Water Agency, San Diego Fail to Reach Pact

Negotiators for San Diego and the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California have failed to reach an agreement needed for historic water sales between San Diego and Imperial Valley, officials said Sunday.

Although differences between the MWD and the San Diego County Water Authority have narrowed considerably in recent weeks, negotiators for both sides were unable Saturday to reach agreement during a session in Ontario mediated by David Kennedy, director of the state Department of Water Resources.

On Sunday, officials from both sides said it is undecided whether more negotiating sessions will take place or whether the issue will go to the state Legislature, which has vowed to force a settlement if San Diego and the MWD cannot reach an accord.

At issue is how much the MWD will charge San Diego to deliver the Imperial Valley water through the Colorado Aqueduct, and whether the water will get priority in the aqueduct or only be delivered on a space-available basis when the aqueduct has excess capacity.

San Diego has insisted that it should only pay the actual cost of delivering the water--and should not be charged for maintenance of the overall MWD system, which brings water from the Colorado River and Northern California to 16 million Southern California residents in six counties.

The MWD has rejected both conditions and accused San Diego of trying to shirk its share of the system’s overhead and also of imperiling water supplies for neighboring counties with its demand for an assured priority in the aqueduct.

Under the proposed deal, announced Thursday amid much triumphant flourish, San Diego would buy 130,000 to 300,000 acre-feet of water each year from the Imperial Valley. The Imperial Irrigation District would use the money to install water conservation equipment.

San Diego County has been chaffing at being part of the MWD for half a century. The Imperial Valley deal would allow the county to lessen its near total dependence on the giant water agency. But in the process, the proposed deal has threatened to upend the MWD structure and has caused a split between San Diego and nearly every other water agency in Southern California.

The deal comes as California is under extraordinary pressure from the federal government, which controls the Colorado River, to begin using water more efficiently.

Southern California gets the bulk of its water from the Colorado River. But for decades the state has been taking more than its share--in effect, taking water that belongs to other Western states.

Now those states--mostly Arizona, Nevada and Colorado--are demanding that California be prevented from taking more than its share of the river water. Last year, for example, Southern California took 800,000 acre-feet more water from the Colorado River than its entitlement.

U.S. Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt, a former governor of Arizona, has threatened to reduce Southern California’s take from the Colorado River unless it begins conserving water and instituting water deals between urban water agencies and water-rich agricultural agencies.

The 800,000 acre-feet of water that Southern California took this year from the Colorado River is enough to satisfy the needs of 1.6 million families. Thus any reduction from the Colorado River could prove painful to the region’s lifestyle and crimp its economic recovery.

Babbitt is set to deliver a major speech this week in Las Vegas to a gathering of states and regional agencies that are dependent on the Colorado River.

Babbitt is expected to announce whether he will reduce Southern California’s take from the Colorado River and also express support for a deal between San Diego and Imperial Valley.