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<br />SignOnSanDiego.com > News> Special Reports -- Imperial's decision <br /> <br />Page 5 of7 <br /> <br />State lawmakers allocated $200 million in 1998 to line the canal to stop <br />seepage, a move that frustrates Mexican farmers who count on <br />groundwater. <br /> <br />Pressure from Imperial Valley farmers - joined by Mormon settlers in <br />other Western states - led to passage ofthe Boulder Canyon Project Act <br />in 1928. From that rose Hoover Dam and the first major reservoir on <br />the Colorado. <br /> <br />More competition <br /> <br />Meanwhile, millions of migrants bypassed the arid valley, heading for <br />Hollywood and other points west. The Metropolitan Water District was <br />formed in 1925 to supply Southern California's growth spurt. The <br />wholesaler's 242-mile Colorado River aqueduct began carrying water to <br />urban centers in 1941. <br /> <br />Competition for water tightened as Southern California tract homes <br />and industry gobbled up orange groves. The courts grew as important <br />as canals. <br /> <br />Imperial, armed with the driving legal doctrine in water law known as <br />"first in time, first in right," continues to have first priority. <br /> <br />Farmers in the valley have relinquished 700,000 acre-feet, but retain <br />the right to about 3.1 million acre-feet, which amounts to three-fourths <br />of California's entire allotment from the river. <br /> <br />In contrast, Metropolitan has a right to draw 550,000 acre-feet from <br />the river every year, enough to keep its Colorado aqueduct half full. <br /> <br />Imperial County has 150,000 residents. Metropolitan serves 17 million <br />people, including about 3 million in San Diego County. <br /> <br />In 1964, the u.S. Supreme Court, acting on a petition from other states, <br />dealt California a stunning blow when it capped its share of the river at <br />4-4 million acre-feet. <br /> <br />The court, however, granted California a reprieve. It gave the u.S. <br />Interior secretary authority to send California more than its share as <br />long as a surplus remained in the river system. That arrangement <br />worked - for a time. <br /> <br />"There were 30 years where they didn't have to face the music," said <br />Dennis Underwood, a former high-ranking federal water official who is <br />now Metropolitan's lead negotiator on Colorado River issues. <br /> <br />Still, the decree was always in the background. <br /> <br />California uses about 5.2 million acre-feet a year - 800,000 acre-feet <br />more than its entitlement. <br /> <br />Drought that plagued California from 1987 to 1992 added to the <br />urgency. Deliveries to San Diego County, at the end of the pipeline, <br />were cut 30 percent during the worst of the dry spell. <br /> <br />http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/reports/water/20021208-9999-water.html <br /> <br />12/10/02 <br />