BOARD02180

• Board Meeting Date: 1/22/2003
• Description: WSP Section - Colorado River Issues
• Board Meetings - Doc Type: Memo

.om:
~ent:

John Shields [[e-mail]]

Tuesday, December 31,200212:15 PM

[e-mail]; [e-mail]; [e-mail]; [e-mail];
[e-mail]; [e-mail]; Greg. [e-mail];
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Subject: San Diego Union Tirbune Article from yesterday

Seaholm, Randy

To:

State sweetens water deal to tempt sour Imperial
By Michael Gardner
COPLEY NEWS SERVICE
December 30, 2002

SACRAMENTO -111e Davis administration has pledged $350 million and offered environmental concessions to the Imperial Valley In a last.ditch bid to save a vitai pact tha
must be signed by the end of the year or Southern California will lose a substantial share of its Colorado RIver water.

Impert-allrrlgation District directors are to meet Tuesday to weigh the comprehensive counterproposal that cauld clear the way for a historic safe of water to the San Diego
County Water AuthorIty. U.S. Interior Secretary Gale Norton has gIven Cal1fornla until mIdnight to seal the deal or she wm move swiftly to squeeze the state's river
allocation by 620,000 acre-feet a year, or enough for about 1.2 million households. Depending on the outcome, California wlll secure a 1S-year reprieve to develop sound
altematlves to Its addIction to the Colorado.

Or, a new water war could Ignite, raising doubts about the region's ability to keep ample supplies flowing for growth while lawyers scurry to court to fight over the rlver.
"The fur will begin to. fly In many dIrections after the first of the year, II said Dennis Cushman, assistant general manager of the San DIego County water authority. Norton
had dispatched her top lieutenant on water Issues to loin the negotIations Monday. "SkeptIcal, but we'll never give up hope,'1 said Bennett Raley In assessing his,mood late
In the day.

But Imperlafls attorney, John Carter, offered hope In briefly outlinIng some progress to the board. The state has offered $150 million In load guarantees to protect farmers
who Invest In conservation systems from losses If the water transfer contract Is terminated later. Another $200 mllllon Is pledged to help Imperial mitigate any harm the
transfer Inflicts on the Salton Sea, a wildlife haven replenished by agricultural runoff, Imperial can walk away from the water transfer If the state does not provide the
funding by Oct. 31, according to Carter's presentation.

ather significant concesslon, the 75-year water transfer contract between the San Diego water authority and Imperial will be restructured so that It can be terminated
Rher party in 45 years, Otherwise, the key components of the water sale remain intact. The water authority eventually will buy up to 200,000 acre~feet a year at $258
per acre-foot. It would be the largest-ever ongoing farm-to-clty water sale.

Still, some Imperial dIrectorS were not ready to embrace the deal without more study, even though Imperial director Bruce Kuhn, a contractor who has been apposed to
the pact, has been part of the negotiating team. Imperial's plan to sell up to 200,000 acre-feet to the San Diego County Water Authority Is a linchpin of any broader accord
because It would help replace lost Colorado RIver water. Failure has its consequences. Norton already has detailed plans to swiftly cut California's allocation. The
Metropolitan Water, whiCh wholesales water throughout Southern California, stands to lose 415/00 acre-feet. Imperial could be cut 205,000 acre~feet.

Norton concedes she could reverse her directive at any time despite repeated dire warning,s to break deadlocked talks by Jan. 1 or else. Restored rations could flow to
Southern California If an agreement Is reached later In the year. Southern California would lose an estimated 100/000 acre-feet If talks drag through March, and up to
200/000 acre-feet If a pact Isn't delivered by July 1, according to Adan Ortega, a vice president of the giant wholesaler Metropolitan Water District. Western states have
pressured Norton to act, saying CalifornIa has used more than Its share of the river for years. To avoid immediate economic harm, Western states did agree to give
California 15 years to reduce its draw of the river, but only if an Ironclad plan' Is adopted by the end of this year. Ortega said Southern California can brush aside any short~
term disruptions In deliveries from the Colorado. Reservoirs are full. The Northern Sierra range Is covered with a thick blanket of snow. And Sacramento Valley farmers are
eager to sell water, he said.

Much of Metropolitan's river entitlement was destined for long.term storage to buffer against the next drought, Ortega said. "Nature Is going to be the determining factor in
how desperate we get," he said. Metropolltan, which delivers supplies to some 17 mlllJon Southern CalifornIans, also wUl accelerate spending on recycling, desalinatIon and
other conservation programs If river supplies continue to be squeezed.

Cushman agreed the peril Is not Immediate, but noted agencies must plan well beyond the next few years. He also is concerned that the faJlout could lead to extensive
court battles over who has the legal right to how much water out of the Colorado. Imperial already has threatened to go to court if Norton reduces water deliveries to its
farmers.

Pressure has ratcheted on Imperial Irrigation DIstrIct directors with each passing hour, like the lone Juror holdout In a death-penalty case. The Imperial board, on a 3-2
vote Dec. 9, became the only party to reject the comprehensive agreement. Imperial controls about three-fourths of California's allocation of the river.

@ Copyright 2002 Union-Tribune Publishing Co,
SD.Union.30-Dev.02.I.wpd

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12/31/02