San Diego County Water Authority Board Member Jim Madaffer has been elected vice chair of the Colorado River Board of California. The CRB represents California in river management discussions with other Basin states, federal agencies, tribes, and Mexico.
Madaffer, the Water Authority’s CRB representative since 2019, will serve a four-year term as vice chair following his election on January 11 during the CRB meeting in Ontario, Calif. He will serve alongside Imperial Irrigation District Board Vice President JB Hamby, who was elected chair.
Jim Madaffer: “It is essential that California agencies unite to uphold the Law of the River”
“I look forward to working with Chair Hamby and the rest of the Colorado River Board to both protect California’s water supplies during these challenging times and to work collaboratively to keep the river flowing for all users,” said Madaffer, a former chair of the Water Authority Board. “It is essential that California agencies unite to uphold the Law of the River as we seek solutions with the widest possible benefits.”
Established in 1937, CRB consists of agency representatives from the Water Authority, IID, Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, Coachella Valley Water District, Palo Verde Irrigation District, and the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power. Additional representatives include the directors of the California Department of Water Resources and Department of Fish and Wildlife, along with two public representatives.
Jim Madaffer (L) the Water Authority’s CRB representative since 2019, will serve a four-year term as vice chair and will serve alongside Imperial Irrigation District Board Vice President JB Hamby, who was elected chair. Photo: San Diego County Water Authority
Collaboration to conserve
CRB’s role has been pivotal in protecting the state’s share of the river during this period when two decades of drought have caused a sharp supply/demand imbalance, leading to a severe decline in water levels in the river’s two main reservoirs, Lake Mead and Lake Powell.
Led by CRB, California has proposed conserving up to 400,000 acre-feet annually through 2026 to support the river. Though that conservation will not affect the San Diego region’s high-priority Quantification Settlement Agreement supplies, the region is continuing to take active steps to conserve as it has over the past three decades.
“The San Diego region is committed to doing our part to be good stewards of our water supplies,” said Water Authority Board Chair Mel Katz. “We also believe in working collaboratively with all stakeholders on the river, and Jim’s leadership on the Colorado River Board in his new role as vice chair will only advance those efforts.”
https://www.waternewsnetwork.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/Jim-Madaffer-101920-scaled.jpg17072560Mike Leehttps://www.waternewsnetwork.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/WNN-Horizontal-White-Blue2.pngMike Lee2023-01-12 17:52:282023-01-12 18:30:05Director Jim Madaffer Elected Vice Chair of the Colorado River Board of California
When the Colorado River Compact was signed 100 years ago, the negotiators for seven Western states bet that the river they were dividing would have ample water to meet everyone’s needs – even those not seated around the table.
A century later, it’s clear the water they bet on is not there. More than two decades of drought, lake evaporation and overuse of water have nearly drained the river’s two anchor reservoirs, Lake Powell on the Arizona-Utah border and Lake Mead near Las Vegas. Climate change is rendering the basin drier, shrinking spring runoff that’s vital for river flows, farms, tribes and cities across the basin – and essential for refilling reservoirs.
Colorado River Compact
The states that endorsed the Colorado River Compact in 1922 – and the tribes and nation of Mexico that were excluded from the table – are now straining to find, and perhaps more importantly accept, solutions on a river that may offer just half of the water that the Compact assumed would be available. And not only are solutions not coming easily, the relationships essential for compromise are getting more frayed.
With the Compact’s shortcomings and the effects of climate change and aridification becoming as clear as the bathtub ring around Lake Mead, previous assumptions of how much water the river can provide and the rules governing how it gets divvyed up must be revised to reflect the West’s new hydrology. One thing is certain among experts and Colorado River veterans: Water cuts are in the short-term and long-term forecast for major cities such as Los Angeles, Las Vegas and Phoenix, as well as farmers from Colorado’s West Slope to growers in California’s Imperial Valley near the Mexican border.
“You don’t have any other arrow in your quiver right now except to reduce use,” Pat Mulroy, former general manager of the Southern Nevada Water Authority, told a gathering of Colorado River water interests this fall. “There are no other arrows.”
