Stretching Water Supplies

Creative solutions usually take a lot of work, but they usually are worth the effort. California interests in Washington have pulled off such a trick by taking unrelated water-development proposals and merging them into one new piece of legislation that merits speedy approval by Congress. It is a case of the new whole being greater than the sum of its old parts.

Some time ago legislation was introduced to transfer 16,000 acre-feet of water from the federal Central Valley Project to northern San Diego County in compliance with a court order upholding the water rights of five groups of Mission Indians. The Indians were entitled to the water, but the legislation had considerable opposition from those who did not like the idea of diverting Northern California water for that purpose.

Later the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California proposed legislation, which was introduced by Rep. Mel Levine (D-Santa Monica), to conserve up to 100,000 acre-feet of water each year by lining portions of the All-American and Coachella canals, which serve farmers in Imperial and Riverside counties. By financing the project the district would get the water that currently leaks away from the present earthen banks of the canals.

After negotiations that were conducted by the House Interior Committee’s water and power subcommittee, chaired by Rep. George Miller (D-Martinez), the bills were combined. The new legislation provides for the federal government to join Metropolitan in the All-American lining project, with the government’s share of the saved water being used to satisfy the San Diego County Indians’ water right. Other provisions would provide for emergency transfers of federal reservoir water to drought-stricken cities and farms in California and to seek ways to reduce fish and wildlife losses from the drought.

The new bill won approval of the full Interior Committee without a dissenting vote. Neat trick.