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Growing water dispute in the desert

Coachella Valley Water District zanjero Ken Gray kneels at a flume at a water-replenishment basin.

Coachella Valley Water District zanjero Ken Gray kneels at a flume at a water-replenishment basin.  (Don Bartletti / Los Angeles Times)

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The Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians is suing the Coachella Valley Water District and the Desert Water Agency. The tribe contends the agencies are taking too much water from the aquifer and degrading the quality of what remains by mixing in untreated Colorado River water.

Source of a fight

Jeff Grubbe, tribal chairman of the Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians, at the Andreas Canyon oasis.  (Don Bartletti / Los Angeles Times)

Source of a fight

A tourist photographs a seed grinding mortar at the Andreas Canyon oasis on the Agua Caliente Cahuilla Indian reservation in Palm Springs.   (Don Bartletti / Los Angeles Times)

Source of a fight

Drip irrigation feeds a table-grape vineyard in the desert town of Thermal.  (Don Bartletti / Los Angeles Times)

Source of a fight

Irrigation water floods the floor of a date palm grove in the Coachella Valley.   (Don Bartletti / Los Angeles Times)

Source of a fight

The Coachella Canal in the foreground carries Colorado River past a table-grape vineyard in Thermal.  (Don Bartletti / Los Angeles Times)

Source of a fight

With the availability of groundwater and imported Colorado River water, the sandy desert soil in the Coachella Valley yields a maturing crop of carrots.   (Don Bartletti / Los Angeles Times)

Source of a fight

The Coachella Canal in the foreground carries Colorado River through the desert landscape of the Coachella Valley.   (Don Bartletti / Los Angeles Times)

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