In the wake of the arrival of a history-making year in weather, the San Diego County Water Authority is working with two other agencies and the federal government to implement lasting changes to regional water management.
As part of the historic Lower Basin Plan between Arizona, California and Nevada to conserve 3 million acre-feet of water by 2026 to protect the Colorado River system from extended drought, the Imperial Irrigation District Board of Directors on Friday, Dec. 1 unanimously approved the 2023 System Conservation Implementation Agreement with the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation.
San Diego County and Southern California water industry leaders commemorated the 20th anniversary of the 2003 Quantification Settlement Agreement (QSA), cited as a model of collaboration, relationship building, and voluntary conservation efforts among Southern California’s water agencies.
The QSA is a historic set of water agreements enabling California to live within its Colorado River apportionment, helping provide reliable water supplies for all users. Speakers at the commemoration event highlighted how the QSA continues to meet its goals while protecting agriculture and addressing the environment.
Learn more about the significance of the historic QSA in this video presentation.
San Diego County Water Authority (Water Authority) Board Chair Mel Katz described the positive change in water management ushered in by the QSA as “a set of more than two dozen agreements that represent the dawn of a new era in water management in San Diego County and the Southwest – an era of water efficiency and supply reliability despite climate extremes.” Katz recognized the conservation efforts of the Imperial Irrigation District (IID) and Imperial Valley farmers.
San Diego County Water Authority Board Chair Mel Katz speaks at the Quantification Settlement Agreement 20th Anniversary celebration. Photo: San Diego County Water Authority
IID Board President Alex Cardenas reported Imperial County agriculture has conserved 7.5 million acre-feet over the 20 years of the agreement, while still enabling agriculture to succeed. The Valley’s agricultural economy has grown from $1.8 billion in 2003 to $2.6 billion in 2023. according to the latest crop reports.
Water Authority General Manager Dan Denham said the Water Authority, IID, Metropolitan Water District of Southern California (MWD), and the Coachella Valley Water District continue to work together to ensure flexibility in how the river is managed and the needs of each agency are met. “We are getting to a place where we can be creative and do things differently.”
MWD General Manager Adel Hagekhalil called the QSA a great success and a great lesson. “We all came together. It was tough, but it was important.”
California Natural Resources Agency Secretary Wade Crowfoot congratulated the QSA partners on their achievement via a video message, calling it a “game changer” that remains as important today as it was 20 years ago. U.S. Senator Alex Padilla also offered his congratulations via a video message, crediting the leadership of all partners for their efforts to sustain the QSA.
Invited guests listen to water industry leaders and elected officials recognize the 20th anniversary of the Quantification Settlement Agreement. Photo: San Diego County Water Authority
San Diego Assemblyman David Alvarez told those gathered it was important to celebrate what was accomplished through the QSA. “The significance to me of the QSA is the listening that occurred,” he said, noting that the QSA brought agencies together to listen to each other as partners to create a set of mutually beneficial agreements.
Colorado River Board of California Vice Chair and Water Authority board member Jim Madaffer said the QSA provides a model of flexible river management, calling it a lesson “that we are so much better when working together than separately.”
Looking toward the challenges ahead on the river, water industry leaders noted the QSA must be a part of critical water discussions as agencies seek collaborative solutions to ensure the Colorado River can continue to be a reliable water source well into the future.
A trade deal is brewing between major southern California water agencies to help restock a major reservoir on the drought-stricken Colorado River and meet federal demands to cut back use.
San Diego, Los Angeles and Imperial Valley are the major players trying something that’s never been done before using a water trading agreement inked 20 years ago as a guiding light. Under the proposal, San Diego is going to give up some of its Colorado River water it fought so hard to secure so more can be saved in the larger river system. But instead, it would lean on supplies from northern California, a source that was virtually unavailable to the region due to drought just last year.
I traveled to Imperial County last month to see what this desert farming community built with the cash San Diegans pay for some of its water.
The latest thing is a small lake, eight times the length of an Olympic lap pool, built into the harsh, flat landscape. The hot wind whipped at the new reservoir’s surface so hard, waves of it almost breached the bare dirt rims of its chamber.
It was a rough debut. JB Hamby, 26 years old, had rocketed to the innermost circle of state and federal officials charged with saving the Colorado River from collapse. In mid-January, he was elected to chair California’s river board, representing Imperial Irrigation District, by far the biggest recipient of the overused river’s supply.
Federal officials had bluntly threatened to impose mandatory cuts across the region if huge voluntary reductions weren’t made.
But 12 days later, after contentious closed-door talks, he watched in dismay as media outlets across the U.S. published stories about six states releasing a joint plan to save the river, with only his state, California, refusing to sign on.
San Diego has secure water supplies that are the envy of many agencies throughout the western United States.
The key to this was an agreement reached 20 years ago this week with the Imperial Irrigation District to send Colorado River water from that desert farming region to San Diego County.
The nation’s largest agriculture-to-urban water transfer was primarily accomplished through vast payments by San Diego to Imperial Valley farmers to modernize their
The San Diego County Water Authority announced that Sunday marks 20 years since water officials across the Southwestern U.S. signed the largest water conservation-transfer agreement in the nation’s history, enabling two decades of sourcing clean water from the Colorado River.
Known as the Colorado River Quantification Settlement Agreement, or QSA, the agreements settled decades of dispute over Colorado River water.
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 here 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. In addition, the operational reservoir aids the district’s popular On-Farm Efficiency Conservation Program by providing improved water delivery service and flexibility to growers and IID water delivery staff in the valley’s Northend.
The Water News Network is San Diego County’s source for water news and information.
