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• Board Meeting Date: 5/20/2008
• Description: CWCB Director's Report
• Board Meetings - Doc Type: Memo

Osuna, 52, spoke after the signing of an agreement for academic collaboration between UCSD and the
Tijuana-based think tank E1 Colegio de la Frontera Norte. Under the accord, the two institutions plan to
exchange faculty and conduct joint seminars on topics such as immigration and the economy.
The governor's lecture touched on a wide range of topics, including aquaculture, education, climate
change and major infrastructure projects, such as a massive port planned south of Ensenada at Punta
Colonet, expected to go out to bid this year.
Osuna said ensuring a future water supply is a critical issue for Baja California, which relies heavily on
the Colorado River. To avert future shortages, the state is looking at a series of measures, including
desalination, water reuse and water-saving technologies in the Mexicali Valley.
The governor said that Mexico and the United States are discussing ways to decrease damage to the
Mexicali Valley caused by the lining of the All-American Canal in Imperial County, a U. S. water
conservation project that will prevent water from seeping across the border into Mexico.
Osuna said renewable-energy projects relying on water, wind and solar energy are in the planning stages.
The state's energy plan calls for a hydroelectric plant at Carrizo Dam outside Tijuana, as well as a wind
energy project in La Rumorosa, a plateau between Tecate and Mexicali.
President Felipe Calderon is expected to announce a solar energy project for Baja California soon.
(Source: San Diego Union-Tribune)
CLAIMING A SHARE OF THE RIVER -Even though earth warming is expected to melt the
polar ice fields and bring unwanted water to our coasts, public officials across the United States are
hustling to establish claims on the nation's water resources. North Dakota has a huge stake in this national
frenzy to redistribute water.
The eight states and two Canadian provinces bordering the Great Lakes are now forming the Great Lakes
Basin Compact to prevent diversion out of the world's largest supply of fresh water to other parts of the
country. California and Arizona are pressing for changes in the Colorado River Compact to get upper
river states to send more water down to the booming southwest.
Georgia, Alabama and Florida are engaged in a water fight over Lake Sidney Lanier water. California and
Arizona have been eyeing the Columbia River. States are looking for water in other basins, and the
Missouri is not off their screens.
North Dakota's greatest concern is establishing a claim to its share of the Missouri River.
Because of strong opposition in downstream states to diversion of water from the Missouri, North Dakota
has been engaged in a running battle with the Corps of Engineers over its Missouri management plan.
The Great Lakes states are rushing their compact because they are concerned over the certain decline in
congressional representation after the 2010 census.
Even though the Garrison Diversion Project fell apart, the state has been staking some ownership to the
Missouri. The visionary water distribution systems involved in the Southwest Water Authority (Dickinson
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