The River’s Changing Math
Predicting the amount of water the Colorado River can provide in a given year has always been a challenge. The river’s flow is famously erratic, dictated by the size of the often-fickle Rocky Mountain snowpack and other variables such as soil moisture and changes in temperature.
The old expectations of the Compact signers is giving way to a new reality on the river. Over the last century, the river’s flows in the Upper Basin have dropped by 20 percent. Scientists have pinned warming temperatures as the main cause of the disappearing flows and predict the trend will worsen as the Upper Basin, source of most of the river’s water, becomes even hotter and drier.
Lake Mead and Lake Powell
Water users have been able to counter previous dry spells by relying on the river’s main reservoirs. But after more than two decades of drought, both Lake Mead and Lake Powell are only about one-quarter full. The reservoirs’ rapid declines have forced the Bureau of Reclamation to order unprecedented water cuts to Arizona and Nevada. Mexico is taking similar cuts under binational agreements. And Reclamation has warned more severe actions are needed to prevent the collapse of the Colorado River system.
The Compact signatories, relying on data from a small but abnormally wet time period, estimated the river’s annual average natural flow in the Upper Basin to be about 18 million acre-feet. The figure, they asserted, was enough to cover 7.5 million acre-feet of water in perpetuity for the Upper Basin states of Colorado, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming, and 7.5 million acre-feet for the Lower Basin states of Arizona, Nevada and California. They also agreed that any water committed to Mexico would be supplied equally by the two Basins. Native American tribes, who now legally hold substantial rights to the river’s water, were barely mentioned.
Climate Change and Water in the West
Brad Udall, Colorado State University climate researcher, said it’s becoming harder and harder for the river to meet the promises outlined in the Compact and the accompanying set of agreements, laws and court cases referred to as the Law of the River. He warned dozens of water managers and policy experts at a recent Water Education Foundation Symposium that climate change caused by greenhouse gas emissions is rapidly and permanently shifting precipitation trends in the Basin.
“It’s not a drought, it’s not temporary, it’s aridification,” said Udall. “Additional 1 degree Celsius or more warming by 2050, Lee Ferry flows in 9 million acre-feet are possible. Every important trend line [is] heading in the wrong direction, notably our reservoirs, but all the science trends as well.”
“Simple Math”
Data from recent decades shows it’s becoming uncommon for the river to meet the benchmark used to craft the Compact. Estimated annual flows at Lee Ferry, a key dividing point between the Colorado River’s Upper and Lower Basins, have surpassed 18 million acre-feet just four times since 1991, while the river’s average flow since 2000 has been 12.3 million acre-feet.
“If we’re taking out more than comes in, it is really simple math that the reservoirs are going to continue to decline,” said Rebecca Mitchell, director of the Colorado Water Conservation Board, the state’s water management agency.
Mitchell was among nearly 200 state and regional water managers, farmers, tribal leaders and other water interests from the seven Basin states, along with key federal and Mexican officials, who attended the Foundation’s biennial Colorado River Symposium in late September to mark the Compact’s 100th anniversary and to discuss the risks and challenges ahead for the iconic Southwestern river.
Collaboration and compromise
Discussions were sometimes sobering and sometimes tense, underscoring the growing risks to a river depended upon for drinking water by 40 million people and for irrigation of more than 4 million farmland acres across the Basin. An undercurrent of the discussions was whether Basin interests can avoid taking their differences to court – a prime motivation behind creating the 1922 Compact. Despite the occasional sharply worded airing of differences between Upper and Lower Basin interests, there was broad acknowledgement that action is needed to keep the river system functioning.
U.S. Bureau of Reclamation Commissioner Maria Camille Calimlim Touton was among those urging water interests throughout the Basin to continue working collaboratively toward solutions and she provided a broad outline of actions that federal officials are preparing to take in 2023 – including reducing water releases from Lake Powell and Lake Mead – to keep the river from crashing.
“The actions we choose to take over the next two years,” Touton told participants, “will define the fate of the Colorado River for the next century.”
