The Imperial Irrigation District Board of Directors conducted a formal dedication of its newest water conservation and operational reservoir located just east of here on Wednesday, October 11, named after longtime Division 3 Director Lloyd Allen.
The Imperial Irrigation District Board of Directors conducted a formal dedication of its newest water conservation and operational reservoir located just east of Calipatria on Wednesday, Oct. 11, named after longtime Division 3 Director Lloyd Allen. The new reservoir is expected to help IID conserve 400 acre-feet of water a year and features a storage capacity of 40 acre-feet.
The Imperial Irrigation District Board of Directors saluted the district’s completion of its newest water conservation and operational reservoir located just east of the city, which will conserve 400 acre-feet of water annually and provide water operational flexibility to growers in the valley’s Northend.
The new operational reservoir, recently dedicated by the IID Board as the Lloyd Allen Water Conservation Operational Reservoir, is the first mid-lateral canal reservoir constructed through IID’s System Conservation Program. It has a total storage capacity of 40 acre-feet and is located along the district’s E Lateral Canal — the longest in the district’s delivery system at 13 miles in length.
In addition to conserving water, the new reservoir supports the district’s On-Farm Efficiency Conservation Program, providing improved water delivery service to growers.
The IID Board visited the site of the new reservoir on Friday, June 30, as part of a larger tour of water operational facilities in the Valley’s Northend.
The Imperial Irrigation District board held their regular meeting Tuesday, January 10 to finalize the 2021 payments to farmers and landowners who conserved water in a verifiable manner. The complex mathematics and tier proportion had been discussed through the year at IID meetings and IID water advisory board meetings.
The Imperial Irrigation District Board of Directors, James C. Hanks, shared in a statement on Thursday, regarding the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation Commissioner Camille Touton’s testimony on June 14 before the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources on the severity of the Colorado River drought and the need for short- and long-term drought solutions across the West.
“The current hydrological conditions on the Colorado River, which have entered the third decade of unprecedented drought, are well known and are not going unnoticed,” said Hanks. “Over the past two decades, Imperial Valley growers have been using less water while working to meet the nation’s food supply needs, conserving over 7 million acre-feet in support of the Colorado River and California water supplies.”
The Imperial Irrigation District focuses on providing water and energy supply to Imperial County and some parts of Riverside and San Diego counties. Recent elections had two open seats for the IID Board of Directors — Divisions 2 and 4, which were filled by Bruce Kuhn and Erik Ortega respectively.
With the incumbents’ loss, the two open seats have been filled by JB Hamby for Division 2, and Javier Gonzalez for Division 4.
Despite the possible challenges ahead of having two new faces on the Board, IID’s website states their goal is to “protect the Imperial Valley’s water rights and energy balancing authority.”
Four candidates are vying for two seats on the Imperial Irrigation District’s five-member board of directors on Nov. 3. The election will be the culmination of contentious races that already eliminated one incumbent in the primary.
Attorneys for farmer Michael Abatti on Monday filed a petition requesting that the California Supreme Court take up a case against the Imperial Irrigation District, continuing the battle for control over California’s Colorado River water allotment.
This latest filing calls on the court to rule that Imperial Valley farmers have a right to water ownership, which currently resides with the district.
The Salton Sea in California’s far southeast corner has challenged policymakers and local agencies alike to save the desert lake – a vital stop for migrating birds – from becoming a fetid, hyper-saline water body inhospitable to wildlife and a source of choking dust. The state of California, long derided for its failure to act in the past, says it is now moving full-bore to address the sea’s problems, with ambitious plans for wildlife habitat and dust suppression. Skeptics say addressing the sea’s issues is vital not only for the sea and surrounding communities, but for management of the Colorado River as well.
