Stefan Frutiger’s [State of the Water] Portfolio

Water Infrastructure / Colorado River Aqueduct

The Colorado River Aqueduct is a remarkable 242-mile water conveyance system that delivers millions of gallons of water daily from the Colorado River to Southern California. Built in the 1930s during the Great Depression, the system features five major pumping plants: Whitsett (formerly Intake), Gene, Iron Mountain, Eagle Mountain, and Hinds. Each plant plays a crucial role in lifting water over various elevations, with Whitsett being the first plant drawing water from Lake Havasu. The plants were meticulously designed with nine pumps each, a configuration determined after two years of testing at Cal Tech laboratories. The original equipment, much of which dates back nearly 100 years, has been carefully maintained and upgraded over time, including the replacement of bronze impellers with stainless steel in the 1980s and 1990s.

Each pumping plant has unique characteristics and challenges. Whitsett lifts water 291 feet from Lake Havasu, Gene Pumping Plant raises it another 303 feet, Iron Mountain provides a relatively modest 144-foot lift, Eagle Mountain features a 438-foot lift, and Hinds Pumping Plant performs the highest lift at 441 feet. The water then flows by gravity to Lake Mathews, the terminal reservoir in Riverside County. The system includes several reservoirs along the way, such as Gene Wash, Copper Basin, and regulatory reservoirs at some pumping plants. The entire aqueduct, which includes open canals, tunnels, and siphons, has become essential to Southern California's water security, providing approximately 25% of Southern California's water supply.

The Colorado River Aqueduct is one of the largest and most important water conveyance systems in the United States, stretching 242 miles from Lake Havasu on the Colorado River to Southern California. Built between 1933 and 1941 by the Metropolitan Water District (MWD) of Southern California, the aqueduct was an engineering marvel of its time, using a complex system of pumping stations, canals, tunnels, and reservoirs to lift water over 1,600 feet and transport it across the Mojave Desert and through the San Jacinto Mountains.

This vital infrastructure supplies water to approximately 19 million people across Southern California, providing roughly 1 billion gallons of water daily to Los Angeles, San Diego, and other metropolitan areas. The aqueduct played a crucial role in enabling the massive population growth and economic development of Southern California throughout the 20th century, though in recent decades it has faced increasing challenges due to drought conditions in the Colorado River Basin, climate change, and competing water demands from other states that rely on the Colorado River.

The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP) reported that in 2017, the total water use in Los Angeles was lower than it was in 1970, despite over one million more Angelenos. Per capita water use continuously dropped from 173 gallons per person per day in 1990 to 104 in 2017. Significant gains in water use efficiency from plumbing codes & landscape ordinances and LADWP’s Rebate Programs have helped reduce today’s per capita water use 40% lower than 1970 levels. Since 2010 the conservation program has saved roughly 25,000 acre-feet of water per year. For example 48 million square feet of turf was replaced with California-friendly landscaping.


Water Infrastructure / All-American Canal

The 82-mile All-American Canal, located in the southeastern corner of California, conveys water from the Colorado River to California’s Imperial Valley. The 123-mile Coachella Canal is a branch of the All-American Canal that delivers water to California’s Coachella Valley.

The Imperial Irrigation District (IID) conserved water transfer agreement provides 200,000 acre-feet of water a year for the San Diego region through water conservation measures in Imperial Valley. It is the largest agriculture to urban water transfer in the nation.

The All-American and Coachella Canal lining projects are conserving 77,700 acre-feet of water each year significantly reducing seepage through the earthen canals. Under the canal lining projects, approximately 23 miles of parallel, concrete-lined canal were constructed next to the original All-American Canal, and 35 miles of parallel, concrete-lined canal were constructed next to the original Coachella Canal.

Additionally, 16,000 acre-feet of conserved water per year is sent to several bands of Mission Indians in northern San Diego County – known as the San Luis Rey Indian settlement parties – settling a water rights dispute and decades of litigation with the federal government.