(Editor’s Note: This article is provided courtesy of Western Water. Read full article here. The Colorado River Compact is in full focus during the Colorado River Water Users Association annual conference December 14-16 in Las Vegas).
https://www.waternewsnetwork.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/Lake-Mead-cropped-primary.jpg450845Mike Leehttps://www.waternewsnetwork.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/WNN-Horizontal-White-Blue2.pngMike Lee2022-12-09 15:43:202022-12-09 17:28:27Colorado River Compact: As Colorado River Flows Drop and Tensions Rise, Water Interests Struggle to Find Solutions That All Can Accept
Recognizing that a reliable water supply is critical to all economies and communities relying on the drought-stricken Colorado River Basin, more than 30 water agencies and providers have committed to take additional actions to reducing water demands and helping protect the Colorado River system.
Through a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) that was delivered to the Bureau of Reclamation Commissioner Camille Touton, municipal and public water providers in the Upper and Lower Colorado River Basin affirmed their commitments to implement comprehensive and innovative water conservation programs, initiatives, policies, and actions within their communities, including:
Expanding water efficiency programs for indoor and outdoor water use.
Implementing programs and policies reducing and replacing non-functional, decorative grass by 30 percent while protecting urban landscapes and trees canopies.
Increasing water reuse and recycling programs where feasible.
Implementing water efficiency strategies and best practices, such as water loss controls, conservation-based rate structures, industrial and commercial conservation, land use coordination and other suitable conservation strategies within each community.
Colorado River Basin and megadrought
“As we consider the long-term aridification of the Colorado River Basin, the math is simple: water uses exceed water supplies,” said John Entsminger, General Manager of the Southern Nevada Water Authority. “But solving that equation will require all Colorado River water users across every sector to make hard decisions and be fully invested in water conservation if we are going to bring our shared river system into balance.
“This problem is of the highest magnitude, but collectively we have the resources to find the solution,” said Brenda Burman, Executive Strategy Advisor of Central Arizona Project. “The path forward will require all Colorado River water users to contribute, and Central Arizona Project continues to make investments and commitments to support the Basin to reach a sustainable water future.”
“The significance of nearly 30 municipal and industrial providers of Colorado River water signing on to this agreement is truly historic,” said Gene Shawcroft, General Manager of the Central Utah Water Conservancy District. “The commitments of municipal and industrial water agencies in both the Upper and Lower Colorado River Basins toward a unified approach to problem solving is critical in light of the current drought conditions and historic low reservoir elevations confronting the basin. I hope this agreement will provide an example of effective Basin-wide collaboration on the many Colorado River issues we face now and into the future.”
“Forging a sustainable future for the Colorado River will take a commitment from all of us to use less water. More than two dozen water agencies from cities across the Southwest have made this commitment on behalf of the millions of people they serve,” said Adel Hagekhalil, General Manager of the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California. “This MOU is a key step towards bringing the River into balance, and powerful proof that working together, we can build solutions.”
Metropolitan is among 30+ water agencies committing to reducing demands on the #CoRiver by implementing comprehensive and innovative water conservation programs, initiatives, policies, and actions within their communities. Read more about the MOU: https://t.co/17K3FkgPtWpic.twitter.com/2xy0HCYYUi
Under the MOU, each participating water provider will implement the conservation actions, programs and/or policies most appropriate for its individual communities and water efficiency goals. While these water agencies primarily represent urban water uses, which is only a small fraction of the Colorado River’s total water consumption, the conservation strategies outlined will help reduce demands and protect water levels in lakes Powell and Mead.
“A sustainable, long-term plan for the Colorado River Basin requires all water users to reduce water demand commensurate with what the Colorado River can realistically supply given the new normal of hotter, drier weather,” said Ron Burke, President and CEO of the Alliance for Water Efficiency. “To this end, the Alliance for Water Efficiency commends the commitments from local water providers to expand water efficiency and conservation programs.”
In a joint letter of support, seven environmental, conservation, and non-governmental organizations called the MOU “an important step in the right direction,” further stating that “achieving these commitments is a necessary first phase to preserve the longevity of the Basin.”
Today’s announcement builds upon an initial MOU executed in August 2022 between Aurora Water, Denver Water, The Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, Pueblo Water and Southern Nevada Water Authority, significantly expanding participation and commitments from water providers across the Basin to implement best practices to conserve and enhance water efficiency.
