<P> The CVP has generated some controversy about environmental damage, prices charged to farmers, and lax enforcement of farm size limitations . Bureau of Reclamation water was supposed to be used for farms limited to 160 acres (see Homestead Act). Under Spanish and Mexican land grants, however, there were only a few land owners, all of whom owned large tracts of land . A 1982 reform increased CVP area limits to 960 acres (3.9 km). In 1992, the Central Valley Project Improvement Act made fish and wildlife protection and restoration an authorized purpose of the CVP on an equal footing with other authorized purposes . 800,000 acre feet (0.99 km) of annual runoff were dedicated to environmental usage, which generated intense controversy . </P> <P> The Colorado River is the source of 4,400,000 acre feet (5.4 km) per year for California . Six other states along the river's watershed (Wyoming, Nevada, Utah, Colorado, New Mexico, and Arizona) and Mexico, share allocated portions of river water . The Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, or MWD, holds priority water rights on the Colorado . It sells water to 95 percent of the South Coast region . Lake Mead, formed by Hoover Dam, is the primary reservoir in the Colorado River basin . The Colorado River Aqueduct begins 155 miles (249 km) downstream from Hoover Dam, and can carry 1,200,000 acre feet (1.5 km) annually . </P> <P> An additional system diverts water from the Colorado River at the Imperial Diversion Dam provides waters to the Imperial and Coachella valleys as well as Yuma, Arizona, via the Alamo Canal, the Coachella Canal and the All - American Canal, which runs alongside the Mexican border . This system was also responsible for the accidental re-creation of the Salton Sea in 1905 . </P> <P> The Colorado is considered over-allocated, because apportionments were made on inaccurate measurements of annual runoff . Marc Reisner in Cadillac Desert noted that the Colorado is "unable to satisfy all the demands on it, so it is referred to as a' deficit' river, as if the river were somehow at fault for its overuse". For years California took more than its share of the apportionment, because other states were not prepared to use their entire allotments . MWD became used to 800,000 acre feet (0.99 km) excess of water . Pressure from other Colorado river states caused the Secretary of the Interior to order California to show progress towards decreasing its dependency on the excess 800,000 acre feet (0.99 km), or face cuts . The Colorado River Water Use Plan called for Imperial and Coachella Valley agriculture to give up water in order to reallocate 800,000 acre feet (0.99 km) within the state . The plan's proposals generated much controversy, and the deadline arrived with no agreement reached . The Department of the Interior reduced MWD's access by 415,000 acre feet (0.512 km). </P>

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