An Accounting System for Water and Consumptive Use Along the Colorado River, Hoover Dam to Mexico United States Geological Survey Water-Supply Paper2407 Prepared in cooperation with the Bureau of Reclamation An Accounting System for Water and Consumptive Use Along the Colorado River, Hoover Dam to Mexico By SANDRA J. OWEN-JOYCE and LEE H. RAYMOND Prepared 1n cooperation w1th the Bureau of Reclamation U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY WATER-SUPPLY PAPER 2407 U.S. DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR BRUCE BABBITT, Secretary US GEOLOGICAL SURVEY Gordon P Eaton, D1rector Any use of trade, product, or ftrm names 1n th1s publication 1s for descnpt1ve purposes only and does not 1mply endorsement by the U S Government UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE, WASHINGTON 1996 For sale by the U S Geolog1cal Survey Information Serv1ces Box 25286, Federal Center Denver, CO 80225 Library of Congress Cataloging-In-Publication Data Owen-Joyce, Sandra J An accountmg system for water and consumptive use along the Colorado R1ver, Hoover Dam to Mex1co I by Sandra J Owen-Joyce and Lee H Raymond p em -- (U S Geological Survey water-supply paper , 2407) "Prepared 1n cooperation With the Bureau of Reclamation " Includes bibliographical references Supt of Docs no I 19 13 2407 1 EvapotranspiratiOn--Colorado R1ver Watershed (Colo -Mex1co)--Measurement I Raymond, Lee H II Un1ted States Bureau of Reclamation Ill T1tle IV Senes S600 7 E93088 1996 333 91'313'097913--dc20 96-5283 CIP CONTENTS Albstract l IntroductiOn 2 Legal Framework 4 Colorado Rtver Compact 4 U S Supreme Court Decree, 1964, Anzona v Califorma 4 Purpo~e and Scope 6 Prevtous InvestigatiOns 6 Acknowledgments 7 Descnptron of the Study Area 8 Hoover Dam to Davts Dam 8 Davts Dam to Parker Dam 8 Parker Dam to Impenal Dam ll lmpenal Dam to the Border wtth Mextco II Measurement of Flow ll Lower Colorado Rtver Accountmg System 20 EstimatiOn of Consumptive Use by VegetatiOn 20 Dtstnbutron of Consumptive Use by Vegetation 24 Dtstnbutron of Colorado Rtver Water 25 Dams and Re'iervmrs 25 Exported Water 30 Dtversrons 31 Return Flows 38 ApplicatiOn of the Lower Colorado River Accountmg System 42 Water-Budget Components 43 Flow Components 43 Tnbutary Inflow 43 Btll Wtlhams Rtver 43 Gtla Rtver 45 Unmeasured Tnbutary Inflow 46 Prectpttatron 47 EvaporatiOn from Open-Water Surfaces 47 Evaporation Rates 47 Open-Water Surface Areas 49 CalculatiOn of EvaporatiOn from Open-Water Surfaces 50 Dome'ittc, Mumctpal, and Industnal Consumptive Use 50 Change m Storage m the Alluvtal Aqutfer 50 EstimatiOn of Consumptive Use by VegetatiOn 52 Estimatmg EvapotranspiratiOn Usmg Remotely Sensed Data 54 IdentificatiOn of VegetatiOn Types and Acreages by Dtverter 54 Fteld Reconnaissance 55 Delmeatton of the Total Vegetated Area 55 Select ron of Cahbratron Sttes 56 SelectiOn of CalibratiOn Dates 56 PreparatiOn of Crop Maps 57 Selection of Image Dates 57 Georeferencmg 57 Band Rattos 57 Contents Ill Image ClassificatiOn 58 General Interpretation of the Classification 58 Separation of the Classification by Dtverter Boundanes 59 IdentificatiOn of Boundanes 59 Mappmg the Boundanes 59 Separation by Diverter 59 Water use