitan area of approximately 1.4 acre-feet per acre. As pointed out in that report, this amount of water considered for irrigation purposes is a modest supply, and it is low considered as a domestic supply even for sparsely settled sections and makes no allowance for heavy usage in congested 8 CALIFORNIA ’S ST A K K IN THE COLORADO RIVER CALIFORNIA’s STAKE IN THE COLORADO RIVER 9 and industrial areas. It is evident that the amount of: water contem­plated to be imported from the Colorado River by the. Metropolitan Water District represents the very minimum which will be needed to provide a reasonably adequate supply for future needs of the area., The City of San Diego was also modest in considering what its needs might be for Colorado River water to supplement local sources of supply. On April 15,1926, the city filed an application to appropriate 155 second-feet; of water from the Colorado River. Its plans for - which subsequent provision was made contemplate an aqueduct; to bring in to San Diego and vicinity 112,000 acre-feet annually of Colorado. River water. In the light of .recent population trends in San Diego and vicinity, this is obviously a small amount considering the relatively limited local water supply that can be made available under full practicable development. BOULDER CANYON PROJECT Over 25 years ago California agencies initiated and formulated plans to augment the-(water supply of Southern California by'storage and diversion of water from the. Colorado River, aud incidentally, for develop­ment Of hydroelectric power. These plans were subsequently crystallized and carried out by the Boulder Canyon Project and its related:develop­ments. This project was the out-growth of the varied combined needs of Southern California. Its initiation and planning came as a logical step in the development of the. Colorado River to provide necessary con­trol, conservation and regulation of the wafers of the'Colorado River for California developments, It had its initial impetus in the: studies and investigations surrounding the proposal of an All-American Canal, But its further impetus and final scope grew out .of other important neces­sities in addition. By the twenties,, rights had been perfected to the use of Colorado Riyeri, water embracing the entire low water flow of the stream along the borders of California, Junior appropriations upstream combined with subnormal flow in dry years had resulted in many- instances of sub­stantial shortages in water supply for the existing irrigation development in the Imperial Valley. On the other hand, there were recurrent floods which were not only a menace to the developed irrigated lands along the river and in the Imperial Valley, but also resulted in large amounts of water being wasted into the Gulf of California. In addition, the silt problem in connection with jth'ese irrigation developments was becoming more serious year by year; involving not only large expense in the maintenance of the canal facilities, but also jeopardizing the continued successful irrigation of the lands and" mate­rially adding to the flood menace. It has been stated that unless some means could have been found to control the silt- of the Colorado River,