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FEB-28-1995 08:34 KOGOVSEK 8. R5SOC I RTES 303 831 1888 P. 04 February 1994 Page 5 CA: Water Begins FlowiDII Th.rouah the Morongo Pipeline On January 12, 1995, State Water Project (S-WP) water has begun to flow through the Morongo pipeline eastward from the Califomia Aqueduct ncar Hesperia to the Yucca Valley. The water will enable the high-desen Morongo Basin to reverse a 10ng-tenn problem of groundwater overdraft. When the State Water Project announced its plans to COnstNct the Califomia Aqueduct passing through the Mojave River Valley, the local community voted to establish the Mojave Water Agency (MWA) to take deliveries of water imponed from thi: north. Since 1960, M::NA has paid more than $50 million toward the construction coSt of the SWP. It is only with the opening of the Morongo pipeline that the area will actUally begin using some of its 50,800 acre-foot SWP entitlement. MW A will act as a wholesale aaency to local agencies in its 4,900 square mile service area. Its customers include the Hi-Desert Water District, Ioshua Basin Water District, Bighorn-Desert View Water Agency, and San Bernadino County. Tne total cost of the 72-mile pipeline pTOjc~ ',l.'l!S $52.2 million, and a umher $6S.25 million remains to be spent on the Hi-Desen extension and percolation ponds. In order to provide a sufficiently strong financial base to pay for this large scale project, the reGion created a joint powers authority. The community hired a public information linn to conduct a public education campaign. As. a result, 80 percent of voters approved the first bond issue in 1990 and ground was broken on December 9, 1992. The project will be completed under budget. With the Morongo pipeline almost completed, MW A is now working on the Mojave River pipeline that will take state project water nonh from the Hesperia turnout to aquifer recharge sites in Lenwood and Minneola. MW A is actively seeking other water su~plies to augment its SWP entitlement. co: Governor Declares "Time Out" on Land Swaps The pressures from developers wanting to exchange private for state tracts of land led Governor Roy Romer to declare a one-year "time-out" in swaps. The break will be used by state land commissioners to develop a new strategy for dealing with swaps and to son Out the back log of proposals. The Colorado State Board of Land Commissioners was created in 1876 to manage the 4.5 million acres of federal lands donated to the new state. The board has been staffed by three commissioners who receive $40,000 a year for their duties, which include managing 3 million surface acres of state trust land and 4 million mineral acres to make money for public schools and other state trusts. Surging growth in the state has put before the board a growing number of increasingly complex proposals - including a plan to tap underground water in Rangeview. A group made up of Jim Lochhead, executive director of the Colorado Depanment of Natural Resources, the three land commissioners, and some legislators will guide a one-year review of policies, including a review of how the board should weigh land preservation, recreation, wildlife, and long-tenn economic growth and other competing goals in evaluating swap proposals. "It is important that the board have a sound policy framework on which to base its decisions on how these very imponant assets are to be handled," said Gov. Romer, announcing the study. A private consultant will be hired to conduct an initial three-month study to outline the basic issues facing the board. While the review is underway, the board will not consider new proposals for land sales, land exchanges, and development agreements. But the board will continue processing the several dozen W ATEa IN'IELLIGENCE MONTHLY Published by Stralecan,lnc. P.o. 80. 963, C1aro_... CA 01111 I'.'> Ul-m3