Memorandum on Information for July 25 Conference with Governors

Memorandum: From Assistant Commissioner Palmer, to Orren Beaty, "Information for July 25 conference with Governors," July 12, 1963, page 3"SEC. 4. A fourth priority to the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California and/or the City of Los Angeles, for beneficial consumptive use, by themselves and/or others, on the Coastal Plain of Southern California, 550,000 acre-feet of water per annum. "SEC. 5. A fifth priority (a) to The Metropolitan Water District of Southern California and/or the City of Los Angeles, for beneficial consumptive use, by themselves and/or others, on the Coastal Plain of Southern California, 550,000 acre-feet of water per annum and (b) to the City of San Diego and/or County of San Diego, for beneficial consumptive use, 112,000 acre-feet of water per annum. The rights designated (a) and (b) in this section are equal in priority. "SEC. 6. A sixth priority (a) to Imperial Irrigation District and other lands under or that will be served from the All-American Canal in Imperial and Coachella Valleys, and (b) to Palo Verde Irrigation District for use exclusively on 16,000 acres in that area known as the 'Lower Palo Verde Mesa,' adjacent to Palo Verde Irrigation District, for beneficial consumptive use, 300,000 acre-feet of water per annum. The rights designated (a) and (b) in this section are equal in priority." 2. Is the amount to which each is entitled measured at the point it leaves the river or at the point it is delivered to the project? The Boulder Canyon Project Act specifies that water will be measured in terms of "diversions minus returns." In the case of Palo Verde, a record is kept of the amounts of water at the diversions. The District also reports the drainage returns. In the case of Imperial and Coachella, the return flows do not come back to the river but enter the Salton Sea. Records assembled by California for year 1962 show water used as follows: Palo Verde Irrigation District Diversions 961,740 acre-feet Returns 580,560 acre-feet Net Diversion 381,180 acre-feet Imperial Irrigation District Diversions 3,006,130 acre-feet 3Epson Perfection 4870 Photo, 400 dpi, 24 bit, 2,428,218 byte