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<br />.....
<br />e
<br />e
<br />
<br />...:r:"yl~r..] ~fJukt:sm....n for thl.' distnct.
<br />"that if Mctropohl.ln is reedmg"
<br />;nillion people :lnd we sit down !-,
<br />~lOg 13 IIlLlhon heads of leHu... .
<br />':\.be" the b.JI.mcc of power can shift
<br />againn us vcry qUIckly in an emer.
<br />g~ncy:'
<br />At ~:e(rcpolil.ln. oCficialssay they
<br />r('cogn!;:c the (CJrs held by v:lllcy
<br />farmers but contend their agency
<br />h.1..S no desire to lake .....ater that is
<br />neeced ror growing crops.
<br />"We :Ire not interested In water
<br />th.31 theY (the farmers) need," s:ud
<br />he-nncd)'. "We :Ire onl.y interested
<br />to waler IhOlt otherWise would gu
<br />wasted into the Salton Sea."
<br />,. S:ill. a number of problems re-
<br />main unresolved in the lmpenal
<br />trade. The origin.:!1 estImates of
<br />-potential saVIngs through a conser-
<br />vation prcgram arc Just th<lt; estl-
<br />~"nalcs anl,v. At present the federal
<br />BUreau of neclamalion has begun a
<br />thorough Study of the sa....mgs and Il
<br />!5 likely that no substantial Invest_
<br />menl in a COnservation program will
<br />be made until the bureau has dl'ter-
<br />mined JUst what the rewards Will be.
<br />And there IS Ollso the problem of
<br />.the 1wo ;!:;enclc$ Sltllong a deal. At
<br />present. ~lettopoltt.1n OfflClill:'i say
<br />they are ]eamng loward ;:In Informal
<br />arrangement whereby they would
<br />.simpl)' agree lo undertake the nec-
<br />essary cOllser....atlon work in the
<br />.valley.
<br />
<br />.~- ----.
<br />
<br />~
<br />
<br />Then. they say, when conserva-
<br />tion benefits ,:ire reilhzed in the
<br />valley :!nd consumption decrc:!st's,
<br />~:elropo!ltan would t:!ke 3 like
<br />amount from the n'oer for ils own
<br />u::;e. Prescnt Water law :!nn con-
<br />tracts with lhe fedcral go\"ernment
<br />ore so wnUcn, tl'ley contend, 1hat no
<br />furthcr lega] arrang('mcnls will be
<br />neccssJry.
<br />nIf )'ou ~tart talking about negoti-
<br />ating formal nghts and stuff like
<br />that, the quc:it.on is, who do you
<br />negollate wllh?" said Lowell
<br />',':;:"",s, genera] manager of the
<br />Coacnella Valicy \Vatcr Dlstnct <lnd
<br />a parliclp;ml in lhe diSCUSSions.
<br />"The f3ct is. no one owns 1hat
<br />w:!ter. The farmers Simply ha\"e Ihe
<br />right to use It II they don't u..>e II.
<br />then It autom<lticJlly goes 10 the
<br />T:cxt.;uy."
<br />All of which makes the Jmperlal
<br />farmers extreme]y une:l~Y.
<br />"I don'lthink we w:lnl to oper:lte
<br />this 1hmt:: on :! h.1ndsh.lke:' S:lIj
<br />Den!on. "We necd:l .l;uar.:lntC'e lhJ.t
<br />our W.:lter ....111 come back 10 us at
<br />some ro~nt in the future Ifwe r:cc<]
<br />it, Wc wflu!d like to see;] time hrlO1t
<br />some.....here around 200r 30 ye,1rs."
<br />Impcn.11 offlci31s say lhey wou~d
<br />:llso h~c to ch;]r.;c ~,!ctropohtan a
<br />]ease floc for ('aeh ;1cre.foot of
<br />.....Jter. The (C'c, .....hlch no one hJ.s
<br />)el csllr.~a:cJ, .....ou!J th('n lie u,eJ to
<br />rcpJ.Y ~,1c:n.'polILan for Its conSC'rVJ_
<br />tlO~ cosU. Then, .1rler the 20. ()r
<br />JO,yeJr leaSe pC'nod, Impetl.lI
<br />
<br />.'.l;;';~;~:~~e, OfflCia!:> on both :inks I
<br />of the discussions say lhey an
<br />opllmlSllc th3t a dC'al can be struck.
