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The~a1t Lake Tribune -- F eds Threaten to Keep Water From California WEDNESDAY December 11, 2002 Quick Search . Utah Politics Online Poll 2002 Olympics Front Page Contents Past Editions Search Archives 2002 Light .. ~ Bri ade Weather Obituaries Today's A-l Help Desk Advertising Info Cars & R.V.s Classifieds Employment Grocery Guru Real Estate Retail Print Ads Utah CitY9uide Nation/World Utah Business Sports Editorials - Commentary - Public Forum Lifestyle Page 1 of2 Nation/World Ji: ~ == - _~"~<C~"'" ~ ~ _~ ~_~_ =~",~~,>"~*"=~_""",_"__",,M.{;;;.:=~,,,,,~1:ii GET WAlE R WH ERE YOU WANT IT! Water Pumps & Tanks NowatSEARS.com 1_._-_'_'_1_ CRAFTSMAN@ Feds Threaten to Keep Water From California BY SETH HETTENA THE ASSOCIATED PRESS EL CENTRO, Calif. -- The Interior Department said Tuesday it would make good on a threat to withhold enough Colorado River water to supply 1.6 million households in California at the start of the new year. The announcement came a day after the state's poorest county rejected a deal to relinquish part of its huge share of river water -- the linchpin to a broader agreement to curb the state's historic overuse of the Colorado. "This decision will have very serious consequences for all of California," said Bennett Raley, the department's assistant secretary. Beginning Jan. 1, the Interior Department will bar California from using surplus Colorado River water, he said. For years, California has used 800,000 acre-feet more than the 4.4 million acre- feet it is entitled to under an agreement with seven Western states because the other states didn't use all their allotment. Three years of rapid growth across the West, however, have prompted the Interior Department to enforce "the law of the river," Raley said. Withholding surplus Colorado River water would be unlikely to trigger water shortages anytime soon. Water districts in Los Angeles and San Diego, the two biggest urban users of the water, have said they have adequate supplies for at least the next two years. The focus of the government's scrutiny is sure to fall on farmers in the Imperial Valley, the nation's largest irrigation district, which receives more than 3 million acre-feet of Colorado water each year. Raley suggested that Interior Secretary Gail Norton has the authority to seize any water that is being wasted, but has not yet decided to. In any event, there will have to be steps taken to curb water use by farmers. On Monday, the Imperial Irrigation District's board of directors voted 3-2 to reject a deal to transfer nearly 500,000 acre-feet of water a year -- enough for 1 million households -- to districts across Southern California. The biggest portion, up to 200,000 acre-feet, would have gone to fast-growing San Diego County. Imperial water officials say 98 percent of its water is used to irrigate farms that produce $1 billion worth of food each year from desert farm fields in a region with the lowest median income in California. "Without water in the Imperial Valley, we are nothing," said Imperial http://www.sltrib.com/2002/decIl2112002/nation_wIl0177.asp "1 rl'l? ,~ G:I EMAIL THIS STORY ~ PRINT THIS STORY Advertising '~"'=-Il!!i!l. .. 12/12/02