Water Deal With Potential

Officials in Los Angeles and San Diego have ratified a memorandum of understanding that will help assure that Southern California has a stable water supply for the next several decades. The deal between the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California and the San Diego County Water Authority would avert any severe cutback in the flow that Southern California now gets from the Colorado River. The action also considerably eases this region’s potential demand for more water from Northern California. But there’s a price, $235 million, to be picked up by the taxpayers of California.

The water deal sets an important precedent for California urban areas seeking to augment their water supplies through water-marketing contracts with agricultural irrigation districts. But as critical as that aspect may be, Californians must be assured that this money will be spent for the stated purpose and not be just a tool for striking a deal.

San Diego’s new water supplies would come from the giant Imperial Irrigation District under a contract providing 200,000 acre-feet a year, enough to supply the needs of more than 1 million residents. San Diego would pay for conservation facilities so that the Imperial district would not be forced to cut supplies to its farmer members.

The only way to get the water to San Diego is through the MWD’s 242-mile Colorado River Aqueduct. San Diego and the MWD negotiated for 18 months--bitterly at times--before reaching agreement. In final talks brokered by the office of Gov. Pete Wilson, the MWD and San Diego were still more than $200 million apart on the cost of using the MWD’s aqueduct. Negotiators felt the state was justified in making up the difference because the agreement was so important to California as a whole.

The plan is to get the needed $235 million from a $1.3-billion statewide water bond issue intended for the November election ballot. The governor talked of using the funds to save water by lining the All-American Canal, which carries water from the Colorado River to Imperial’s fields and the branch serving the Coachella Valley. The concrete lining would stop leakage from the canal. In previous water trades, the buying agency--most notably the MWD itself--and not the state paid for such conservation measures.

John Foley, chairman of the MWD, says the agreement could help end several decades of debate over California’s excessive use of Colorado River water, now under challenge by Arizona and other Colorado River Basin states. That’s true and it’s important. But California voters will need more specifics when they are asked to support this accord with their tax dollars.