STATEMENT OF S. H. FINLEY, OF SANTA ANA, REPRESENTING ORANGE COUNTY The CHAIRMAN. Give your name and business, Mr. Finley. Mr. FINLEY. S. H. Finley, representing Orange County; a member of the board of supervisors; residence, Santa Ana. Realizing the shortness of time, I have reduced my statement to a very few words. Orange County is interested in the construction of a high dam at Boulder Canyon for two main reasons: First, because it will make possible the generation of a large volume of hydroelectric power at a minimum of cost. The present available sources of hydroelectric energy are not sufficient to meet the present demands of this section of California. We are dependent, during certain periods, upon expensive steam plants to meet the deficiency. Even with the help of steam during the year 1924, it was necessary for the service companies to restrict their patrons in the use of electricity, causing great inconvenience and often no small amount of loss. As the population increases and agricultureal and industrial requirements multiply, our dependence upon steam plants will become greater and greater, with the result that the cost to us of this electrical energy will become more excessive. We believe that, as long as there is any water flowing down the rapids of our mountain streams that can be harnessed for power, the earliest possible steps should be taken to utilize it in order to conserve our oil and coal for purposes for which water power is not available. We urge the construction of the Boulder Dam now so that its power will be available before the progress of this section of our land is checked by reason of the lack of the power which it will make available. The second and perhaps more vital reason which I wish to urge on you for the construction of the Boulder Dam is the necessity which exists for an increased water supply. Orange County, though small in area, has a population of 100,000, 60 per cent of which is within nine incorporated cities. These cities depend entirely upon pumping from the underground waters of the valley for their domestic water supply. This source is being rapidly depleted. During the 47 years which I have lived in that community I have observed the water level decline as much as 75 feet. At the present time it is lowering at the rate of 212 feet per year over the valley. This is caused by the fact that the water is being withdrawn for domestic and agricultural use more rapidly than it is being replenished from rain fall and run off from the adjacent mountains. The time has passed when the scientic conservation of all local water supplies will meet the situation facing us in the future. It is not a question of water conservation but one of water importation. The only source from which the needed water can be brought is the Colorado River. We believe that, if the incorporated cities can secure water for domestic use from the Colorado River, the local annual rain fall will meet the needs of our agricultural and horticultural areas. In order that the cities may be able to secure a dependable and continuous supply from the Colorado River it will be necessary to provide a reservoir of very large capacity that would never be depleted even after a series of years of light rainfall. We believe that a high dam at Boulder Canyon will provide the two great needs of our community, power and water. It is the nearest point on the river at which a high dam can be built at a nominal cost, which will impound an abundance of water for domestic use and provide the electric power so urgently needed in our develop ment. Senator SHORTRIDGE. Mr. Finley, you live at Santa Ana? Mr. FINLEY. Yes, sir. Senator SHORTRIDGE. A member of the board of supervisors? Senator SHORTRIDGE. You have taken note of the gradual lowering of the water table, have you not, in Orange County? Mr. FINLEY. Yes, sir; showing at a certain time 22 feet each year. Senator SHORTRIDGE. Are you familiar with what is being done or attempted to be done up at the headwaters of the Santa Ana by the diversion of the floor waters and permitting them to sink and percolate, and to some extent replenish the wells below? Have you noticed that? Mr. FINLEY. We are now engaged-three counties are engaged in a process of settling back the winter waters in order that they may be stored in the underground strata. Senator SHORTRIDGE. What, in a word--not to take up time, which is so precious here to-day-what has been the effect, if you are able to state, of this process alluded to, diverting the flood waters and suffering them to sink and percolate and flow under ground-down, indeed, to the sea? What has been the effect noticeable on the water table? Mr. FINLEY. Well, it is a thing you can hardly put your finger on, because the water, despite all that we have been doing, all that kind of work, the water level is lowering. Senator SHORTRIDGE. Did you attend the meeting of some months ago up in the Santa Ana Canyon? Mr. FINLEY. Yes, sir; I remember you were there at that time. Senator SHORTRIDGE. My