Albuquerque Bernalillo County Water Utility Authority
David Morris, , 505-264-5691
City of Santa Fe
Christine Chavez, , 505-955-4219
UTAH
Central Utah Water Conservancy District
Lisa Anderson, , 801-226-7100
Jordan Valley Water Conservancy District
Matt Olsen, , 801-565-4300
Salt Lake City Department of Public Utilities
Chloe Morroni, , 801-702-0801
Washington County Water Conservancy District
Karry Rathje, , 435-668-5622
https://www.waternewsnetwork.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/Lake-Mead-cropped-primary.jpg450845Mike Leehttps://www.waternewsnetwork.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/WNN-Horizontal-White-Blue2.pngMike Lee2022-11-16 14:42:402022-11-16 15:05:33Water Agencies Unite and Commit to Reducing Demands on Colorado River
Collaboration among all water users is key to developing solutions for the Colorado River Basin, which is in the midst of a 22-year megadrought. That was one of the common themes during a webinar Thursday, in which water managers and other officials discussed ways to slow or stabilize the rate of decline of the major source of water for seven states and Mexico.
“A Collaborative Approach to Colorado River Management,” was part of the Southern California Water Coalition‘s “What Matters” webinar series. The San Diego County Water Authority, Imperial Irrigation District, Black & Veatch, and Richard Brady & Associates sponsored the webinar.
Webinar participants:
Sandra Kerl, San Diego County Water Authority General Manager
During the 90-minute discussion, speakers said that drought and climate change impacts on the Colorado River Basin have created “challenging times” and that “unprecedented times require unprecendented management” solutions. Solutions mentioned included sustainable conservation, additional storage, a reduction in demand, and inclusion of all users to ensure the long-term health of the river system.
Sandy Kerl, General Manager @sdcwa, highlights that 2/3's of their supply comes from CO River and her top 3 priorities are 1) Balance impact on users while protecting environment (& Salton Sea) 2) Uphold law of the river and priority rights/QSA 3) Expand Lake Mead surplus program
The Water Authority’s supply portfolio includes high-priority, conserved Colorado River supplies negotiated through the landmark 2003 Quantification Settlement Agreement, or QSA. The conserved supplies are the cornerstone of the San Diego region’s long-term water supply diversification strategy.
Chris Harris, Executive Director, Colorado River Board of California, stresses that we need to stop referring to basin conditions as a "drought" – it's aridification. @adelh2o General Manager with @mwdh2o agrees – "We have to adapt to a changing climate."
Colorado River Basin: Voluntary reductions from California
The webinar came a day after California water agencies that use Colorado River water supplies, sent a letter to the U.S. Department of the Interior and U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, voluntarily offering to reduce their use of water from the river starting in 2023:
“Given dire drought conditions across the region and dangerously low reservoir levels, we firmly believe that all water users within the Basin must take immediate voluntary actions to stabilize water supplies in the Basin’s major reservoirs.
“California water agencies that utilize Colorado River water supplies propose to conserve up to an additional 400,000 acre-feet of water in Lake Mead each year, beginning in 2023 and running through 2026. This water, which would otherwise be used by California’s communities and farms, will meaningfully contribute to stabilizing the Colorado River reservoir system. While a broad multi-state agreement to conserve water across the Basin has not been reached, the California agencies propose to take voluntary action now to conserve water in coming months.”
Graphic shared October 6, 2022, during the Southern California Water Coalition webinar “A Collaborative Approach to Colorado River Management.”
(Editor’s note: The October 5 webinar was recorded and, when posted, can be viewed/heard here: socalwater.org/podcasts/).
https://www.waternewsnetwork.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/Lake-Mead-cropped-primary.jpg450845Mike Leehttps://www.waternewsnetwork.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/WNN-Horizontal-White-Blue2.pngMike Lee2022-10-06 15:38:222022-10-07 15:31:28Collaboration Key to Stabilizing Colorado River Basin Decline
Drought and water supply in the Southwest U.S. dominated the water news in 2021, from the Colorado River Basin to California.
COVID-19 continued its grasp on all aspects of life in 2021. Even in the face of the pandemic, the work of providing water as an essential service continued for every agency with the responsibility of making sure their constituents have the water they need to sustain their communities, farms and businesses.
