Lower Colorado River Tour Slideshow

LOWER COLORADO RIVER TOUR
The Water Education Foundation’s

Our tour started bright and early on Wednesday morning. Before heading out, Lorri Gray-Lee with the Bureau of Reclamation gave us an overview of the Colorado River system, including the Law of the River, and the Intentionally Created Surplus program.
Southern Nevada Water Authority officials gave us an update on their situation, including their involvement in conservation projects and negotiations with Mexico.

Our first stop was Hoover Dam, where we were given a private tour of the dam and the power plant.

Hoover Dam is a concrete arch gravity dam. It extends 726.4 feet upwards from the bedrock and was completed in 1936.

Bob Walsh from the Bureau of Reclamation filled us in on the various ways that water is routed through the dam.

Hoover Dam was built for flood control of the Colorado River, and for water storage to provide a reliable supply for irrigation and municipal use. Hydropower was sold to finance the construction costs.

There are 17 commercial generating units which were installed between 1936 and 1961. They were added in phases as power demands increased in the Southwest.
The power plant has a 2078 megawatt capacity and can generate as much as 4 billion kilowatt hours of electricity each year.

The biggest purchasers of Hoover Dam’s hydropower are the Arizona Power Authority (18%), Nevada (23%), and Metropolitan Water District (28%).
The remaining power is purchased by several Southern California entities*, as well as Boulder City.
*These entities are: Burbank, Glendale, Pasadena, Los Angeles, Southern California Edison, Asuza, Anaheim, Banning, Colton, Riverside, Vernon.

The water creates energy when the force of the falling water turns the rotary blades of the turbine.

The turbine’s rotation spins electromagnets which generate current in stationary coils of wire. Finally, the current is put through a transformer where the voltage is increased for long distance transmission over power lines.

We had a great view of the Hoover Bypass Bridge, still under construction. It is scheduled to be completed in late 2010.

On the way to Lake Mead, a speaker briefed us on recent reports about the future of the lake, while the evidence of Lake Mead’s low level was hard to miss.

We had lunch aboard the Desert Princess while cruising on Lake Mead.
At it’s maximum capacity, the lake can hold 28.5 million acre-feet, or
2 years of the average flow of the river. However, right now the lake is only 45% full, exposing a bathtub ring that is 100 feet high.

The boat took us around to see Hoover Dam from the other side. After lunch, we disembarked and it was time to hit the road again.
On the way, we were briefed about the Lower Colorado River Supply Project.

At the Lake Havasu National Wildlife Refuge, we learned about the
Lower Colorado River Multi-Species Conservation Program, which is a coordinated comprehensive long-term multi-agency effort to work towards recovery of endangered species, and to protect and maintain wildlife habitat.

The program aims to restore manage 8,100 acres of new and restored marsh & habitat for the benefit of 6 endangered species and 20 additional species, with the goal being to achieve long-term compliance with state and federal endangered species regulations.

Biologists showed us the specific actions they have been taking in order to restore and manage the Topock Marsh, which represents over 40% of the remaining backwaters of the Colorado River.

We went on to Lake Havasu for the evening, where we had a delicious dinner at Shugrue’s Restaurant by the London Bridge, and heard from the mayor of Lake Havasu about the concerns of the river communities in the area.
It was dark when we arrived, so this is a picture of the London Bridge from a previous trip.

Thursday morning began with a briefing on the Central Arizona Project and the responses Arizona has implemented to face it’s water challenges. Then, it was on to the Mark Wilmer Pumping Plant, where Colorado River water begins it’s journey to Arizona.

A CAP official briefed us on improvements made to their equipment in order to fix problems and improve performance of the pumping station.

Afterwards, we went to visit Metropolitan facilities. We were able to catch a glimpse of Parker Dam, the dam that creates Lake Havasu. We weren’t able to drive over it as post-911 security procedures don’t allow large axle vehicles to drive over the dam.

Lake Havasu can store 600,000 acre-feet, and is primarily a forebay and desilting basin for the Colorado River Aqueduct.

Our next stop was at Metropolitan Water District’s Whitsett Pumping Plant, which is the beginning of MWD’s Colorado River Aqueduct.

The Whitsett Pumping Plant is the first of five pumping stations on the aqueduct. The nine pumps lift the water 291 feet up to the Gene Wash Reservoir.

This is the control room at the pumping plant. Each pumping station on the aqueduct has 9 pumps, which lift the water a total of 1,617 feet.
The aqueduct began operations in 1941.

Next, we traveled up the hill for a boat ride on the Copper Basin Reservoir.

This is the portal to the Whipple Tunnel. The water is chlorinated here in an effort to control quagga mussel invasion.