by VegetatiOn 60 Water-Use Rates for Crops 61 Water-Use Rates for Phreatophytes 64 CalculatiOn of EvapotranspiratiOn by Reach 66 Hoover Dam to Davis Dam 66 Davis Dam to Parker Dam 66 Big Bend to Topock 67 Davts Dam to Btg Bend and Topock to Parker Dam 70 EvapotranspiratiOn 70 Parker Dam to lmpenal Dam 71 Parker Valley 72 Palo Verde Valley 73 Ctbola Valley 74 Parker Dam to Headgate Rock Dam and Cibola Gage to Impenal Dam 74 Areas of VegetatiOn by Diverter 74 Evapotransptratton 76 lmpenal Dam to Morelos Dam 76 Impenal Dam to Laguna Dam 76 Laguna Dam to the Southerly InternatiOnal Boundary 77 Evapotranspiration 78 Hoover Dam to Morelos Dam 79 DistnbutiOn of Consumptive Use by Dtverter 79 EvaluatiOn ofthe Accountmg System for 1984 81 Water-Budget Components 82 Analysts of Annual Streamflow Errors 82 Annual Changes m Open-Water-Surface Areas 83 EvapotranspiratiOn 84 Companson to 1984 Decree Accountmg 84 Companson of Methods m the Parker Dam to Impenal Dam Reach 84 Potenttal Refinement of Water Budgets for Four Reaches 85 Hoover Dam to Davts Dam 86 Davts Dam to Parker Dam 86 Parker Dam to Impenal Dam 87 ' Impenal Dam to Morelos Dam 88 EvaluatiOn of Water Budgets for Four Reaches 88 Momtonng the Accountmg System 88 EvapotranspiratiOn and EvaporatiOn 89 Vegetation ClassificatiOn 89 Tnbutary Inflow 89 Summary 90 Selected References 91 IV Contents PLATES [Plates are m pocket] 1-3 Maps showmg 1 Altitude of the water table m the alluvmm and locatiOn of selected streamflow-measurement Sites and dramage areas along the lower Colorado Rtver, Hoover Dam to Mextco, 1984 Scale 1 500,000 2 Boundanes of the areas served by diverters of water along the lower Colorado Rtver, Hoover Dam to Mextco Scale 1 250,000 3 Ground-truth crop data and vegetatiOn classificatiOns from Landsat digital satellite data for Mohave, Parker, Palo Verde, and Ctbola Valleys, and the Yuma area, 1984 Scale about 1 72,000 FIGURES 1---6 Maps showmg 1 Colorado River basm and study area 3 2 Lower Colorado Rtver from Hoover Dam to Mextco and areas where the flood plam ts used for agnculture and trrtgated wtth water from the Colorado Rtver 4 3 Flood-plam areas, locatiOn of streamflow-gagmg statiOns and measurement sttes, and crop-calibratiOn area m Mohave Valley 10 4 Flood-plam areas, locatiOn of streamflow-gagmg statiOns and measurement sites, and crop-calibration areas m Parker Valley 12 5 Flood-plam areas, location of streamflow-gagmg statiOns and measurement Sites, and crop-cahbratton areas m Palo Verde and Ctbola Valleys 13 6 Flood-plam areas, location of streamfl.ow-gagmg statiOns and measurement sttes, and crop-cahbratton areas m the Yuma area 14 7-8 Schematic dtagrams showmg 7 Streamflow-gagmg stattons operated m 1984 from Davis Dam to Impenal Dam 15 8 Streamflow-gagmg stattons operated m 1984 from Impenal Dam to the northerly mtemattonal boundary with Mextco 16 9 Dtagram showmg flow chart of the Lower Colorado Rtver Accountmg System 21 10 Dtagrammattc sketch showmg flow components for a water-budget reach of the nver 22 11-19 Graphs showmg 11 Annual flow m the Colorado Rtver below Hoover Dam, 1935-85, below Davts Dam, 195o-85, below Parker Dam, 1935-85, above Impenal Dam, 195o-85, and at the northerly mtematiOnal