Drought: Shortage declaration on Lake Mead
This past year highlighted the challenges statewide and throughout the Colorado River Basin associated with providing that water service in the face of a twenty-year drought on the river, yet agencies continued to meet the demands for water. The critical story of 2021 on the Colorado River was the shortage declaration for the upcoming year on Lake Mead, the reservoir serving the river’s Lower Basin. A key element of this story is that while California is not affected by the current shortage declaration, the Lower Basin is moving forward with steps to try to protect the reservoir from further declarations. The effort to meet water needs is continuing with an eye toward finding resolutions to challenges and to address those challenges in a way that is mutually beneficial.
Water supply: Conserved Water Transfer Agreement
While the drought has been a dominating issue, there are several other critical water matters. An important water story this year was the ramping up of the Conserved Water Transfer Agreement between the Imperial Irrigation District and the San Diego County Water Authority to its full allotment of 200,000 acre-feet per year. The water transfer, which is the cornerstone of the Quantification Settlement Agreement, is provided through a conservation program implemented in the Imperial Valley by IID and the Valley’s farming community and funded by the Water Authority. This water, coupled with 77,700 acre-feet from the lining of the All-American and Coachella Canals, remains an important supply of water for the San Diego community while providing the Valley the funding it needs to implement water conservation.
With the state moving forward with Phase I of its Salton Sea Management Program, there were positive steps toward restoration work at the Salton Sea in 2021. Additionally, the QSA Joint Powers Authority (JPA), made of up IID, SDCWA, the Coachella Valley Water District, and the state, continued its mitigation projects meant to address the specific environmental impacts of the QSA. While challenges continue at the sea, both the state’s restoration work and the separate but complimentary QSA JPA mitigation effort show the sea is a priority issue, and one where all involved will have to continue to monitor to make sure progress continues.
A collage of photographs from the water-related issues covered in the water blog of the Imperial-San Diego Currents website and the Community Spotlight section of the site. Photo: San Diego County Water Authority
Share your stories
Look to this website for more community features as well as water stories in 2022, as there will likely be no shortage of stories to share. This site is meant to be a benefit to the community, so this writer would ask the community that if you have ideas for Community Spotlight stories in 2022, send a message either through this site or directly to the writer, Darren Simon, at . Likewise, if there are questions you have on water matters or would like to see a water-related issue addressed on this site, contact us through the site or the email provided above.
(Editor’s Note: Darren Simon posts stories featuring water issues in the Imperial Valley, the Colorado River Basin and San Diego County, on the website Imperial-San Diego Currents: https://ivsandiegocurrents.org/)
https://www.waternewsnetwork.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/MngedMarsh.1.23.2019x005-PRIMARY-1030x548-1.jpg5481030Mike Leehttps://www.waternewsnetwork.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/WNN-Horizontal-White-Blue2.pngMike Lee2021-12-23 13:51:012021-12-23 13:51:01Drought and Water Supply: A Year in Review
The San Diego County Water Authority’s Board of Directors April 22 authorized staff to explore opportunities to help other water districts weather an emerging drought across California.
Three decades of investments in supply reliability, along with a continued emphasis on water-use efficiency, mean the San Diego region has sufficient water supplies for multiple dry years. Those investments include high-priority conserved water from the Imperial Valley, seawater desalination, and access to the Semitropic Original Water Bank in Kern County, where the Water Authority has stored about 16,000 acre-feet of water.
The Board authorization allows Water Authority staff to assess selling, leasing, or swapping its Semitropic water with agencies that need it. Increasingly severe impacts of drought are already being felt in Central and Northern California. Any agreement recommended by staff would be brought to the Board for approval.
Innovative ideas to improve water management
“Given the extraordinarily low 5% allocation on the State Water Project and the location of our groundwater in the Central Valley, it’s a perfect time to explore mutually beneficial agreements with agencies that need more water this year,” said Water Authority Board Chair Gary Croucher. “The Water Authority is committed to innovative ideas like this to improve water management across the arid West and at the same time benefit San Diego County ratepayers.”
This water supply and opportunity is available because in 2008 the Water Authority secured extra water for the San Diego region in preparation for future droughts. At the time, the Water Authority worked with the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California to swap that water for 16,000 acre-feet of MWD water stored in the Kern County water bank. Due to other water supply investments which have come on-line, the Water Authority has not needed to call on its Semitropic water.
