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<br />California Update <br />In1931 California's seven Colorado <br />River parties - IID, Palo Verde <br />Irrigation District (PVID), Coachella <br />Valley Water District (CVWD), <br />MWD, the Los Angeles Department <br />of Water and Power, and the city and <br />county of San Diego - developed their <br />own agreement to apportion the state's <br />share of the water. They included an <br />apportionment to the Yuma reserva- <br />tion division in that agreement. Today, <br />the city and county of San Diego are <br />represented by one entity - the <br />SDCWA. <br />Sixty-six years later, California is <br />again facing the challenge of deter- <br />mining how it will administer its <br />annual apportionment. Today, how- <br />ever, the focus centers on how those <br />users can better manage their Colorado <br />River supplies. The key is twofold: <br />water conservation in the agricultural <br />sector and water transfers to the urban <br />sector. <br />That solution will require changes <br />in water allocation to establish some <br />sort of "quantification" of the irriga- <br />tion districts' water entitlements. <br />Currently, the districts, PVID, the <br />Yuma reservation division, IID and <br />CVWD, have rights to 3.85 million <br />acre-feet of California's 4.4 million <br />acre-feet allocation. However, there <br />is no set allocation for each district. <br />This has generated controversy over <br />IID's 1989 agreement with MWD to <br />conserve 106,000 acre-feet of water <br />annually, which, in turn, goes to <br />MWD. Despite the conservation <br />measures, IID's water use has in- <br />creased. In order for any future trans- <br />fers to proceed, IID must be able to <br />measure its water use to determine <br />how much has been conserved and <br />how much is available for transfer. <br />"I don't think anybody contests <br />that conservation is happening," <br />Clinton said. "However, IID's farmers, <br />who are businessmen, make their <br />livelihood on beneficially using their <br />water. Because of the commodity <br />market, because of the situation where <br />they can make money growing crops, <br />they're farming their land more <br /> <br />September/October 1997 <br /> <br />intensively than they were five, 10 <br />years ago ... [and] our water use has <br />gone up quite significantly." <br />The pieces of the puzzle are <br />complicated. IID wants to conserve <br />some water and sell it to SDCW A. <br />Coachella claims first rights to the <br />conserved water and wants a specific <br />guaranteed amount. SDCWA wants <br />to transport the <br />conserved IID water <br />through MWD's <br />Colorado River <br />Aqueduct. MWD <br />wants to ensure that <br />it retains sufficient <br />financing for its <br />system. <br />The controver- <br />sies in the state have <br />been increased by <br />pressure from outside <br />forces. Interior <br />Secretary Babbitt has <br />called upon the state <br />to develop a plan to <br />live within its 4.4 <br />million acre-feet <br />entitlement (cur- <br />rently the state uses about 5.1 million <br />acre-feet) before he proceeds with <br />criteria governing future long-term use <br />of surplus water in the lower basin. <br />"California must work out among <br />its own water agencies a plan that will <br />allow it to live within its entitlement," <br />said Patricia Beneke, assistant Interior <br />secretary for water and science. <br />"Interior is playing a significant role in <br />this effort, and we are hopeful some <br />consensus-based solution will be <br />forthcoming soon. Failure is just not <br />in our mindset on this, and we're <br />prepared to take appropriate action <br />to achieve an acceptable plan." <br />California DWR Director <br />Kennedy has been called in to mediate <br />and help develop a California plan <br />supported by the state's Colorado <br />River users. At the May symposium, <br />Kennedy released a draft water budget <br />in which the group identified 750,000 <br />acre-feet to 900,000 acre-feet of <br />potential water savings through <br />conservation, dry-year fallowing <br /> <br /> <br />Playing off the historic saying "Put your trust <br />in God and U.S. Reclamation," lID's John <br />Penn Carter, right, unveiled the modem <br />equival~nt at the 75th anniversary sympo- <br />sium. Helping to hold the sign - albeit a bit <br />reluctantly - is the Bureau's Robert Johnson. <br />Looking on is Rita Pearson, Arizona DWR. <br /> <br />15 <br />