WESTERN WATER BULLETIN 1994 RECENL.iJ Flow of SEpgg 2m® The Colorado RiveyBwc .and other Western Boundary Streams and INTERNATIONAL BOUNDARY AND WATER COMMISSION UNITED STATES AND MEXICO DEPARTMENT OF STATE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA 1994 INTERNATIONAL BOUNDARY AND WATER COMMISSION UNITED STATES AND MEXICO UNITED STATES SECTION MEXICAN SECTION JOHN M . BERNAL J. ARTURO HERRERA SOLIS .Commissioner Commissioner El Paso, Texas Cd. Juarez, Chihuahua ALTON L . GOFF CECILIO LOMELI LOPEZ Chief Area Subdirector Yuma, Arizona Hydro Office Mexicali, Baja California WESTERN WATER BULLETIN 1994 Flow of The Colorado River and other Western Boundary Streams and Related Data COLORADO RIVER TIJUANA RIVER SANTA CRUZ RIVER SAN PEDRO RIVER WHITE WATER DRAW 1994 2 WESTERN BOUNDARY WATER BULLETIN - 1994 - INTERNATIONAL BOUNDARY AND WATER COMMISSION CONTENTS Foreword and Acknowledgments 4 General Hydrologic Conditions for 1994 6 Map of Western Boundary - Douglas, Arizona to Pacific Ocean 44 I - COLORADO RIVER - IMPERIAL DAM TO GULF OF CALIFORNIA Map of Lower Colorado River, United States and Mexico . Following Page 84 QUANTITY OF WATER Stream-Flow and Stage Records Tributary - Reservation Main Drain No . 4 (California Drain) 8 Yuma Main Canal Wasteway to Colorado River at Yuma, Arizona 9 Colorado River below Yuna Main Canal Wasteway at Yuma, Arizona - Discharges 10 below Yuma Main Canal Wasteway at Yuma, Arizona - Stages 11 Tributary - Yuma Mesa Outlet Drain to Colorado River near Yuma, Arizona 12 Drain No . 8-8 (Araz Drain) 13 Pilot Knob Power Plant and Wasteway near Pilot Knob, California 14 Colorado River at Northerly International Boundary - Discharges 15 at Northerly International Boundary - Stages 16 Tributary - Cooper Wasteway (Valley Division, Yuma Project) 17 Colorado River immediately above Morelos Dam - Stages 18 Diversions from the Colorado River - Intake Canal at Morelos Diversion Structure - Discharges 19 at Morelos Diversion Structure - Stages 20 Colorado River immediately below Morelos Dam - Stages 21 Tributary - Wellton-Mohawk Drainage Water Discharged to Colorado River below Morelos Dam . 22 Tributary Eleven Mile Wasteway (Valley Division, Yuma Project) . 23 Colorado River at Eleven Mile Gage - Stages 24 Tributary - Twenty-one Mile Wasteway (Valley Division, Yuma Project) 25 East Main Canal Wasteway (Valley Division, Tuna Project) . 26 Yuma Main Drain (Valley Division, Yuma Project) 27 West Main Canal Wasteway (Valley Division, Yuma Project) . 28 242 Well Field near San Luis, Arizona 29 Total Flows Crossing International Boundary into Mexico near San Luis, Sonora 30 Colorado River at Southerly International Boundary - Discharges 31 at Southerly International Boundary - Stages 32 Wellton-Mohawk Bypass Drain at Southerly International Boundary 33 Tributary -• Wasteway to Colorado River at Kilometer 27 in Mexico . 34 Tributary -- Wasteway to Colorado River at Kilometer 38 in Mexico . 35 Stored Water in Large Reservoirs of the Colorado River . 36 QUALITY OF WATER Suspended Silt in the Colorado River and Intake Canal at Morelos Diversion Structure . 37 Chemical Analyses of Water Samples 38 Specific Conductance of Water Samples 39 CLIMATOLOGICAL DATA AND IRRIGATED AREAS Rainfall on the Colorado River Watershed 41 Location of Rainfall Stations on the Colorado River 42 Evaporation in the Colorado River Basin 43 Temperature in the Colorado River Basin 46 Irrigated Areas along the Colorado River below Imperial Dam . 48 II - ALAMO AND NEW RIVERS QUANTITY OF WATER Stream-Flow and Stage Records Alamo River at International Boundary . 49 New River at International Boundary 50 Tributary - Wastes from Mexicali Potable Water Plant to New River in Mexico 51 Waste Waters from Mexican System of Canals Entering the United States 52 Salton Sea - Elevations of Water Surface 53 WESTERN BOUNDARY WATER BULLETIN - 1994 - INTERNATIONAL BOUNDARY AND WATER COMMISSION 3 CONTENTS QUALITY OF WATER Chemical Analyses of Water Samples 54 III - TIJUANA RIVER Map of Tijuana River Drainage Basin 56 QUANTITY OF WATER Stream-Flow Records Cottonwood Creek above Morena Dam, California 57 below Morena Dam, California 58 above Barrett Dam, California 59 Diversions from Cottonwood Creek - Dulzura Conduit below Barrett Dam, California 60 Cottonwood Creek below Barrett Dam, California 61 above Tecate Creek near Dulzura, California 62 Tributary - Campo Creek near Campo, California . 63 Inflows to Rodriguez Reservoir, Baja California , 64 Diversions from Rodriguez Reservoir, Baja California 65 Tijuana River at International Boundary , 66 Stored Water in Reservoirs, Tijuana River Basin 67 CLIMATOLOGICAL DATA AND DRAINAGE BASIN AND IRRIGATED AREAS Rainfall on the Tijuana River Watershed 68 Location of Rainfall Stations on the Tijuana River Watershed . 