recollection is that there was a map or diagram submitted together with some information to the effect that this diversion of water in the way and for the purpose indicated had resulted at least in checking the rapid lowering of the water table. Mr. FINLEY. That map which you have reference to referred to the San Bernardino Basin, which is immediately adjacent to the spreading operations. I had in mind Orange County, which is at the lower end of the operations. Senator SHORTRIDGE. It was suggested there that while this sunken water creeps along very slowly, it would replenish the wells, affect the water plane, even as far down as Santa Ana. Mr. FINLEY. Yes, it undoubtedly will. In fact, I do not doubt for a minute but what it has done it already, if we could just determine the amount. Senator SHORTRIDGE. But, of course, the quantity of diverted water there is more or less limited. Mr. FINLEY. Yes, sir. Senator SHORTRIDGE. I mean the amount of the flood waters that come out from the mountain stream, there at that point, where the meeting was held, is not great. Mr. FINLEY. Yes; that settling operation can only be carried on for a very limited period of the year. Senator SHORTRIDGE. Are you familiar with the San Gabriel Dam enterprise? Mr. FINLEY. No, sir, not to any great extent. Senator JOHNSON. Mr. Chairman, call Mr. Shaw instead of Mr. Mason, who represents the city of Long Beach. A few minutes only will be required. The CHAIRMAN. Very well. Mr. Shaw. STATEMENT OF CLARK SHAW, CHIEF ENGINEER OF THE MUNICIPAL WATER DEPARTMENT OF LONG BEACH, CALIF. Mr. SHAW. I am chief engineer of the municipal water department of Long Beach. Mr. Chairman and Senators, Mr. C. H. Windham, city manager of the city of Long Beach, is one of the executive directors of the Boulder Canyon Dam Association, and has been ill for some time, and was unable to attend this meeting. It was expected that Mr. Bruce Mason or the mayor would be present. In their absence I appear before you to represent and to impress upon you that Long Beach, as a municipality, is vitally interested in the development of the Colorado River, primarily for the bringing of domestic water into this region and for the production of power. Long Beach, probably, is situated more favorably for water development of the undergound waters than any other vicinity in Southern California. We are at the very low end of what has been presented to you as the coastal plain, and consequently our location is the last to be diminished and the first to be replenished, on account of the seasonal rainfall or water supply. I also wish to bring to this committee the fact that we are very much concerned on account of the receding of our water plane. Mr. Sonderegger this morning called to your attention one of the famous wells of this valley, known as the Bouton well, developed back in the nineties; that at the time of development the water flowed 60 feet into the air. During this last season, from actual measurement, the water was approximately 20 feet below the surface. Mr. SHORTRIDGE. Where is that? Mr. SHAW. The Bouton well, about 51⁄2 miles north of the main part of the city of Long Beach. We, of course, have been looking to the protection of our water and water plane, and at the present time are very much interested in the development of water that is going to enchance the growth of our community and guarantee to us that there will be no retarding in the future. The CHAIRMAN. Is Mr. Wadsworth present? STATEMENT OF HIRAM W. WADSWORTH, CITY DIRECTOR OF THE CITY OF PASADENA, AND PRESIDENT OF THE COLORADO RIVER AQUEDUCT ASSOCIATION Mr. WADSWORTH. I am city director of the city of Pasadena and president of the Colorado River Aqueduct Association. I am speaking in behalf of the city of Pasadena. The city of Pasadena is vitally interested in the control and development of the Colorado River by the construction of a high dam at or in the immediate vicinity of Boulder Canyon. While interested in a general way in this movement for the benefit of the entire Southwest, Pasadena's particular interest arises from two conditions: The first being the water supply situation, and the second being a matter of power and light. Primarily we are concerned with the additional domestic water supply available from the river. The major portion of the water supply at the present time used by the city is derived from an underground basin. A small quantity of surface water is available also during certain seasons of the year from a canyon known as the Arroyo Seco. The underground basin consists of a stratum of pervious gravel in which the water is retained by an impervious formation, commonly known as a dike, extending in an easterly and westerly direction, along and easterly from the southerly boundary of the city. Water stored in this basin is derived from the floods and normal drainage from mountains lying to the north. The mountain drainage area tributary to the basin is comparatively small, consisting of 45.1 square miles. The average annual runoff