No Time to Up the Stakes

Both the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California and the Imperial Irrigation District seem to have raised the stakes in their protracted negotiations for a transfer of Colorado River water from Imperial to MWD, which wholesales 1.8 million acre-feet of water a year to 27 local agencies throughout the Southland. MWD has hired the former Imperial County agricultural agent to represent it, and tell the MWD story, in the area of the giant desert irrigation district. Imperial has hired lobbying and public relations firms in Sacramento to counter what the district claims is unfair publicity spread by MWD about Imperial.

Sounds like the two giant districts are taking to the trenches. In fact, the agencies appear to be closer now to concluding a tentative water-transfer agreement than they have been in more than a year. The current goal is to have the plan approved by Imperial County voters at a referendum next spring. This is good news, for all of California would benefit. Any new supply of water MWD can develop south of the Tehachapis, the less demand there is for costly additional supplies out of Northern California.

For several years, Imperial has been under order from the state Water Resources Control Board to conserve more water. MWD had offered to grant Imperial $10 million a year for up to 35 years, with the proceeds going for construction of conservation facilities, but Imperial held out for much more. A dollar figure has not yet been inserted into draft contracts being considered in this most recent round of negotiations. At first, MWD would receive about 100,000 acre-feet of water a year in return for constructing Imperial’s conservation facilities. As much as 400,000 acre-feet a year may ultimately be available out of Imperial’s more than 2 million acre-feet of irrigation supplies a year.

Imperial earlier attempted to take its conserved water on the open market to sell for more than twice the price that MWD was willing to pay. MWD argues that the complex law of the Colorado River bars Imperial from dealing with anyone but Metropolitan. Also, there still are fears that MWD, the giant water agency, will capture rural Imperial’s water for all time as the city of Los Angeles did in the Owens Valley generations ago. But in no sense should this be considered as Chinatown revisited. The contract should put such concerns to rest.

Imperial must act before long or the state board will force it to. MWD has to stabilize its long-range water supply. This proposed transfer has so many good things going for it, one wonders why it has taken so long to conclude.