WSP12999

• File Number: 8282.750
• Description: California 4.4 or QSA or Water Plan
• State: CA
• Basin: Colorado Mainstem
• Author: CWCB
• Title: California 4.4 Plan / QSA / Water Plan
• Water Supply Pro - Doc Type: News Article/Press Release

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programs to reduce California's
de~ndencc on the river.
Bennett RAley, the Interior
Depmmem's assistant secrewy for
water, said in a recent intervi~ that
there is little chance California could
cominue to receive surplus water if the
QSA is not executed by the end of the
year.

"It's important for

Califtrnia to undmtand

that without the interim

surplltS guitklinrs, it

woulJn't ha,)( had acc(ss

to surplus Colorado Riv,,"

wat,," in 2002, . Bmnm

Raley. AJsistdnt In"rior

Su.,..tary for w"tt'T, said,

-It is impossible to see how it

would have access to it in 2003
without the QSA," R.tley said.

Salton Sea Emerges
as a Stumbling Block
The IlD.San Diego transfer may be
the cornerstone of the 4.4 plan, but
the Salton So is its Achilles' heel.
What wuoded so attainable a few
years ago has proven elusive in the face
of questions over the impact on the
Salton &a and the lm~rial Valley's
economy.
As originally envisioned, the
transfer hinged on co~rvation.
Imperial Valley &.rmers would improve
theit irrig2[ion techniques, thereby
reducing their water needs and freeing
up thousands of acre-feet each ~r.
The co~rved water, which eventually
would toul 200,000 acre-feet annually
or enough to meet the needs of
400,000 households, was to be sold to
San Diego for $50 million a }Ur.
At the time the conceptu41 dea.l was
signed in 1998, the federal govern-
ment was working on a comprehensive
plan to address the ailing sea. Four
years hte:r, the federal plan remains

incomplete: as the U.S. Burau of
Red;unation continues to search for
alternatives to address the sea's increa.s-
ing salinity. The Sahon Sea Authority
has said a solution could cost $1.6
billion or more.
The 35-mile.long inland .sea. which
has been called the crown jewel of
avl.11l habitat, was created nearly 100
years ago when a I~ee breach te:mpo-
wily .sent the: entire flow of the
Colorado River into an ancient seabea
known as the Salton Sink. Today, the
sea is fed solely by irrigation runoff
and is 25% more saline than the
o=n.
The sea grows ~tier every day and
is expected to turn hyper-saline in the:
next 20 to 30 years, at which point
salinity will be tOO great to support the
fish populadons that are a food source
for important bird species.
erides say a con.servarion.b;lSCd
lID.San Diego water transfe:r could
accele:rate that process dramatically by
reducing agricultural drainage flowing
into the sea. In addition, depriving the
sea of runoff could create massive air
quality problems as square mile after
square mile of the sa's bed becomes
exposed.
Such concerns have ratcheted up
the pressure on II D to rurn to fallow-
ing rather than conservation to free: up
the water for the transfer.
But ImlX'riallrrigation District
(110) officials, and others in the
Imperial Valley, say raking that much
acrelge out of production - up to 20%
of the district's arable land - will
devastate an already depressed
economy. They continue to press for a
sce:nario that will protect the valley's
economic base and its water rights
without leaving farmers wlely on the
hook for addressing the Salton $ea.
"We agreed to conserve water and
increa.se efficiency," liD Director Andy

i
<S

ACWA News. October 21.2002