from all of the tributary mountain areas is 27,600 acre feet. The average annual consumption of water from the basin amounts to 33,300 acre feet. The city of Pasadena, through its municipal water department, develops and distributes approximately 50 per cent of the total consumption from the basin. The remaining consumption is accounted for by numerous other consumers who have sunk wells in the basin and continuously pump water therefrom. The run off and consumption, records indicate an obvious overdraft of water, amounting to 5,700 acre-feet per annum, which is reflected in the fact that the level of water in the basin has receded during the past few years at the rate of approximately 10 to 15 feet per year. It is estimated that present conditions can continue only four or five years longer. Beyond that time it is anticipated that the city of Pasadena and others dependent upon the water supply, representing in all a population of over 130,000 people, will have great difficulty in sustaining the domestic supply of water. The consumption of water in the basin is not wasteful or extravagent. In the city of Pasadena it amounts to 103 gallons per capita per day. It is recognized, of course, that Colorado River water under most favorable conditions will not be available until a date much later than five years from the present time. For the purpose of carrying the city over the interim a project is under way to appropriate surplus or flood waters from the San Gabriel River. The amount of water available from this source, however, is estimated to be inadequate to permanently supply the cities, and others dependent upon the Pasadena basin, with water. Our San Gabriel project is so designated as to constitute an element-we believe a necessary element in the system by which water will be brought eventually from the Colorado River for local distribution. Careful surveys have been made of all available sources of water and the conclusion has been reached that the Colorado River offers the only final solution to the problem. If the coastal plain of southern California is to develop in the future as it has in the past, the flood waters of the Colorado River must be adequately controlled and made available. By the construction of a high dam at Boulder Canyon an amount of water sufficient to supply the cities of Southern California may be stored without injuring any of the present users of water or limiting the future agricultural and urban development of the territory naturally dependent upon the waters of the Colorado. It is not our purpose to enlarge unduly upon the vital necessity of this development to Pasadena. The simple facts are sufficient to reveal a situation which causes us to feel that every effort should be made to clear away all practical and political obstacles and bring the river under control at the earliest possible moment. The early and satisfactory solution of the water situation which I have attempted to briefly describe is something upon which our future life depends. The city is also in the market for hydroelectric energy. We operate a steam plant in which natural gas and fuel oil are consumed for the purpose of generating electricity for supplying light and power to the inhibitants of the city. There is no other utility serving this field. Our production and consumption of electrical energy is constantly increasing. During the last fiscal year there were produced at the plant 48,552,770 kilowatt hours of energy. Water stored at Boulder Canyon would make available a very large supply of hydroelectric energy at a price considerably below the cost of steam generation. In its light and power department the city of Pasadena is a well-administered business corporation and naturally desires to secure its electrical energy at the lowest possible figure. We feel that the construction of a dam in the manner contemplated by the Swing-Johnson bill would place the city in a position where this result might be profitably accomplished. Incidentally, we recognize the relation between the development of power and the water situation. It will be necessary to pump water brought to the costal plain from the Colorado River to a considerable height (although not much more than Pasadena is now lifting water), and for this purpose considerable electrical energy will be consumed. So for as electricity is concerned, our interest in the Colorado River is merely a matter of business. The water supply, however, is a matter of vital necessity and should it become necessary to assist in financing the dam by acquiring and paying for power rights in advance, I am confident that the people of Pasadena will promptly authorize the necessary bonded indebtedness. Pasadena's interest in the river has extended over a considerable period of years. Shortly after the adoption of the so-called Kincaid Act the city contributed liberally to the cost of research surveys and investigations on the river. Our contributions to this purpose have amounted to some $5,000. The city has participated |