70 Evaporation in the Tijuana River Basin 71 Temperature in the Tijuana River Basin 72 Drainage Areas above Gaging Stations and Irrigated Areas along Tijuana River and Tributaries 73 IV - WHITEWATER DRAW, SAN PEDRO, AND SANTA CRUZ RIVERS Map of Western Boundary - Santa Cruz River, San Pedro River, and Whitewater Draw Basins 74 QUANTITY OF WATER Stream-Flow Records Whitewater Draw near Douglas, Arizona 75 Sewage Influent, Douglas, Arizona International Treatment Plant 76 San Pedro River at Palominas, Arizona . 77 Santa Cruz River near Lochiel, Arizona . 78 near Nogales, Arizona 79 Sewage Influent, Nogales International Treatment Plant 80 CLIMATOLOGICAL DATA Rainfall and Location of Rainfall Stations on the Santa Cruz River Watershed 81 Temperature in the Santa Cruz River Basin 82 Drainage Areas above Gaging Stations and Irrigated Areas along Santa Cruz River, San Pedro River, and Whitewater Draw 83 Corrections to Previous Water Bulletins 84 4 WESTERN BOUNDARY WATER BULLETIN - 1994 - INTERNATIONAL BOUNDARY AND WATER COMMISSION FOREWORD This bulletin is the thirty-fifth annual compilation of stream discharges and other hydrographic data relating to international aspects of the Colorado River below Imperial Dam, the Tijuana River, and other streams crossing the western Land boundary of the United States and Mexico . The compilation was prepared jointly by the United States and Mexican Sections of the International Boundary and Water Commission, solely for the purpose of presenting statistical data relating to stream flow and kindred subjects for the Colorado River from imperial Dam to the Gulf of California, the Tijuana River and its important tributaries in the United States and Mexico, and other streams, including the Alamo and New Rivers which cross the California-Raja California boundary, and the Santa Cruz River and Whitewater Draw which cross the Arizona-Sonora boundary . This bulletin contains information for the year 1994 . Stream gaging on the Colorado River below Imperial Dam began in 1902 when the station at Yuma, Arizona was established. Stage records were obtained at this station from January 1878 until December 1973, when it was discontinued. Continuous stream gaging on the Tijuana River and its important tributaries in the United States and in Mexico began in 1936 . Each government operates the gaging stations located within its own country . COLORADO RIVER BELOW IMPERIAL DAM Below Imperial Dam, the Colorado River flows southward 16 kilometers to the mouth of the Gila River, thence westward 18 kilometers to Pilot Knob Mountain, and south 1 .6 kilometers to the point where the northerly international land boundary, between California and Baja California, intersects the river . From this point the river continues to flow southward and forms the boundary between the United States and Mexico for a distance of about 35 kilometers to the point where the southerly international land boundary between Arizona and Sonora intersects the river . From this point the river continues to flow southward about 145 kilometers to discharge into the Gulf of California . The ordinary flows of Colorado River below Imperial Dam are largely controlled by releases at Hoover Dam, completed in 1935 . The releases are further regulated at Davis Dam, completed in 1950, and by Parker and Imperial Dams, completed in 1938 . Small amounts of runoff may occasionally be contributed to the flow in the lower river from the usually dry arroyos draining the 28,200 square kilometers along the river from Hoover Dam to the mouth of the, Gita River . In addition, flows ranging from usually minor amounts to infrequent torrential floods may enter the lower Colorado River from the Bill Williams River, draining about 1,857 square kilometers below Alamo Dam and Lake, completed in 1963 ; and from the Gila River, draining about 18,900 square kilometers below Painted Rock Dam and Reservoir, completed in January 1960 . At Imperial Dam, diversions are made to Gita Gravity Main Canal and ALL-American Canal for irrigation projects in Arizona, including the Yuma Valley, Gila and Wellton-Mohawk projects ; and in California, including the Imperial Valley, Coachella Valley and Reservation Division of Yuma Project . Also, under the provisions of the 1944 Water Treaty, there may be diverted to the All-American Canal at Imperial Dam for delivery to Mexico in the Alamo Canal, or substitute canal, at the northerly boundary, a portion of Mexico's scheduled deliveries of waters of the Colorado River, which in 1994 amounted to 1,850,234 thousand cubic meters, in accordance with Article 10 of the 1944 Water Treaty . No diversions were made to a substitute canal in 1994 . Below Laguna Dam, measured and unmeasured flows are returned to the river principally as waste and drain- age water