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Chapter 7: Colorado River
Water
MILESTONES FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE COLORADO RIVER
1856
First diversions created from the Colorado River to irrigate 40,000 acres in the Palo Verde Valley.
1900
Alamo Canal through Mexico to I
mperial Valley completed.
1905-7
Floodwaters broke the channel into the Salton Sink, creating the Salton Sea.
1911
The I
mperial Irrigation District initiated the campaign for the Boulder Canyon Dam Project.
1922
Colorado River Compact signed; Boulder Canyon Project Act introduced to Congress (Swing-Johnson Bill).
1923
Six basin states ratified Colorado River Compact. (Arizona did not ratify, so the agreement became known as the Six State Compact.)
1926
City of San Diego filed for rights to the Colorado River
Water.
1928
Metropolitan Water District (MWD) formed.
1929
California agreed to a li
mitation of 4.4 million acre-feet, plus one-half of the surplus water.
1931
Seven Party Agreement in California agreed upon priorities for dividing Colorado River water within the state.
1933
City of San Diego signed contract with U.S. Department of Interior for storage and delivery of
Colorado River water.
1936
Boulder Canyon Dam (Hoover Dam) completed.
1941
Metropolitan’s member agencies first received water from the Colorado River Aqueduct.
1941
Naval activity boomed in San Diego as part of the buildup for
World War II.
1942
All-American Canal
delivered water to the I
mperial Valley.
1943
Senator Fletcher introduced bill to create the San Diego County Water Authority.
1944
San Diego County Water Authority formed. Arizona signed the Colorado River Compact.
1946
Water Authority joined the Metropolitan Water District.
1947
San Diego Aqueduct completed; Colorado River water flowed into San Vicente Reservoir.
1954
Pipeline #2 of the First San Diego Aqueduct completed, running parallel to Pipeline #1.
1961
Pipeline #3 in the Second San Diego Aqueduct to a new storage reservoir at
Miramar completed,
increasing the Water Authority’s water delivery capacity by 80 percent.
1973
Pipeline #4 in the Second San Diego Aqueduct completed.
1978
Water from Northern California arrived via the State Water Project.
1982
Pipeline #5 in the Second San Diego Aqueduct increased water delivery capacity to one million
acre-feet per year.
2003
Quantification Settlement Agreement is signed.
Water Authority and I
mperial Irrigation District i
mplement water transfer agreement.
Water Authority acquires
additional
water conserved from lining of the All-American and Coachella canals.
2006
Coachella Canal completed.
2010
All-American Canal completed.
PREDI
CTI
ONS AND REALITY
In its First Annual
Report in 1946, the Water Authority
predicted the water needs for the urban population by
the year 2000. The reality is quite different:
Est. for 2000 Actual 2000
Service Area
Population
725,000
2,845,000
Needed Water 91,000 acre-feet
695,000 acre-feet
The Water Authority did qualify its predictions back in
1946, saying: “It is quite possible that the population of
San Diego County will exceed the 725,000 esti
mated
for the year 2000. Such an increase would require the
conversion of some land formerly used for agricultural
purposes to urban use, since only such lands will have
water available.”
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