Metropolitan is always monitoring its facilities for quagga mussels. Since there is not a way to eradicate them at this time, the focus is on learning the best methods to control them.

We had lunch at Metropolitan’s Gene Village, where Bill Hasencamp gave a presentation on Metropolitan’s Colorado River use, as well as the challenges facing Metropolitan’s water supply.

Then it was time to head for the Yuma Desalting Plant. On the way, the Water Resources Director for the Colorado River Indian Tribes reservation discussed the concerns of his tribe regarding the river.

The Yuma Desalting plant has never been operated for any significant period of time. It is now being prepared for a test run.

It will be operated for 365 days at 1/3rdcapacity. If it were fully operational, it would be the largest desalination plant in the U.S., capable of producing 72 million gallons per day.

Afterwards, we stopped by to see the newly lined All-American Canal. IID officials explained how the lining project was accomplished. Lining the canal is expected to conserve 67,700 acre-feet per year.

As the sun set, we headed off to El Centro for the evening, passing the nearly-finished Drop 2 Reservoir along the way.
At dinner, IID’s Brian Brady gave a lively presentation on IID’s view of the QSA.
In the morning we heard from Michael Cohen of the Pacific Institute on the Salton Sea, and Imperial County officials about their concerns about the QSA and Salton Sea restoration.

Then we stopped at IID headquarters to hear what they had to say on the QSA. An IID official also highlighted their conservation efforts being implemented in order to meet it’s QSA obligations.
The Imperial Irrigation District is the nation’s largest irrigation district, serving over 450,000 acres of productive farmland. IID’s 3000 miles of canals and drains are capable of delivering over 3 million acre-feet of Colorado River water each year.

To manage salts and to keep them below the root zone, Imperial Valley farms have a subterranean drainage system which drains the salty water from the field. A system of drains throughout the district carry this irrigation water to the Salton Sea.

Due to the favorable weather, the land is farmed every day of the year, with fields able to produce two, sometimes three, crops per year.
An Imperial Valley farmer showed us his organic carrot field, and answered our questions about farming in the Imperial Valley.

They were harvesting carrots while we were there.

We passed a number of geothermal plants on our way to the Salton Sea. The Imperial Valley has abundant geothermal resources, and many more facilities are planned.

On our way out to the Coachella Canal, we drove through Slab City …

… and passed Salvation Mountain.

At the Coachella Canal, Bob Keeran of the Coachella Valley Water District noted that conservation and efficiency are paramount to the CVWD, and that they have systems in place to account for every drop of water.

We had lunch at the Salton Sea while USGS and Fish & Wildlife officials discussed the issues and challenges facing the Salton Sea.

There were many birds in the water, including a number of white pelicans.

Despite the challenges facing the sea, officials expressed hope for a bright future for this important resource for migratory waterfowl. A DWR biologist on the tour said that restoration projects are about to get underway that will be able to make a difference even with the limited funds currently available.

We then toured a Coachella Valley farm which uses micro-irrigation to water it’s plants. Over 60% of the farms in the district use micro-irrigation.

Shade tents are used to increase water efficiency and plant yields.

Unlike the Imperial Irrigation District, there are no above ground canals and drains here in the Coachella Valley.
Everything is subterranean.

Here are some diagrams that show how water is metered and delivered to Coachella Valley farmers.

Our last stop of the day was at a groundwater replenishment facility. This facility will recharge the aquifer with up to 40,000 acre-feet of Colorado River water. These basins are empty because they were recently dredged.

Afterwards, we headed to the end point of the tour at the Ontario airport.
It’s been a busy three days, and I have learned a lot! There were many more speakers who shared their information along the way then I’ve had a chance to mention. I’ve got an armload of booklets and papers, plus a list of all the resource speakers that I can call if I have any questions. And it was great to meet and mix with water people from all different areas.

If conferences aren’t for you, or if you just want to get out and see what’s going on out on the ground, consider a Water Education Foundation tour! They are fun and informative, and the price is all-inclusive. You have the opportunity to see facilities that aren’t open to the general public, and a chance to hear from those on the front lines.
You can check it out all the tours the Water Education Foundation has available at
http://www.watereducation.org/toursdoc.asp?id=821

This has been an exclusive
Aquafornia presentation
Visit Aquafornia online and get all the latest news and information on California water:
http://aquafornia.com
Visit the Water Education Foundation website for books, posters, tours and more resources on California water:
http://www.watereducation.org
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Lower Colorado River Tour Slideshow

by Aquafornia on Mar 15, 2010

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Lower Colorado River Tour Slideshow — Presentation Transcript