Help for agencies during drought
Given its current water supply portfolio, Water Authority staff will look at the potential to use its stored water to help other agencies and generate revenues for the benefit of San Diego County ratepayers.
At the same time, the Water Authority continues to pursue authorization to store water supplies which are qualified for storage in Lake Mead, which is declining due to a two-decade drought in the Colorado River Basin. If the Water Authority could store water there, it would also open up the potential for other water management strategies to improve Lake Mead water levels and water supply reliability for the Basin States.
“It’s in everyone’s best interest to think creatively about long-term water management even though that will mean doing new things in new ways,” said Croucher. “A fresh, collaborative approach is our best hope to act as a multi-state region to meet the needs of people, farms and the environment.”
California is facing a second consecutive dry water year. Snowpack and precipitation are below average in both the Northern Sierra and the Upper Colorado River Basin, and most California reservoirs are below their historical averages for this time of year. On March 23, the California Department of Water Resources reduced the State Water Project allocation from 10% to 5%. The only other year on record with such a low SWP allocation is 2014. Following the state’s April 1 snow survey, DWR Director Karla Nemeth declared the state’s conditions “critically dry.”
Water supply diversification strategy
Those circumstances highlight the importance of San Diego County’s supply diversification strategy that began after the drought of the early 1990s. Back then, the region was hit with 50% supply reductions because it relied almost entirely on one source. Since then, the region has added a significant new transfer of conserved agriculture water from the Imperial Valley, completed the All-American and Coachella Canal lining projects to receive conserved Colorado River water, invested in the Claude “Bud” Lewis Carlsbad Desalination Plant, and continued to embrace water-use-efficiency measures that have become a way of life in San Diego County.
The Water Authority’s draft 2020 Urban Water Management Plan shows that regional investments in a “water portfolio approach” to supply management and a sustained emphasis on water-use efficiency mean that San Diego County will continue to have sufficient water supplies through the 2045 planning horizon – so the region’s residents and economy remain safe even during multiple dry years.
https://www.waternewsnetwork.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/SanVicente.CN_.3.26.2021x001-Primary-WNN.jpg450845Mike Leehttps://www.waternewsnetwork.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/WNN-Horizontal-White-Blue2.pngMike Lee2021-04-23 09:19:152021-04-23 09:19:15Water Authority Offers Help to Regions in Need During Drought
The San Diego County Water Authority’s Board of Directors today authorized staff to launch the next phase of a study assessing options for long-term water deliveries to sustain the region’s economy and quality of life.
The decision follows months of community dialogue about Phase A of the Regional Conveyance System Study, which was released in August. The study demonstrated the technical viability and economic competitiveness of two routes for an aqueduct to transport the Water Authority’s independent, high-priority Colorado River water to San Diego County.
Over the next 15 to 18 months, Water Authority staff will undertake Phase B, focusing on economic analysis of the two conveyance route alternatives and exploring partnerships that could provide significant benefits to an array of stakeholders and potentially reduce the cost of project development. At the end of Phase B, the 36-member Board will again decide whether to continue with regional conveyance project planning – and if so, how to proceed.
Long-term planning
“These issues are complex and the decisions never easy, but the Board chose today to keep all water supply and delivery options on the table in light of future uncertainties,” said Gary Croucher, chair of the Water Authority’s Board of Directors. “I look forward to learning from Phase B and working with the Board to decide on next steps when that study phase is done. We also look forward to working with MWD in coming months to explore long-term options for continued use of its Colorado River Aqueduct.”
The Water Authority is the long-term water planning agency for metropolitan San Diego County and the region’s wholesale water provider, serving 3.3 million people and a $245 billion economy in partnership with its 24 retail member agencies.
Half of the Water Authority’s supplies are from two landmark 2003 water conservation agreements – one that boosted water-use efficiency in collaboration with the Imperial Irrigation District and another to line sections of the All-American and Coachella canals with concrete to reduce seepage. Both agreements are part of the 2003 Quantification Settlement Agreement, the largest ag-to-urban water transfer in U.S. history.