<br />Kennedy at Metropolitan $aId he
<br />believcs any contracl sisning IS sllll
<br />"some months" aW3y but he addNi
<br />that conslructlon of the flrSl st.1SCS
<br />of the conser\"atlOn work could be
<br />completed wllhm lhree to four
<br />years,
<br />Some of the othcr proposals to
<br />make new uses of Colorado RIH'r
<br />supplLe5 do not pre$cntthe political
<br />problcms of the Imperial tr.lde, but
<br />W.1ter agcncy offiCials 53). the suc.
<br />cess of such plans depends largely
<br />on .....eathcr C'ondllions In lhe 19SOs
<br />and '90s, The current prOJcct .lImed
<br />at stormg present surpluses In un-
<br />derground basms. for eXJ.m"le, ""III
<br />lake place only If the West Cxpf'n-
<br />f'nces more ".....et )'1';Jrs" OlS It has
<br />since 1979
<br />One estunate Ly ~,!elropolLlan
<br />puts the chance of sUTJlhIS'~S OCCur-
<br />ring In 19S" at 40"'"0, dec!lmn~ to
<br />27% in J990, and 8<;" b.y the rear
<br />2000. If they do occur, (hen ~lctro-
<br />pollt.1n feels confident It Will bc
<br />ready with its plan to slore Olbout
<br />500.000 3crc- fCf.'! of .....alN tn under-
<br />ground b3SlrIS beneath the Coache]-
<br />].1 Valley.
<br />Under a ~resern ilrtJngclllent,
<br />Metropo]itan dehv('rs ab-Jut H,500
<br />acr~-feet to ~he COilchdla \VOlter
<br />Distnrt each ;orc:!: from the Color;!
<br />do. In e:\change, It takes a share or
<br />- - --
<br />Coachclla's unu~ed cnbUcmctlt LO
<br />the State \\'iilcr Project tJnd~f lhe
<br />pl;!nncd t:adc. ~retropOlil.1n would
<br />"pre-deh~'er" the SOO.OClO <lcre.f('et
<br />of water to Coachella during fat
<br />tears, lhen eliminate dellvelles
<br />durmg drought pcriods;ls CO;lthellJ
<br />used the stMed waler
<br />Delays in comt'lction or (he Cen.
<br />Iral AnzOJia Project lheoretic.1!!y
<br />orr('r a temporary resplle frorn the
<br />W.1lcr squeeze Ih:!t flrsl was pre.
<br />dicted for 1935. 10 recent months
<br />Arizon3 officials have conceded that
<br />enormous and unsolvN ill141.l1cing
<br />probl('ms confront the project. and II
<br />IS now not expected to rcn at rull
<br />capaCity until .:'e mid 1990s al tile
<br />earliest.
<br />To thl' ('.'<tenl th3t Arizona docs
<br />not take 115 full entitlements, Cah.
<br />fornia could benefit by incrc.lSms
<br />its draw from the nver. But Myron
<br />B. Ilolburt, chief englnC'Cr of Ihe
<br />Color;\do niver Uoard, s.lys Arizona
<br />and olher sl.1tes probably Will.1tgue
<br />lhOlI their unused supplies be
<br />hb.1nkcd" instead atl....:ike Mead an(J
<br />upstream rescrvolrs.
<br />"Unless the resen'oirs ,1I'e full
<br />and th('re is no storage $'pace, you'r('
<br />Koing to see An7.0na lIghting to
<br />kC('fl its W.llcr in the b3nk:' S3ld
<br />Holbllrt.
