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California Seven Party
Agreement
Before the Secretary entered into water delivery contracts
under the Boulder Canyon Project Act
with users in California, he requested the State to agree
on a listing of the relative priorities of rights
among the major users of Colorado River waters. This was
done by the "California Seven-Party
Agreement" of August 18, 1931, which contained the
following priorities:
Acre-feet
Priority Description Annually
1 Palo Verde Irrigation District
gross area of 104,500 acres
2 Yuma Project (Reservation Division
not exceeding a gross area of 25,000
acres 3,850,000
3(a) Imperial Irrigation District and lands in
Imperial and Coachella Valleys
to be served by AAC
3(b) Palo Verde Irrigation District
16,000 acres of mesa lands
4 Metropolitan Water District
and/or City of Los Angeles
and/or others on coastal plain 550,000
5(a) Metropolitan Water District
and/or City of Los Angeles and/or
others on coastal plain 550,000
5(b) City and/or County of San Diego 112,000
6(a) Imperial Irrigation District and lands in
Imperial and Coachella Valley
300,000
6(b) Palo Verde Irrigation District
16,000 acres of mesa lands
__________
TOTAL 5,362,000
The Secretary of the Interior placed the California Seven
Party Agreement of August 18, 1931, in effect by general regulations
dated September 28, 1931. The provisions of the Seven Party
Agreement were also incorporated by the Secretary in
substantially the same form in each of the
subsequent California water delivery contracts entered into
by the Secretary.
Note that the first three California priorities total 3.85
maf/yr and are for agricultural uses. Note also
that the first four California priorities total 4.4 maf and
equate to that quantity to which California is
held by its Limitation Act. The 4.4 maf is also the
quantity accorded a priority over the Central
Arizona Project by Section 301(b) of the Colorado River
Basin Project Act.
Water Delivery Contracts For Colorado River Water in the
Lower Colorado River Basin:
During the period 1930-1934 the Secretary of the Interior,
pursuant to the Boulder Canyon Project
Act, executed contracts on behalf of the United States with
five California agencies (Imperial
Irrigation District, Palo Verde Irrigation District, The
Metropolitan Water District of Southern
California, Coachella Valley County Water District and the
City of San Diego) for the delivery of
water from Lake Mead, subject to the availability thereof,
for use in California under the Compact
and Project Act. As noted in D. above, the priorities
assigned to each contractor and the quantifies of
water to be made available therefor under these contracts
could, in the aggregate, call for the
delivery of 5,362,000 acre-feet of water per year. There is
no water delivery contract with the State
of California itself similar to those with the States of
Nevada and Arizona.
By contracts dated March 30, 1942, and January 3, 1944,
made by the Secretary of the Interior with
the State of Nevada, the United States agreed to deliver to
Nevada from Lake Mead storage so
much water as might be necessary to supply the State with a
total quantity of water from the
Colorado River System not to exceed 300,000 acre-feet per
year, subject to the availability thereof
for use in Nevada under the Compact and Project Act.
The State of Arizona entered into a contract with the
Secretary of the Interior on February 9, 1944,
wherein the United States agreed to deliver annually to
Arizona and its water users from storage in
Lake Mead so much water as might be necessary for
irrigation and domestic uses in Arizona of a
maximum of 2.8 maf/yr plus one-half of any surplus water
unapportioned by the Compact, subject to
the availability thereof for use in Arizona under the
Compact and Project Act. Nevada was accorded
the right under Article 7(f) to contract for 1/25th of any
surplus water available in the Lower Basin.
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