When white settlers forayed into what came to be known as the Imperial Valley at the dawn of the 20th century, they found a barren desert in California’s southeastern corner, unpopulated except for a few members of the Kamia clan of the Kumeyaay tribe.
An hour east of San Diego, there’s a lonely stretch of dry, barren land. There’s not much here but sand, dirt, and some wiry shrubs.
But keep driving east and the landscape suddenly shifts.
The Department of Interior has indicated that if states don’t cooperate on dividing Colorado River water, more cuts may be on the way.
The agency indicated that California could also face cutbacks, which means that the state’s wait-and-see strategy may have fallen short.
California has senior water rights to the Colorado River, and so far, that has worked in its favor.
Despite a wet winter, California and other western states will still need to cut back how much water they draw from the Colorado River. The question federal and state officials are weighing is: How much will they each need to cut?
The Biden administration floated two ideas this week to reduce water usage from the dwindling Colorado River, which supplies 40 million people.
The Imperial Irrigation District released its IID Annual Report 2022, highlighting the projects and programs that IID brought forth throughout the year.
This report ranges over a wide variety of topics, including water and energy projects, information on the Salton Sea, the Colorado River, Coachella Valley Energy Commission, energy assistance for customers, and community improvement projects.
Just as federal officials were laying out alternative scenarios last week for steep water supply cuts from the Colorado River due to the drying Southwest, California officials were warning that this year’s historic Sierra snowpack could flood much of the state later this year.
The powerful Imperial Irrigation District and others with historic first dibs to Colorado River water are once again facing possible threats to their jealously guarded supply. At a press conference at the Hoover Dam on Tuesday, federal officials announced possible unprecedented, across-the-board cuts to all water contractors in three states if levels in its massive reservoirs, Lake Mead and Lake Powell, fall so low that they might no longer function.
The very real threat of losing water from the Colorado River is the potential cuts to California’s agriculture.
The Imperial Valley alone has 500 thousand acres of farmland at the lower basin of the Colorado River.
Farms like Bear Valley Organic Farm in Valley Center run on water.
After two decades of drier conditions in the west, the concern for the Federal Government is how to keep the Colorado River flowing in the long term.
Kimberly Hunt is live in Oceanside at the Pure Water Facility.
The facility opened last year and is a first of its kind water treatment plant that turns waste water into drinking water.
The Water News Network is San Diego County’s source for water news and information.
