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are not laughing. They want to cut a deal to transfer billions of gallons from the Imperial Imgalion DIS- trict to San Diego County, possibly with the aid of the biggest water baron of t,hem all. the Los Angeles. based Metropolitan Water District. But Levy has served notice that he thInks an Imperial.San DIego deal is illegal without CoacheHa. s approval and that he'll go to court unless the behemoths make SlUe Coachella's water needs are met. He's done it before. At stake are San Diego's zeal to become "water independen~" rather than a captive client of MWD. and the desire by Imperial Valley to sell some of its bountiful supply of water to bail out its chronically depressed economy and undercapitalized farms. It's a good bet that neither San Diego nor Imperial Valley will fulfill its heart's desire. at least not quickly, unless Levy's demands are met. -rom Levy is a hardba1l nego- tiator, an extortionist with a smile," said Francesca Krauel. a San Diego County Water AuthOrity board member. "He's very smart. and he knows exactly what he wants. He never backs down." "Tom's a go-for-the-jugular, c:uttbroat kind of guy," said John Lockwood, former general man- ager of the San Diego authority. "He's out to get everything he can for his district, whether he's enti- tled to it or nol" There is a CODSiderable body of legal opinion that Levy's p0- sition has IIlIfficient merit to tie the deal up for years in the courts if DOt lCUttle it altogether. -rom is defiDite1y in the cat- bird's seat," lIIid Steven Erie. pr0- fessor of poU1ical1Cience at UC San Dieso and an ezpert on Southern California's infrastructure disputes. " "The only question is how big a bite he gets. " When MWD and the Imperial Irrigation Distriet signed a water transfer in the early 1990s. Levy sued on the same principle he is now espousing. MWI) and the im- perial distriet settled out of court, giving Coaehella an additional 50,000 acre-feet of water a year. This tim( Levy would like 170,000 acre-feet, and lmperiaI Jr- ngation District officials appear in a mood to fight their smallish northern neighbor. The Coachella district already receIves 330,000 acre-feet from the Colorado River, and another 170.000 would push it to 500.000, a figure Levy has made into a kind of mantra. An acre-foot is enough water for two families for a year. At a meeting of the San Diego authority this month, Imperiallrri- galion District general manager Michael Clinton lashed out at Coa. chella as havmg a history of wast- ing water. demanding "water wel- fare" and engaging in "bait and switch" negotiations. Clinton said Coachella, with Levy at the helm. is engaging in "Mulholland-like tactics" by send- ing consultants into the Imperial Valley to see if farmers are wasting water that could be used in Coa. chella. Clinton's incendiary comments included a dismissive reference to ""the antics of Coachelja" as "a sideshow to the main event in which San Diego and Imperial are engaged." Later be mailed copies of his comments to the news media and placed ads in loeal newspapers. Levy responded with some of his unique brand of water humor. Be bad buttons printed with the words "'Coachella Valley Water District" on them. along with a picture of the menac:ing-looking, cigar-chomping Mulholland. the water boss of Los Angeles from 1886 to 1928. Levy also printed oversized replicas of a five-dollar bill. with his picture instead of Abraham Lmco1n's and the mot- toes '1D CVWD We Trust" 8Dd "Five Hundred Thousand Acre Feel" The buttons and phony five- spots were Levy's way of saying Coaehella is not going away. "There are people who think of us as a nuisance, " Levy lIIid. "Over time, it eeems that people who think that way have regretted it" D By the D1IIDberI. the eo-beUa cIilItrict ill DOl in the 88IIle leque as San Dieso. the Imperial district 8Dd MWD. Jmperial Valley takes more wa- ter from the Cokndo River in six weeb tbaD "'-....la draWl all year. ;:-.0 DIeBo IerVes 2.6 million people. MWD supplies m% of the water used by 16 million people in IIix counties. The Coachelja district serves Im.OOO people and 70.000 acres of farmland in the sun-bleached des- ert in the southeast end of River- side County and a desolate sliver of Imperial County north of the Sal- ton Sea. As in many rural districts. the