Water Districts Sweeten Offer to Imperial Valley

In hopes of saving a deal considered key to preventing a drastic reduction in Southern California’s supply of Colorado River water, two urban water districts have offered what they say are significantly improved terms for the Imperial Valley to sell water to thirsty San Diego County.

But reaction Monday from officials of the rural Imperial Irrigation District was decidedly lukewarm.

Andy Horne, an Imperial official involved in daylong negotiating sessions in Sacramento, said the deal offered by the San Diego County Water Authority and the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California does not address the major concerns of farmers and others in the Imperial Valley about leaving farmland fallow and protecting the Salton Sea.

Horne said the deal appears to require fallowing more land than farmers want and fails to protect the district from an enormous bill for environmental restoration of the Salton Sea.

“We just don’t see this as very responsive,” Horne said.

Officials from the San Diego, Imperial Valley and Metropolitan districts met privately for most of Monday, along with officials from the Coachella Valley Water District. Legislators and officials from several state agencies also attended.

A spokesman for Mary Nichols, state resources director, called the session, which began Sunday night, “a cordial discussion” and said negotiations may continue today.

By Dec. 31, the state must devise a plan to use less Colorado River water or face a mandatory cutback by the Department of the Interior. The San Diego-Imperial deal is seen as key to the state’s plans for a voluntary reduction.

If the Department of the Interior makes good on its threat, Southern California could lose up to 800,000 acre-feet of water a year, enough to supply 1.6 million families.

For years the rapidly growing coastal region has been using “surplus” water that belongs to other states; now those states want California to live within its allocation. By historic rights, the Imperial district controls nearly 75% of the state’s entitlement to the Colorado River.

“Everybody is taking the Department of the Interior seriously,” said Adan Ortega, an official with the Metropolitan Water District, which provides water to six Southern California counties. “If we don’t come to terms, we expect them to follow through.”

With the Legislature set to adjourn later this week, a sense of urgency has taken over what is often the languid pace of negotiations over water matters.

As early as today, an Assembly committee will hear a bill by State Sen. Sheila Kuehl (D-Santa Monica) meant to aid the San Diego-Imperial deal. The bill would limit the amount the Imperial Valley district might have to pay to offset damage done to the Salton Sea by the transfer.

Because the sea is sustained by farm runoff, any reduction in water use in the Imperial Valley could increase the salinity of the sea, potentially killing birds and fish. Under state and federal law, the Imperial Irrigation District could be held responsible for damaging the sea, a liability that could total hundreds of millions of dollars.

The governing board of the Imperial district, one of the nation’s largest agricultural irrigation districts, is set to meet Thursday in El Centro to discuss the San Diego and MWD proposal.

San Diego would pay $130 million to the Imperial Irrigation District at the beginning of the 75-year contract. Also, farmers would not need to fallow land for five years because the water for San Diego in those years would come from water being sold to Metropolitan by the Palo Verde Irrigation District in Blythe.

San Diego officials said this would give Imperial Valley officials five years to prepare for the economic impact of letting a portion of their fields go dry. Starting in year six, Imperial Valley would be required to fallow land for 10 years.

Horne said the offer is unacceptable because it merely moves money from the latter years of the contract to the first year. Also, the duration of fallowing is longer than farmers will accept, he said.

Two weeks ago, the Imperial Irrigation District offered to drop its adamant opposition to fallowing, but only for five years while water conservation devices are installed on farms.

“The Valley is not going to bankrupt itself for this deal,” Horne said.