Pacific Southwest Water Plan - Report August 1963

Document: Pacific Southwest Water Plan "Printed Copy" Chapter II, August 26 ,1963 page 1CHAPTER II THE WATER PROBLEM Historical Background The Pacific Southwest is, in general, an arid region characterized by limited water supply. Because of abundant natural resources and unparalleled climatic advantages, its grouwth and development have exceeded the national averages for many years. Water is the only element necessary to permit this growth to continue in the future. Some knowledge of the water problems that have been faced in the past is essential to an understanding of present problems. The natural setting of the Pacific Southwest, with its millions of acres of potentially productive lands, facorable climatic conditions, and limited water resources, has been a challenge to forward-looking peoples since prehistoric times. Southern California, which was populated early by the Spanish and then by goldseekers, saw an extensive cattle industry perish in a prolonged drouth before 1880. To maintain their habitation of the coastal plains, wells were drilled to tap the ground water, and an irrigated agricultural economy evolved to replace the cattle industry. The city of Los Angeles, growing throughout this period on local water supplies, foresaw future water shortages, and, by voting bond issues in 1905 and 1907, made possible the construction of an aqueduct to import water from the Owens Valley, some 240 miles away, beginning in 1913. In 1930, the Owens Aqueduct was extended northward another 90 miles into the Mono Basin to intercept more water. With the growth rate continuing, the ground-water levels declined throughout the coastal area to the point where sea water started to intrude into the ground-water basins. Water in addition to that from Los Angeles' Owens Aqueduct was needed, and the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California was formed in 1928 to import water some 240 miles from the Colorado River for distribution to the communities within the district. The search for water has never ended for southern California, as the flood of people, pouring in from all over the Nation, began to utilize the waters that had been made available. In 1960, the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California entered into a contract with the State of California for the future delivery of 1,500,000 acre-feet of water from northern California sources. Other southern California agencies have contracted for approximately 300,000 acre-feet more. An additional approximate 100,000 acre-feet remains to be placed under contract. II-1Epson Perfection 4870 Photo, 400 dpi, 8 bit, 1,153,114 byte