bulk of its water (98%) is used for farming. The district also includes dozens . of thirsty goU courses, most of which are fed by ground water. As a result, the district's Jl'OUDd water supply is rapidly being depleted. But Coachella's positIon of strength in this regional strUggle is based not on acreaee or Its number of golf courses o:-:most definitely. Its poliucal clout. Coachelja's trump card is the 1931 agreement divvymg up Cali- fornia's share of the Colorado River. Under that aereemenl. the Palo Verde Irrigation District. based in Blythe. has first call, followed. m order. by the Yuma water projeCt. the ImPerw district and Coachelja Valley. MWD and San Diego. In 1934 the agreement was modified so that Coachejja Valley. whose spot in the pecking order had been equal to Imperial's, would take a back seat. Henceforth. im- perial was third in line, Coat'hella fourth. The c:oncession was required by the federal govemmect in ex- change for an interest-free loan to build the 122-mile CoacheUa Caua1 as an offaboot of the All-American Canal. which brings Colorado River water to ImperiaJ CountY. The 1934 qreement, in effect, solidified the right of lmperiaI Valley to get its fill of Colorado River befor!: Coaehella gets a drop. If the rivt:t dips. Imperial Valley Itaya lush aDd CWt'btilaJUl!ll dry. -We bad a sun put to oar bead. .. Levy aid or the 1934 acreement. "and 80 our board siped. " It is common in Califomia water disputes that one side is festering over a historie wrong: Los Aqelea. for example, "stealing" Owens Valley water or San Dieso beiDg forced to join MWD. In the Coaehe1Ia Valley. the IeDlIe or injustice OYer the 1934 ~ matiDg Ita water DeedI --. .,ient to tboIe of the lmperial Valley remaiDs un.1.......~ "'What we WIlDt is wbat we think we're entitled to," LeYy aid. "'The premiIe of Weatem water Jaw is 'reasonable and beneficial use.' You don't have the right to waste. DD over the years has been wasteful. .. Levy, 56. was a San Fernando Valley aerospace engineer wbo had grown weary of the boOm-and- bust cycles of that industry when he moved to Coachella 25 Yea!'S 110 to take a job as a sanitation engi_ neer for the district. When he was named general manager 14 years later. one of his first moves was to form a litigation committee with noted water law specialists. The district has en- gaged in a series of disputes with its neighbors, mostly the Imperial diStrict. over water supplies, elec- tricity and flooding at the Salton Sea eaused by Imperial runoff. " FRIDAY. NOVEMBER 19. 19% In the current dispute. Coa- chelja's lep.l stance is that under the 1931 agreement- and other federal water laws dal- ing to 1902-the Imperial Im~. tion District can use Colorado River water only within its distr1ct boundaries and that any water not used by Imperial shouid be avail- able for Coac:heUa. Imperial and San ~ officials take the VieW that Levy's posiUOn is. well. all wet. and that state law encourages water tranSfers. Six months ago. when MWD offlCials were annoved at tile idea of San Diego mizung a water agreement with lmj)erial. an MWD attorney DOtified Imperial that the agency bad grave doubts about whether IUl:h an apeemeat is lepl. At the time. IIWD officiaI8 were worried about klIiDg San Diep as Ita best eo-omer. If San Diep bu1I leis water fna IIWD be- eauIe it bas found aaatber .oun:e or water. it c:ouId tbrDw the 1lWD'. ambitious in6ut1"lIdUre plans for its 26 client agencies in Southern California into disarray. MWI)'s aWtude bas c:baDpd or late. A week ago. the qeDCy announced a propaIal wbas, San : Diep CDUld buy water fna im- perial Valley and let It flow to San Diep in 1IWD'.2G-1IIIe IqUeduet from the Qlkndo RiYer. The prapaaal was trampeIed by MWD as a Win-will-Win: Imperial ptS 1DllIIe1.11WD keeps SlIIl Dieao as. eo~__. and SmDieF,. mare waterwitbauL bniac to build Ita own I3.5-I1Wiaa ..,-"'d h all"JDUes 110 ...~ to !.ny. Be IIid hill diItriel iI ready to fi8bt in the c:aarta well lido the DeXl cemury. nprdIea 01 wbIt. paaitioa the IIWD tMe&. . Be .... waued water __ in the lMt-bella ValIe7 to apect the lawsuit to be praIaapd and eGIt millions in lepl fees. "The only question is whether DD and San Dieso want:to .we with 1m this century t)efore . lawsuit or next century after . lawsuit," Levy said. ADd he:aiIded with a IIIIi1e, "'I'm DOt bluffing." .