Water supply reliability
Conserved water from the QSA is transferred to San Diego County through an Exchange Agreement with the Los Angeles-based Metropolitan Water District of Southern California. MWD owns the only facilities available to transport Colorado River water to San Diego County. The cost of using MWD facilities to deliver the Water Authority’s QSA water has increased 30% over the past five years alone.
The Water Authority’s Exchange Agreement with MWD ends in 2047, and the Water Authority is working to develop conveyance alternatives in order to manage future cost and risks.
“While 2047 may seem distant, major water infrastructure projects take decades to develop, plan and build,” said Croucher. “By advancing to Phase B of the conveyance study, the Water Authority is taking prudent steps to ensure long-term water supply reliability for the region.”
In order to address the cost and risk uncertainties associated with the use of MWD facilities, the Water Authority’s Board in June 2019 approved a study of the viability of a new regional conveyance system that would deliver water from the Colorado River to San Diego County and also might provide multiple benefits across the Southwest. Three potential pipeline routes were studied in Phase A, which concluded in August 2020 that two alternatives (3A and 5A) are cost-competitive with other options, such as continued use of MWD facilities.
Water Authority staff and consultants began in August an extensive series of briefings and outreach on Phase A results and consultant reports. The Board’s goal was to ensure a full exchange of information and viewpoints in a transparent process. Outreach across numerous platforms engaged member agencies, other local stakeholders, the Imperial Valley, and Borrego Springs.
Partnership opportunities
With today’s Board vote to approve Phase B, Water Authority staff will focus for the next several months on economics, partnerships, legal analysis, and stakeholder outreach. Phase B will help address questions about mitigating short-term rate impacts of a project, the benefits of potential partnerships and funding opportunities, developing a plan of finance and the requirements of existing agreements, as well as explore with MWD options for long-term water deliveries to the San Diego region using MWD facilities.
MWD issues to be addressed will include analysis of:
Historic and projected future increases in MWD’s water rates and charges
MWD’s current planning assumptions
Costs and water yield of MWD’s current and planned projects
Future demand for MWD water
Other MWD rate drivers
Phase B will apply the same rigorous analysis to Water Authority rate and cost projections. Water Authority staff will also begin the process of engaging more formally with stakeholders on potential partnership projects identified in Phase A, including public-private-partnerships, bi-national projects, renewable energy projects, regional operational storage projects, Salton Sea-related projects, and partnerships with tribes, federal and state governments, and member agencies.
https://www.waternewsnetwork.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/ColoRvAqueduct.1.23-845-450-RCS-story-19-Nov-Primary.png450845Mike Leehttps://www.waternewsnetwork.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/WNN-Horizontal-White-Blue2.pngMike Lee2020-11-19 17:22:132020-11-19 17:22:13Board Approves Next Phase of Regional Water Conveyance System Study
The San Diego County Water Authority will host an online public information session on Oct. 27 about economic considerations related to the proposed Regional Conveyance System. The virtual event will run from 10 a.m. to noon. To reserve a spot, email .
Meeting participants can:
Learn about alternatives the Water Authority Board of Directors is studying to secure San Diego County’s future water supplies
Ask the experts about key issues
Understand the feasibility and costs of building a conveyance system to deliver San Diego County’s Colorado River supplies
Discuss potential next steps
In June of 2019, the Water Authority’s Board of Directors approved a study of the viability of a new regional conveyance system that would deliver water from the Colorado River to San Diego County and could provide multiple benefits across the Southwest.
Regional Conveyance Study
The Phase A report, released in August 2020, found that building a new conveyance system to transport the region’s supplies from the Quantification Settlement Agreement is cost-competitive with other long-term strategies for meeting the region’s water needs.
At its August 2020 meeting, the Water Authority’s Board decided to continue the regional discussion about the study until November 19, at which time the Board is expected to decide whether to move ahead with Phase B of the study.
A study of a new regional water conveyance system to deliver high-priority Colorado River supplies from the Imperial Valley shows three potential routes to move the water. Graphic: San Diego County Water Authority
Each of the potential conveyance routes would connect to the tail end of the All-American Canal where it meets the Westside Main Canal in the southwest corner of Imperial Valley.
https://www.waternewsnetwork.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/2019-01-Colorado-River-Aqueduct-5-845X450.jpg450845Mike Leehttps://www.waternewsnetwork.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/WNN-Horizontal-White-Blue2.pngMike Lee2020-10-12 16:27:222020-10-12 16:55:59Water Authority to Host Public Session on Economics of Regional Conveyance Study
A draft report released today by the San Diego County Water Authority shows that building a new conveyance system to transport regional water supplies from the Colorado River Quantification Settlement Agreement is cost-competitive with other long-term options for meeting the region’s water needs.
