The Legislature hereby finds and declares all of the following:
(a)
Agriculture is this state’s largest income producer, contributing approximately $14 billion annually to the economy of the state. California agriculture remains the leader in the development of modern agricultural technology and is supported by the world’s leading agricultural education and research institutions. However, the future growth and prosperity of agriculture is threatened by a lack of necessary irrigation water.
(b)
The population of California is expected to increase by over three million persons by the year 2000. This increase alone will require at least an additional 600,000 acre-feet of water annually for municipal purposes.
(c)
Upon commencement of the operation of the Central Arizona Project which is scheduled to occur by 1985, over 662,000 acre-feet of water presently available for use each year in California will be lost to the State of Arizona pursuant to decisions of the United States Supreme Court. These court decisions decrease the total water supply available to California from the Colorado River by a quantity sufficient to supply the needs of three and one-half million people.
(d)
The central San Joaquin Valley faces a critical water shortage amounting to approximately 1.4 million acre-feet annually which is presently being mined from the groundwater basin. The lowering of the groundwater table is causing irrigation water to be pumped at excessive depths of 500 to 600 feet or more, which requires a tremendous use of energy at a high cost.
(e)
Based on a 50 year average, California faces a drought in one out of every four years. During periods such as the 1976–1977 drought, the state has had critical water shortages, requiring emergency conservation measures and resulting in thousands of acres of prime agricultural land in the San Joaquin Valley remaining unplanted. At the peak of the 1976–77 drought period, the state lost approximately $1.5 billion in crop revenues as a result of inadequate supplies of irrigation water.
(f)
A portion of the foregoing water requirements may be economically met by water conservation and reclamation projects which produce substantial quantities of additional usable water for use in areas of the state with inadequate local supplies.