U.S. Water News Online
SAN DIEGO -- U.S. Interior Secretary Gale Norton has signed a pact that ends years of bickering over the Colorado River and fulfills a promise that California made 70 years ago to limit its use of the river it shares with six other states.
The agreement, which was signed on the Hoover Dam, secures the water future for fast-growing Southern California through the nation's biggest transfer of water from farms to cities.
More than 30 million acre-feet of water, more than enough to fill Lake Mead, the nation's largest man-made lake, will move from farms to cities over the 75-year life of the deal.
Much of that water is coming to San Diego. The Imperial Valley, the state's biggest user of Colorado River water, will sell as much as 90 billion gallons worth each year to San Diego -- roughly a third of the city's future water needs.
Norton said the ``monumental'' deal is a roadmap for future water trades in the West, which will face increasing demand for scarce resources in years to come.
``This puts in place the basic building block of future agreements to meet water needs,'' Norton said.
Approval of the long-awaited deal also restores California's privileges to draw additional Colorado water for 15 years. The Interior Department revoked those privileges when California missed a Dec. 31 deadline to reach a deal. With the deal approved, Nevada will be allowed to draw water for fast-growing Las Vegas.
California is also committing itself to reduce its over-reliance on the Colorado River so other Western states can claim their full shares. The state promised to live within limits made when the Hoover Dam was built during the Great Depression. Over the years, however, the state has come to rely on excess water from the river as a major source of supply for Southern California.
``We're following through with the promises that were made 70 years ago,'' Norton said. ``Had we not resolved it now it could have been a serious obstacle to meeting the water needs throughout the Colorado River system for the long-term future.''
Four Southern California water agencies, who have spent years squabbling over the deal, signed the deal with little fanfare. Norton's signature was the final authorization needed to implement the agreement.
Norton acknowledged that the deal did not come easily. Imperial Valley, which rejected the deal in December, approved it earlier this month under enormous pressure from the federal government. The Interior Department had found the region's farmers were wasting Colorado River water and threatened to take away.
``Whenever you're doing something that is unique it takes a lot of time and a lot of effort,'' she said. ``The complex issues made it perhaps more difficult than future arrangements might be.''
It was a pair of Texas oil barons who started the state on a path that led to the signing ceremony on the Hoover Dam. In the early 1990s, Lee and Edward Bass bought up Imperial Valley farms and tried to sell to San Diego the water rights that came with the land.
That plan fell apart, but San Diego liked the idea of a supply of water that would free it from its near total dependence on the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California in Los Angeles. In 1997, San Diego and Imperial struck a deal.
Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt entered the picture the next year and made the water sale part of the department's goal of curbing California's overdependence on the Colorado.
Return to the U.S. Water News Archives page Or Return to the U.S. Water News Homepage
Editor@uswaternews.com
*Your Name:
*Your Email:
*Friend's Email:
Use a comma to separate e-mail addresses:
*Your Comments:
Hi, I thought you might like to read this article.
*Required Fields