Tag Archive for: Imperial Irrigation District

‘The Moment of Reckoning Is Near’: Feds Warn Huge Cuts Needed to Shore Up Lake Mead, Colorado River

/in , , /by /USA Todayby Janet Wilson

A top federal water official told Congress on Tuesday that shortages on the Colorado River system have taken an even grimmer turn, with a whopping 2 million to 4 million acre-feet of reduction in water use needed by 2023 just to keep Lake Mead functioning and physically capable of delivering drinking water, irrigation and power to millions of people.

Levels at the reservoir have dropped to an all-time low of 28% of capacity, with no relief in sight, said Camille Touton, Bureau of Reclamation commissioner who testified early Tuesday to the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources Committee.

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These Five People Could Make or Break the Colorado River

/in , , /by /Los Angeles Timesby Sammy Roth

Alex Cardenas. J.B. Hamby. Jim Hanks. Javier Gonzalez. Norma Sierra Galindo.

There’s a good chance you’ve never heard of them. But with the Colorado River in crisis, they’re arguably five of the most powerful people in the American West.

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Feds Float Drastic Measures to Stanch California’s Water Crisis

/in , , /by /Palm Springs Desert Sunby Janet Wilson

A top federal water official told Congress on Tuesday that shortages on the Colorado River system have taken an even grimmer turn, with a whopping 2 million to 4 million acre feet of reduction in water use needed by 2023 just to keep Lake Mead functioning and physically capable of delivering drinking water, irrigation and power to millions of people.

Bureau of Reclamation Commissioner Camille Touton testified early Tuesday to the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources Committee that levels at the reservoir have dropped to an all-time low of 28% of capacity, with no relief in sight.

“There is so much to this that is unprecedented,” Touton said. “But unprecedented is now the reality and the normal in which Reclamation must manage our system, for warmer, drier weather is is what we are facing.”

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How Stable Is San Diego’s Supply of Colorado River Water?

/in , , /by /The San Diego Union-Tribuneby Joshua Emerson Smith Mentioned: San Diego County Water Authority

It’s no secret that San Diego County’s top water managers are deeply frustrated with California’s new conservation rules, even as drought continues to ravage the American Southwest.

The San Diego County Water Authority, the region’s wholesaler, has repeatedly lobbied the state for an exemption to prohibitions on watering commercial and other landscapes that go into effect this month.

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IID Board Initiates Process to Develop, Implement Revised Plan to Manage Water Supply

/in , , /by /The Desert Review

In light of the current conditions affecting the Colorado River Basin, the Imperial Irrigation District Board of Directors has initiated an accelerated process to develop a plan to manage its annual water supply by apportioning it among all categories of water users.

Referred to as the revised Equitable Distribution Plan, the intent is for the plan to be effective by July 1, 2022 and retroactive to January 1 of this year. The revised plan is being developed by the district in consultation with the board’s Colorado River committee.

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IID Preparing Water Apportionment Plan

/in , , /by /Calexico Chronicleby Antoine Abou-Diwan

The Imperial Irrigation District is preparing a water apportionment plan for Imperial Valley growers to rein in a projected water overrun after the federal government declared a water shortage, reducing the amount of water that Arizona, Nevada and Mexico can claim from the Colorado River.

The IID holds the largest and most secure federal entitlement on the Colorado River, but current Bureau of Reclamation projections show the district exceeding its allocation by more than 92,000 acre-feet of water this year as grain prices reach record highs following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

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L.A.’s Historic Water Shortage Won’t Affect San Diegans

/in , , /by /Voice of San Diegoby MacKenzie Elmer Quoted: San Diego County Water Authority

Los Angeles did something Tuesday it’s never done before: it prohibited about 6 million Angelenos from watering outdoor landscapes except for one day a week.

That’s because climate change-driven drought in California has stretched into its third year, with less rain and snow from the Sierra Nevada mountains feeding the northern rivers of the state. And that means the state’s biggest water lifeline, called the State Water Project, has less water to deliver to the thirsty lands and people who rely on it throughout the rest of California.

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IID Forms Committee to Keep Eye on Colorado River Negotiations

/in , , /by /The Desert Reviewby Betty Miller

Imperial Irrigation District formed the Colorado River Committee at the April 12 meeting after debate on the need for another committee and the pre-appointments by Board President Jim Hanks of himself and Director JB Hamby.

Director Javier Gonzalez said he would not support the formation of another committee as with all the others, never is one reported on back to the board.

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IID Sells Land to HKG, Retains Subsurface Rights

/in , /by /The Desert Reviewby Betty Miller

Imperial Irrigation District has been negotiating with Hell’s Kitchen Geothermal, LLC (HKG) to transfer land near the Salton Sea to the company, plus allow geothermal drilling of the heated brine and mineral extraction.

Recently, IID entered into negotiations with HKG to transfer approximately 3,144 acres, which includes the 1,880 acres currently under lease with HKG. Documents showed at the IID’s regular Feb. 15, meeting that under the proposed transfer, IID would retain its rights to all subsurface resources, including geothermal and mineral resources.

 

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As the Colorado River Shrinks, Can the Basin Find an Equitable Solution in Sharing the River’s Waters?

/in , , /by /Western Water (Water Education Foundation)by Douglas E. Beeman

Impacts from climate change and two decades of drought on the Colorado River are fueling fears that states in the Upper Basin – Colorado, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming – could be forced to curtail their own water use to fulfill obligations under the century-old Colorado River Compact to send a certain amount of water downstream to the Lower Basin states of California, Arizona and Nevada.

There has never been a so-called “Compact call” on the river. But as evidence grows that the river isn’t yielding the water assumed by the 1922 Colorado River Compact, questions arise about whether a Compact call may be coming, or whether the states and water interests, drawing on decades of sometimes difficult collaboration, can avert a river war that ends up in court.

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