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<br />Western -water pacfnear
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<br />R from Page 1A including recycling its agricuitural plan, worrying that California -
<br />runoff and a plan transferring . which has first priority on ~ river
<br />t 3.85 million acre-feet, goes to. those water savings ~ San Diego. l;"': will suck dry its Lake PowelJ re-
<br />ling farmland in the parched ,,"We've' already done everytbiDg . ,serves during drought years,'Fur-
<br />eastern part. of the state, ,that we 'caDdo," Imperial district" ther, Colorado is, skittish about ,Cat-
<br />,powerful agnbusinesses dou.. general manager Jesse SUva said ' ifornla's continued reliance 011 its
<br />and <<:ven.triple-crop each y~, 'during an interview Thursday.. unwied water; especlallywben Col.
<br />irrigatIng their fields With "Met's the one who needs water. orado counts on' using its unused
<br />that stretch for miles. ',They'J,'e goini to ba~e: to work it ' share as, an expected 2 million new-
<br />Imperial Irrigation District' out themselves." ,'comers . flock , to' tbe Centennial
<br />of four agricultural districts ' The rest of the responsibility to State in the next 20 years,
<br />- each year uses 3.1 million cut back now falls to Metropolitan "There's Do way to move forward
<br />-feet. That's significantly and its urban users along Southem without it," said Colorado Depart-
<br />than all river water' used inCalifornla's coastal 'strip' and in- , ment of Natural Resources director
<br />tb~ntire state of Aritona. Farm- land regions, DNpite the Golden Greg Walcher., " . ,
<br />e "here grow one-seventh of the State's ilgr~m~ttO conserve, it ~ the meantime"the sev~states
<br />n IDl>,'produce, including: most "remains uncleai~actly where the ~ will in the coming months negotiate
<br />Ie ,ce, carrots, broccoli, caun: 400,000 acre-f~UireduCtions,wUl ',with one ano~ and the Interior
<br />n . er ~J;ld melo~s tbat Americans come from. , '\ " ' Department ovei' the surplus rules.
<br />e uong the wmter Dl-onths, The 'most likely source will be All sides are hoping to cUnch a plan .
<br />Angeles' Metropolitan Water Lake Powell and Lake Mead, where before January; when Babbitt, a
<br />ict, along With ColoradO and the, U,S, B~reau o.f Reclamation f?rmer wat,er law.yer, ends ~s
<br />r upstream states, bas lam- stores m8SSlve, amounts of. water, '. eight-year 8tmt leading the Intenor
<br />ed the Imperial district for. California wants Interior Secretary Department .. ,
<br />eful practices especially for Bruce Babbitt to relax rules about: "We've collie so far and worked 1
<br />. ing tbousan~ of acre-feet to such storage, allowing Metropolibln, ' so long," said the Imperial district's
<br />into the earth along its canals, to,keep its system full by more Silva; "I can't see ilDyone backing
<br />Imperial district has respond- . freely tapping those reservoirs, ' out now," ,
<br />itb a plan to line its ditches, Colorado and fellow upper-basin ' Tbe Associated Press'contributed
<br />otber conservation measUres, states are concerned about that to this report,
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