<br />Mdropoht3n officials say Ihey
<br />almu:it CI ;tJtnl)" \\.111 appeJI tv thc
<br />US. sC'CrctJr)' of the Intcnor for tr.('
<br />tight to CJpture Anzon3's unu~ed
<br />"'HI I1';l r '''n ,r they IO~e 1r:.lhJt
<br />~ ~'.>I. .....,~ .. ba~;:Hlr.: (.of
<br />
<br />rc~
<br />IIlcr':.:I:;e the chJnc". c.f ;"I !:c,-Pius
<br />throuf:r.out the syHcm, ,\n'J .:! SUr-
<br />plus,they note. Wl1l3110w C,J!lrO:--'li3/'
<br />to bcgrn Its Coach ell.:! storage pro-
<br />gram. -, ..'. ,.
<br />Conceivably. California could i
<br />help ILS own C3use 3fter 1985 by
<br />bankln~ some of its own :o;upplies i
<br />during wet years. When water is
<br />plentiful. MctropollLan couloj in-
<br />crease lIs take (rom the Stdte Water
<br />Project. reduce its Color3do Lake,
<br />and place the unused Colorado
<br />supphe5 rn storage. Thts would
<br />pronde another cushion for drocght
<br />years and also Increase the chance
<br />of;l surplus In the Colorado s)"stem.
<br />Because qu",strons remain .1bout
<br />all aspects of the Colorado program.
<br />Waler oHlclals are unWilling to
<br />estimale the potential size of the
<br />sa"'lngs. But Jaek Coe. regional
<br />director of the stat", Dcp3rtment of
<br />\',l;lter fiesources in Southe:n Cali-
<br />forma. says be believC'S lh~ reS:.llts
<br />will be subst.JntlJ.1 cnough to ga'e J
<br />Southern Califorma a "bre3thing
<br />speir" bdore the arrival of its
<br />long,predlcted water crisis.
<br />"Most of these (proJects) are
<br />interl/I. measures:' saiel COl'. "They
<br />may not providE' permanent solu.
<br />lions bUl they will gi...e us tHne lo
<br />work out Our other problems wIlh
<br />the State WOller Project"
<br />In addition, SJid Coe, the conser_
<br />viltion aspects of m3ny of the
<br />Progi,l;"IIS mlgtlt work to impro~'ell
<br />Southern Callforma's image In
<br />Nc.rthctfl Cillifornia. {
<br />..It was cvidenlther<:' ""'<IS a lot of
<br />north. south di...isi....eness in the
<br />(PenphCl'31 '('anal) election:' said
<br />Coc, "We m:~ht be in a better
<br />po!iition to deli...er more "'ater from
<br />lhe norttl if we were ulill~mg all the
<br />Sourcesavailablelous." I
<br />Thcre IS no active proposal to
<br />revive lhe expansion plan for the
<br />Slate Water ProJect. butJlcglslali..,c
<br />efforts toward that end ..rc expecled
<br />soon In S3eramento. I
<br />In Los Angeles, wa er Olsency
<br />oflu:ials say they do not see the
<br />Cololado program5 33 providing a
<br />subslilule for an elq)Jnded slo1l~
<br />system but they concCole that suc~
<br />cess With some of its m.ljor clements
<br />could delOly the dayJwhCn it ~
<br />nceded. . ..
<br />~ :'Every Iitii'e bil he! :' said Hol-
<br />burt of the ColorOldo board. "I
<br />bchf'~e we .1re going 10 need both;
<br />II's Just th.lt we mo"q .heOld more
<br />quickly With the Color;ldo ris:hl n07
<br />'Olnd produce re~ulu:' j
<br />Some envlronmentalisls. who
<br />have 10llg cncour3gctl water agcn-
<br />CIC'S to pursue lhe Colorado pr\)-
<br />gr,'ms, S.lY the nct resulu could tc
<br />more impressi~'e than prcdlctcdlY
<br />thc3.':'encles. : I
<br />"'hcse are- sensib!~. 3chicva Ie
<br />prO,;;"ams that C:in producc rcsulu
<br />In the m''(I:; to 10 Yl'Jrs. You qrft
<br />S3y thJt aWut the St.:ile W~ter
<br />I'roJCt:l," S:lIJ Tom CrJlf, !;enc-ral
<br />H.ullsel fvr lhc EnvlronmcnulUe_
<br />f('r1:'e Fund. I I
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