Las Vegas, NV

The current condition in Lake Mead resulted in a Tier 1 water shortage for Lower Basin operations, reducing Nevada's consumptive Colorado River water use annually by 21,000 acre feet. The Tier 1 shortage will remain in effect through 2025. However, Nevada is not currently using its full Colorado River allocation. By the end of 2023, Nevada's consumptive Colorado River Water use was 187,000 acre-feet. This amount is below any Colorado River water supply reduction under existing rules.

Conservation efforts have helped the community reduce its per capita water use by 58 percent between 2002 and 2023, even as the population increased by more than 786,000 residents during that time. The consumptive use of Colorado River water was reduced by approximately 138,000 acre-feet per year.

The Southern Nevada Water Authority (SNWA) has banked approximately 2.2 million acre-feet of water through 2023. This amount is twelve times Nevada’s 2023 consumptive Colorado River water use.

The SNWA completed construction of the Low Lake Level Pumping Station at Lake Mead in 2020. The pumping station works with SNWA’s Lake Mead Intake No. 3 to preserve Southern Nevada’s access to Colorado River water supplies to a Lake Mead elevation of 875 feet. This elevation is approximately 20 feet below the minimum elevation that Hoover Dam can release water downstream.


Uranium Mining Legacy (Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah)


Native Tribes and Agriculture (California and Arizona)

«So-called forage crops like alfalfa and Bermuda grass, which are used to feed livestock, mainly cattle, require mind-altering amounts of water to cultivate.»

The Colorado River Basin is facing a severe water crisis, largely driven by agricultural practices unsuited to the arid climate. That includes a technique called “flood irrigation,” which is exactly what it sounds like: watering hundreds of alfalfa acres at a time by briefly flooding the field. About 79% of the river's water goes to crop irrigation, with 70% of that specifically used for livestock feed crops like alfalfa. In 2022 alone, alfalfa farming consumed 6.75 million acre feet of water across the seven basin states - enough to meet the indoor household water needs of 40 million people who rely on the Colorado River system for municipal water for three and a half years.

The agricultural crisis is exacerbated by multiple factors: inefficient irrigation practices like flood irrigation and central pivot sprinklers, particularly in arid regions like California's Imperial Valley, which receives only three inches of rain annually but requires 46 inches for alfalfa growth, climate change impacts that have reduced river flow by 20% since 2000, and the continued growth of alfalfa production, including exports. 40% of the alfalfa grown in California in 2020 was shrink-wrapped, containerized, and shipped internationally. Proposed solutions include restricting alfalfa exports, and transitioning to geographically appropriate crops.

The Fort Yuma-Quechan Reservation is located near Yuma, Arizona and includes 45,000 acres along the Colorado River. The reservation encompasses a portion of the ancestral home of the Quechan People. Their aboriginal villages were located in or near the Colorado River’s floodplain, which allowed annual floods to deposit rich soil from upriver. This ended with development of dams and diversions upstream from the Quechan homeland, which essentially cut off the historical flows to the area.

The Fort Mojave Indian Reservation is located along the Colorado River in the vicinity of Needles, California. Agriculture provides the basis for the Fort Mojave economy and 15,000 acres of land are under cultivation. Crops grown include staples like cotton, alfalfa and wheat. Living along the banks of the Colorado River, the Mojave Indians are the Pipa Aha Macav – The People by the River. Mojave culture traces the earthly origins of its people to Spirit Mountain, the highest peak in the Newberry Mountains, located northwest of the present reservation inside the Lake Mead National Recreation Area.

The Colorado River Indian Reservation is located in between Blythe and Parker. The river serves as the focal point and lifeblood of the area. The fertile river bottom lands and available water allow the production of agricultural and produce such as cotton, alfalfa, wheat, feed grains, lettuce and melons. Approximately 84,500 acres are now under cultivation. The Colorado River Indian Tribes have senior water rights to 717,000 acre feet of the Colorado River, which is almost one-third of the allotment for the state of Arizona.