Appraisal Report Central Arizona Project

Document: "Appraisal Report Central Arizona Project-Chapter II", January 1962, page 20that approximately 312,000 acre-feet of additional import water will be required to satisfy demands in these areas under project conditions. The quantity of municipal and industrial water needed in the Upper Tributaries Zone has not been defined, and additional studies will be required for this item. In present studies, it was not possible to evaluate future needs which will result from exploitation of extensive mineral deposits in the Upper Tributaries Zone. It is anticipated, however, that substantial additional supplies will be needed for proposed mining activities and for use by urban growth which will naturally result from these activities. In this connection, it should be noted that both Arizona and New Mexico are among the Nation's leaders in nonferrous mineral production, and that extensive mineral deposits are known to exist in the Upper Gila River Basin for which development is planned within the near future. Present studies indicate that the future use of water for irrigation will decrease progressively with increased demand for municipal and industrial water since sufficient water cannot be made available to sustain the present irrigated acreage and the potential municipal and industrial requirements. It is estimated that the use of water for irrigation on the presently developed area will decrease during the period of analysis from present use of about 4,190,000 acre-feet per year to about 3,100,000 acre-feet per year as agricultural land is urbanized. Water Conservation Requirements In view of the short water supply conditions that can be expected to exist in the area throughout the foreseeable future, it will be necessary that every effort be made to conserve the available water supplies, both 20Epson Perfection 4870 Photo, 400 dpi, 8 bit, 1,067,491 byte