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hnperial Irrigation District Colorado River diversions 3,200,000 3,100,000 3,000,000 oW II 2,900,000 ....--...----...........--.....-- IL dJ 2,800,000 &. ~ 2,700,000 2,600,000 2,500,000 2,400,000 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 Source: USSR records. Year 1996 estimated. Year -------------- --_.__.__._-~_._----------.--_._-------~--_.._--_._-_.--------. San Diego, once an independent con- tractor for Colorado River water, gave up its 11 2,000 acre-foot entitlement of poor priority water early to Metropolitan Water District in exchange for a firm water sup- ply. last year, however, San Diego County Water Authority began negotiating with Imperial Irrigation District to buy up to 500,000 acre-feet annually which, early Imperial reports indicated, could be saved through improved conservation practices. That figure dropped significantly after an Imperial Irrigation District study concluded the earlier estimate was unrealistic. A draft agreement released in July calls for a first delivery in 1999 of at least 20,000 acre- feet with annual increases of 20,000 acre- feet for the first 10 years and increasing thereafter by 8,000 acre-feet annually until the maximum available for export is reached. As in the Metropolitan-Imperial conser- vation deal, Coachella contends that any water not put to reasonable and beneficial use in Imperial Irrigation District must be allowed to flow to the next priority for possible use. This is especially important to Coachella Valley water users as the district attempts to reverse the deficit flows from its groundwater basin. To do this, Coachella needs 500,000 acre-feet a year, 1 70,000 more than it is currently diverting. The 132,000 acre-feet conserved by the lining of the Coachella Canal appears to have vanished into the drains of Imperial Valley which now carry 980,000 acre-feet of water annually to the Salton Sea. To assure Congress that Arizona had water available, that state had to win an ll-year federal Supreme Court battle known as Arizona vs. California-which fixed California's entitlement at 4.4 million acre-feet-before federal legislators would approve funding of the Central Arizona Project. The Central Arizona Project Act gave Arizona a lower priority to the river's water than California assuring California of its 4.4 million acre-feet in times of short- age.