Appraisal Report Central Arizona Project

Document: "Appraisal Report Central Arizona Project-Chapter I", January 1962, page 8Income and valuation--The present economic strength of the area is reflected through values of financial indicators. In Arizona for 1960, the average annual wage of $4,894 compared with a national average of $4,705, and personal income amounted to $2,650,000,000. In the Central Service Zone the net assessed 1960-61 valuation of $1,123,487,000 was 70.3 percent of the State valuation. Problems of the Area The lack of a water supply adequate to meet the water demands is the basic problem of the area. The local surface sources have been appropriated beyond their capabilities and the ground-water basins are being depleted of water stored prior to this era. The economy of the area, starting from a mining and agricultural base, has grown with the rise of transportation, taking advantage of the climate to add strong recreational and tourist segments to an increasing industrial and manufacturing growth. The western population explosion has brough into sharp focus the necessity of providing supplemental water to meet the existing agricultural, municipal and industrial demands and, through coordinated development to provide for the recreational, fish and wildlife, and flood control requirements. Inadequacy of present water supplies--In simple terms, the area is using far more water each year than is annually replaced. This excess of use over supply is a condition which has existed in varying degrees for over a quarter century and is continuing at an ever-increasing rate to this day. Some idea of the overall unbalance between water supply and use can be gained by considering that since the early settlers found themselves in an area of seasonal surplus, irrigated agriculture in the Gila River Basin has (1) made essentially 8Epson Perfection 4870 Photo, 400 dpi, 8 bit, 1,003,705 byte