U.S. Rejects Reprieve on Deadline for Water Deal

LAS VEGAS -- Hopes that coastal Southern California might get a reprieve from a Dec. 31 deadline and avoid a water cutback were dashed Monday when Interior Secretary Gale Norton said she will immediately order such a reduction if a deal for Imperial Valley farmers to sell water to cities is not reached.

Some officials at the annual convention of the Colorado River Water Users Assn. were hoping that Norton might announce a last-minute arrangement to give four Southern California agencies more time to reach an agreement.

Instead, Norton said that it was “time to lay our cards on the table and demonstrate that the Department of Interior has not been bluffing.”

But Norton tempered her tough talk with a softer approach toward the Imperial Irrigation District, whose refusal to sign the deal has sent the world of Western water planning into disarray. Norton declined to single out the Imperial district for criticism.

She also backed off on comments made last week by Assistant Interior Secretary Bennett Raley, the administration’s point man on Western water issues, that the government might move to reduce the Imperial district’s gigantic allotment of the Colorado River, without compensation, if the Dec. 31 deadline is not met.

The Imperial district has already hired lawyers to fight any attempt by the government to brand the district as wasteful and take some of its water.

Imperial directors said they appreciated Norton’s softer tone and her refusal to characterize Imperial as being intransigent or the district’s concerns as being illegitimate. They had been annoyed by the hardball bargaining that preceded an Oct. 15 tentative agreement.

“I hope it’s a message,” said Director Andy Horne. “If so, we received it. We appreciate that we have not been singled out.”

Other officials say that the different tone could be helpful in aiding the negotiations between Imperial, the San Diego County Water Authority, the Coachella Valley Water District and the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California.

“They’re working on it, so it’s not helpful to throw out extra threats right now,” said Larry Dozier, deputy general manager of the Central Arizona Project.

Arizona stands to gain water if California cannot meet the Dec. 31 deadline and the Department of Interior suspends the surplus water shipments, theoretically dividing the water among other Western states.

Imperial directors have said there has been daunting pressure from the state and federal governments, as well as water officials throughout Southern California and six other states. That made it difficult, but still necessary, to reject the deal at the eleventh hour.

“I’ve been sweating dirt clods over this,” said Director Bruce Kuhn, who provided the swing vote in the 3-2 rejection.

Under complex agreements between the federal government and seven states that depend on the Colorado River, California is assured of 4.4 million acre-feet of water -- 75% of which goes to the Imperial Irrigation District for desert agriculture.

By receiving so-called surplus water, California has been receiving more than 5.2 million acre-feet of water.

The extra water goes to the Metropolitan Water District for distribution to agencies serving 17 million people in six counties.

The other drought-beset Colorado River states have demanded that California learn to live within its allotment of 4.4-million acre-feet.

In an agreement two years ago, those states said they would allow California 15 more years to wean itself from surplus water but only if certain deadlines were met.

The Dec. 31 is the first such deadline. Norton said she had no authority to extend it.

“It makes no sense to respond to a failure to meet the first deadline, in the seven-states deadline, by lessening the requirements for enhanced access to surplus water,” Norton said.

Ronald Gastelum, president and chief executive of the Metropolitan Water District, said the agency has enough water in storage to offset the loss of surplus water for two years.

“I would classify this as a serious situation but not yet dire,” Gastelum said. “Dire would suggest we’re not prepared. We are.”

Beyond a different tone in negotiations, Norton offered nothing that will help alleviate Imperial’s concern about being billed hundreds of millions of dollars for damage done to the Salton Sea if the deal is struck. The sea, which survives on agricultural runoff, will shrink and become saltier if Imperial reduces its water usage.

“I don’t see anyone stepping forward to sweeten the deal,” Norton said.

Under the proposed 75-year agreement, the Imperial district would sell up to 200,000 acre-feet of water to San Diego County.