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x t ` " sy Morelos Dam in Mexico diverts water to the Mexicali Valley. parallel lined canal section adjacent to Colorado River Compact of 1922 or 23 miles of existing unlined canal and the subsequent 1944 U.S.- Mexico water would conserve an estimated 67,700 treaty, and were not changed by those acre -feet of water annually that now agreements. CDEM takes the position seeps out of the canal and flows a short that water drawn from the Mexicali distance underground across the border, aquifer is not treaty water, as does the where it helps recharge the Mexicali Mexican Section of the IBWC, she said. Valley aquifer in Mexico, a key source Everyone acknowledges the impor- of domestic and irrigation water there. tance of the case for binational relations, The lining project was part of the but opinions differ on whether litigation complicated QSA, counted on to help is the appropriate way to address the California live within its 4.4 million lining dispute. "It is a case that has acre -feet per year allocation of Colorado tremendous implications in terms of the River water. relationships between our countries and In addition to causing some bina- how we manage water," McKeith said. tional tension, the lining project is now She said litigation was a last resort, a the subject of a lawsuit filed in July on step taken only when it appeared that behalf of the Economic Development "the pouring of concrete was inevitable." Council of Mexicali (CDEM) and two "The litigation wants to stop the U.S. environmental groups, Citizens [lining] project," said Hentschke, who United for Resources and the Environ- characterized the suit as a "Johnny - ment and Desert Communities Against come - lately" effort to block a project Pollution. that was first authorized by legislation Malissa Hathaway McKeith, an in 1988, later adopted by the Bureau attorney with Lewis, Brisbois, Bisgaard of Reclamation in a record of decision & Smith, who represents CDEM and in 1994. "It's also a case of trying to the two groups, said the lawsuit raises establish a water right where one doesn't two basic issues — (1) alleged failure to exist," he said, referring to the claim update a 1994 environmental impact concerning rights to use to groundwater. statement for the canal- lining project Snow agreed it is a "tremendously and (2) claims that rights to use ground- important case," one that implicates not water in the Mexicali Valley predated the only U.S. environmental laws, but also 8 - COLORADO RIVER PROJECT - RIVER REPORT - WINTER 2005 -2006 :t a s k s d rs. binational relations between the U.S. and Mexico. In the past year, President Bush has discussed the lining project with Mexican President Vicente Fox, and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has discussed it with the Mexican foreign minister, Snow said. While the nature of those discussions has not been made public, Snow said the best hope for resolving any dispute over the All - American Canal lining project lies in continued diplomacy through the IBWC and through continued discussions between U.S. leaders and their Mexican counterparts. The case was filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Nevada. Hearings were scheduled for October and January, though as this article went to press, the October hearing had not yet been held. In the meantime, attorneys for CDEM and the other plaintiffs are expected to file a motion for a preliminary injunction to block any construction on the lining project until the court resolves the legal issues. Shortage Guidelines The development of Lower Basin shortage guidelines and coordinated management strategies for Lake Powell