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Hilary Causes $9.3M in Damage; Imperial County Waits for Help

/in , , /by /Calexico Chronicle by Richard Montenegro Brown

As federal and state lawmakers based in California continue to petition President Biden to declare a federal disaster in the wake of Tropical Storm Hilary, local assessments show Imperial County was among the hardest-hit areas in terms of property damage per capita.

Overall, Imperial County received some $9.3 million in property damage during the weekend storm in which 3.26 inches of rain fell on Aug. 19 and 20, but perhaps the most shocking statistic shared by Imperial County Fire Chief and Office of Emergency Services Coordinator David Lantzer was that Imperial County was the second-highest county in property damage per capita at $51.

“Those are pretty significant numbers. I’m actually a bit surprised, but not completely surprised,” Lantzer said during his department report at the Imperial City Council meeting of Wednesday, Sept. 20.

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‘Salton Sea Conservancy’ Bill Stalls in California Legislature Amid Bureaucracy Concerns

/in , /by /Palm Springs Desert Sunby Erin Rode

Would a proposed Salton Sea Conservancy help efforts in the troubled region? Elected officials and local organizations are split, with some saying it will just add another layer of bureaucracy to already mired efforts.

California Senate Bill 583, authored by state Sen. Steve Padilla, D-San Diego, and coauthored by Assemblymember Eduardo Garcia, D-Coachella, would create the Salton Sea Conservancy, “tasking it with coordinating management of all conservation projects in the region to restore the shrinking sea and reducing the negative health impact the Sea imposes,” according to Padilla’s office. There are currently 10 similar state conservancies under the California Natural Resources Agency, including the local Coachella Valley Mountains Conservancy.

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To Help Navigate Looming Water Cuts, Imperial Irrigation Hires its Longtime Rival from LA

/in , , /by /The Desert Sunby Janet Wilson

One of the West’s top water kingpins is back, and in an unlikely new spot.

Jeffrey Kightlinger, retired general manager for the powerful Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, has been hired as a consultant by the Imperial Irrigation District, which in the past has been his bitter rival on Colorado River policy. The contract comes at a critical juncture, as seven states and federal officials ramp up negotiations over a long-term agreement to keep the massive but dwindling river and its reservoirs functional. IID holds the rights to by far the largest share of that water.

Kightlinger, 63, said of his new client, “It’s an intriguing thing … IID is obviously a big player, and I’ve been doing this for a long time, so I think it could work out well for both of us. “

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Opinion: With Colorado River Negotiations Settled, it’s Time to Focus on Water Conservation Plans

/in , , /by /The San Diego Union-Tribuneby Brian Strahm Mentioned: San Diego County Water Authority

The agreement reached in May by California, Arizona and Nevada to conserve 3 million acre-feet of Colorado River water is reassuring news for all who rely on it — farms, cities, rural communities, tribes and the environment. It benefits American consumers in general who depend on the region’s farms for much of our safe, healthy, affordable food supply, and Southern California residents who receive farm-to-urban water transfers from the Imperial Valley specifically, helping protect them from drought-related water shortages.

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One of California’s Poorest Counties Could Be Key To Future of Clean Energy

/in , , /by /Courthouse News Serviceby Sam Ribakoff

Sonia Herbert of Bombay Beach wants people to know that California’s Salton Sea isn’t all dystopian sunbaked abandoned homes, poverty, ominous toxic dust and decaying nostalgia. It’s also a place where people live and find beauty around the mirage-like lake in the desert.

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Feds Give Millions to Desert Water Projects, Warn a Wet Year is Not Enough

/in , , /by /Desert Sunby Janet Wilson

Water districts serving the California desert will receive nearly $18 million in federal infrastructure funds, officials announced this week, including for Imperial County’s first major reservoir and critical repairs to the aging All-American Canal.

The grants and loans come days before a likely federal announcement on possible cuts or other changes to Colorado River allocations through 2026 across seven Western states.

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How California’s Salton Sea Went From Vacation Destination to Toxic Nightmare

/in , /by /Gristby Zoya Teirstein

In the spring of 1905, the Colorado River, bursting with seasonal rain, topped an irrigation canal and flooded the site of a dried lake bed in Southern California. The flooding, which continued for two years before engineers sealed up the busted channel, created an unexpected gem in the middle of the arid California landscape: the Salton Sea. In the decades that followed, vacationers, water skiers, and speed boat enthusiasts flocked to the body of water. The Beach Boys and the Marx Brothers docked their boats at the North Shore Beach and Yacht Club, which opened in 1959. At the time, it seemed like the Salton Sea, and the vibrant communities that had sprung up around it, would be there for centuries to come.

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Planned County Water Summit Ignites Spat

/in , /by /Imperial Valley Pressby Gary Redfern

With concerns over how a looming Colorado River water shortage will affect Imperial County’s economy, members of its two lead agencies are at loggerheads over a planned summit on the issue.

The issue involves Imperial County’s “2022 Colorado River Summit,” and an Imperial Irrigation District director feeling snubbed over its roll out.

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Supervisor Plancarte Calls for Water Shortage Summit

/in , , /by /Holtville Tribuneby Marcie Landeros

 Imperial County District 2 Supervisor Luis Plancarte called for a water shortage summit for all of the water providers in Imperial County to see where they stand with plans to reduce water consumption in light of extreme drought conditions in the state.

An emergency regulation was passed on May 24 by the state Water Resources Control Board, which required urban and commercial water suppliers to implement the second stage of their respective water shortage plans.

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Major Water Reductions Cause Major Concern For Locals

/in , , /by /Imperial Valley Pressby Joyce Lobeck

Farmers in Imperial County feel like they’ve borne the “lion’s share” of cutbacks in use of water from the Colorado River as the megadrought gripping the West the last couple of decades continues to diminish that vital resource for the Southwest.

With elevations of the river’s reservoirs having now fallen to the point that significant additional cuts to the water supplied to the states that rely on the river are a grim likelihood next year, the Imperial Valley farmers are resigned to seeing further cuts in their water delivery. But they fear those cuts will adversely impact their farms, their lifestyle, their businesses and their communities.

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