The draft Phase A report is under review by water officials across the region. The Water Authority’s Board of Directors is expected to decide whether to move to Phase B at its July 23 meeting.
“By releasing this draft report – along with an independent review of key financial assumptions – we are trying to spark a thoughtful dialogue about our region’s water future,” said Dan Denham, deputy general manager for the Water Authority. “Given the long lead time for major water infrastructure projects, it’s important that San Diego County wrestle with these complex questions today so we can control our own destiny tomorrow.”
The Phase A report is the result of technical and cost analysis by Black & Veatch Corp. and the economic analysis by Water Authority staff. The engineering firm conducted similar studies for the Water Authority dating back to 1996, assessing “single use” water-delivery projects in those studies. The current Phase A analysis looks at conveyance projects with multiple partnership possibilities and potential benefits for the environment, water agencies and others.
Two viable alternatives emerge
Three potential pipeline routes were studied in Phase A, and the draft report says two alternatives (3A and 5A) are cost-competitive with other options, such as relying more on Metropolitan Water District of Southern California or developing additional local supplies.
Phase A takes a conservative approach to cost protections, by not factoring in potential partnerships or other sources of funds. However, partnerships and other agreements could significantly reduce the cost and enhance the value of a regional conveyance system. Phase B would include more detailed analysis of potential partnerships and funding opportunities and more details about projected costs from MWD.
“A decision about the Regional Conveyance System cannot be made in the abstract,” said Kelly Rodgers, director of the Water Authority’s Colorado River Program. “It must be made based on a comparison of the available alternatives, and we look forward to additional analysis and perspectives from our member agencies in the weeks ahead.”
The Water Authority currently pays MWD to transport QSA water through the Colorado River Aqueduct to San Diego. The regional conveyance system would be designed to convey the QSA water, which in 2021 will reach its full amount of 280,000 acre-feet of water annually. The current Water Transfer Agreement between the Imperial Irrigation District and the Water Authority continues to 2047. Both agencies can agree to extend the transfer another 30 years to 2077.
Conveyance routes would connect to All-American Canal
Each of the potential conveyance routes would connect to the tail end of the All-American Canal where it meets the Westside Main Canal in the southwest corner of Imperial Valley.
Two of the routes would follow a southern corridor between the Imperial Valley and San Diego, with one route over the mountains paralleling the U.S./Mexico border and the other tunneling through the mountains. Both routes would end at the San Vicente Reservoir in Lakeside.
The third and northernmost route would follow the Westside Main Canal toward the Salton Sea, then flow past Borrego Springs, and through the mountains. It would eventually connect to the Water Authority’s Twin Oaks Valley Water Treatment Plant in San Marcos.
Draft report findings
The region will continue to need QSA water through 2112.
All three RCS alternatives are viable from a technical and engineering perspective.
Alternatives 3A and 5A are economically competitive and provide long-term reliability and low-cost water to the region.
Alternative 5C is not economically competitive with Alternatives 3A and 5A and will not be recommended for further study.
Alternatives 3A and 5A could be integrated without major changes to current Water Authority operations.
Potential multi-agency, multi-use partnerships and other agreements could significantly reduce the cost and enhance the value of each RCS alternative and provide regional benefits to San Diego, California and the Southwest.
The San Diego Food System Alliance is calling on San Diego County leaders and residents to recognize the devastating impact COVID-19 is having on our local food system—including food businesses, farms and fisheries, food and farm workers, and food security.
https://www.waternewsnetwork.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/WNN-Horizontal-White-Blue2.png00Mike Leehttps://www.waternewsnetwork.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/WNN-Horizontal-White-Blue2.pngMike Lee2020-05-19 10:33:542020-05-22 10:36:147 Things You Can Do Now to Support San Diego Farms, Food Economy
