U.S. Water News Online
LAS VEGAS -- Likening the West's latest water war to a ``high-stakes game of power,'' Interior Secretary Gale Norton played a hand none of her predecessors have: cutting back the amount of water California draws from the Colorado River.
Norton said the history of the Colorado River, which brings water to millions of people in seven states, had reached a turning point, declaring, ``The era of limits is upon us.''
As of Jan. 1, the Interior Department will begin withholding river water from California, Norton said, although exactly how much water the state would lose had yet to be worked out. Water agencies supplying Los Angeles and San Diego said they have enough reserves to last two years.
For years, the state has used enough excess water from the Colorado to supply 1.6 million households because other states didn't use their full share. Rapid growth in the West, combined with the worst drought in the river's history, forced the Interior Department to crack down.
``As secretary and river master, I must enforce the law of the river,'' Norton said at the Colorado River Water Users Association's annual convention in Las Vegas. ``This means I will hold California to the express covenant it made in 1929 to limit its use of the Colorado River.''
The secretary's move, which had been widely expected, comes in the wake of the collapse of a historic water-sharing pact aimed at reducing California's long-standing overuse of the river known as ``America's Nile'' serving millions from Denver to San Diego.
California had until Dec. 31 to adopt a plan to curb its overuse of the river or face immediate cutbacks. But she offered to allow California's usual surplus to flow through the Hoover Dam if the state could sign the pact after the deadline.
Imperial Valley, home to California's poorest residents and by far the state's biggest user of the Colorado, removed the linchpin to the deal recently when local water officials narrowly rejected a 75-year deal to transfer water from desert farms to San Diego and other cities.
Reducing California's draw from the Colorado will have little impact on the Imperial Valley, which is entitled to its massive share of river water. But it will be felt in Los Angeles and San Diego, which are forced to import water.
``Over time, the reduction in Colorado River water could have very real impacts to all water users in Southern California,'' Norton said.
Negotiators for San Diego and Imperial were holding talks in Las Vegas to try to resurrect the deal, but both sides seemed far apart. A major sticking point was the Salton Sea, an inland lake fed by salt-laden farm runoff.
``The people of the valley officially found themselves between the devil and the Salton Sea,'' Imperial's water board said. The sea is home to endangered species but may soon be too salty to support them. Imperial officials fear they will get stuck with the cost of fixing the problem, the cost of which has been estimated as high as $1 billion.
Norton said the problem of the Salton Sea was so large that its solution to the Salton Sea must come from the Congress, and she could offer no further inducements for Imperial.
``I don't see anybody stepping forward to sweeten the pot,'' she said.
The Interior secretary promised in her speech at the lavish Caesar's Palace casino that her department would show its hand and prove that the department is not bluffing. But Imperial Valley water officials believe they have a better hand to play.
``My deck has five aces,'' said Stella Mendoza, president of the Imperial Irrigation District's board and a staunch opponent of the transfer.
The valley does hold some powerful cards. It's the nation's largest irrigation project, controlling a trillion gallons of water a year -- about 70 percent of all the Colorado River water that throws through California.
Imperial water officials offered to ship San Diego enough water for 400,000 people over five years for $20 million.
``Take it or leave it,'' Mendoza said. Southern California water users say they want a long-term deal.
Dennis Cushman of the San Diego County Water Authority was more hopeful that some accommodation could be reached. He strongly urged the Imperial Valley to reconsider, given the alternatives.
The board ``will determine the destiny of the valley for years to come through their votes,'' he said. ``Failure to confirm these agreements will open up the greatest era of unrest that the parties have ever faced on the Colorado River.''
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