boundary, 195o-85 26 12 Annual change m reservOir storage for Lake Mead, 1936---84 27 13 Annual change m reservOir storage for Lake Mohave, 1951-84 27 14 Annual change m reservOir storage for Lake Havasu, 1939---84 27 15 Annual change m reservOir storage for Senator Wash ReservOir, 1966---84 28 16 Dtfference m annual flow between the Colorado Rtver below Hoover Dam and the Colorado Rtver below Davts Dam accountmg for the change m reservOir storage m Lake Mohave, 195o-85 29 17 Annual flow dtverted from the Colorado Rtver and exported to Cahfomta m the Colorado Rtver aqueduct, 1939---85 30 18 Annual flow dtverted from the Colorado Rtver mto the All-Amencan Canal near Impenal Dam, 1938-85, flow dtverted to Impenal and Coachella Valleys m the All-Amencan Canal below Ptlot Knob wasteway, 196o-85, and flow retummg to the nver through the Pllot Knob Powerplant and wasteway, 1939-85 31 Contents V 19 Annual flow dtverted for ungatton m Parker Valley m the Colorado Rtver Indtan Reservation Mam Canal, 1915-84, and for trngatton m Palo Verde Valley m the Palo Verde Canal, 1922-84 34 2G---27 Graphs showmg 20 Annual flow diverted from the Gtla Gravity Mam Canal to North Gila Valley, 1966---85, and to South Gtla Valley, 1966---85, and from the All-Amencan Canal to the ReservatiOn Dtvtston of the California part of the Bureau of ReclamatiOn Yuma ProJect, 1966---85 35 21 Annual flow m the Yuma Mam Canal at the Siphon-Drop Powerplant, 1939-85, Yuma Mam Canal below the Colorado River Siphon, 1924-85, and flow released back to the nver at the Yuma Mam Canal wasteway, 1931-85 35 22 Annual flow diverted from Yuma Mam Canal for the City of Yuma, 1965-85 36 23 Annual flow diverted from the Colorado River mto the Gila Gravtty Mam Canal, 1944-85, and from the Gtla Gravtty Mam ' Canal mto the Wellton-Mohawk Canal, 1966---85 36 24 Annual flow diverted to Yuma Mesa at the Gila Gravity Mam Canal pumpmg plant, 1966---85, and mto Umt B Mam Canal, 1966---85 37 25 Annual surface-water return flows from Parker Valley, 1946---84, and Palo Verde Valley, 1961-84 40 26 Annual surface-water return flows from North Gila Valley, 1961-85, South Gila Valley, 1961-85, and the Reservation Dtvtswn, 196G---85 41 27 Annual flow m Yuma Mesa Outlet dram, 197G---85 42 TABLES Crop and phreatophytc areas and evapotranspiratiOn calculated from vegetatiOn classtficattons of Landsat satellite digital Images m the reaches between the dams along the lower Colorado River, Hoover Dam to Mextco, 1984 9 2 EvaluatiOn of data collected at streamflow-gagmg stations operated by the U S Geologtcal Survey 17 3 Streamflow-gagmg statiOns operated by the U S Geological Survey for other agenctes 19 4 Rtver-stage gagmg stations operated by the Bureau of ReclamatiOn 19 5 Streamflow-gagmg statiOns operated by the InternatiOnal Boundary and Water CommissiOn to fulfill treaty reqmrements with Mexico 20 6 EvaluatiOn of patrs of dtscharge measurements made by usmg vertical-axis current meters and acousttc-velocity meters (AVM's) below Hoover Dam 29 7 DiversiOns and pumpage from the Colorado River and pumpage from wells on the flood plam between Hoover Dam and Mexico, 1984 32 ,, 8 Surface-water return flow computed at streamflow-gagmg statiOns