The Imperial Irrigation District Board of Directors tipped their proverbial hat to the region’s farmers Tuesday by saluting National Ag Day during their regular board meeting.
Local farmers and growers providing food products for the United States and the world have celebrated for the past 47 years.
National Ag Day is March 24.
The California Natural Resources Agency this week released its Salton Sea Management Program annual report, which trumpeted the first completed dust suppression project and set ambitious goals for upcoming mitigation efforts.
The report lays out an aggressive target of 3,800 acres on which the agency hopes to complete efforts to tamp down dust by the end of 2020 to catch up with its long-term benchmarks.
“We’re well-positioned and have identified a suite of projects that will help us accomplish that goal by the end of this year,” said Arturo Delgado, the agency’s assistant secretary for Salton Sea policy.
IMPERIAL — Representatives from Imperial Irrigation District and Imperial County took to the air Friday to get a keen view of California’s largest and most troubled lake.
Coordinated by Audubon California, the flights took off from Imperial County Airport Friday morning, flying over the perimeter of the Salton Sea. Passengers witnessed the decline of the receding lake and viewed the IID’s and the state’s dust mitigation projects and Audubon’s proposed new project, Bombay wetlands.
The San Diego County Water Authority’s Board of Directors visited the Imperial Valley January 30 for a day-long tour that highlighted areas critical to the agency’s Regional Conveyance System Study.
Imperial, California – The Imperial Irrigation District appeared before Imperial County Superior Court Judge Brooks Anderholt, Tuesday, to defend itself in a contempt-of-court lawsuit filed by farmer Mike Abatti. This is an extension of the litigation brought against the district by Abatti in 2013 that challenged IID’s Equitable Distribution Plan, and is currently on appeal before the Fourth District Court of Appeal.
In his latest legal challenge to IID’s water rights and operations, Abatti asked the trial court to find IID in contempt for violating the judge’s August 2017 order prohibiting the district from entering into any new industrial water supply contracts until it implements an EDP based on water history.
The San Diego County Water Authority’s Board of Directors visited the Imperial Valley January 30 for a day-long tour that highlighted areas critical to the agency’s Regional Conveyance System Study.
Board members approved a study in July 2019, to evaluate a new regional water conveyance system that would deliver water from the Colorado River to San Diego County and provide multiple benefits across the Southwest. The Board will hear results from the first phase of the study this spring before deciding whether to move ahead with Phase B.
The tour started in southwestern Imperial County, where the All-American Canal meets the Westside Main Canal, an historic location where, starting in 1919, water from a canal system in Mexico first flowed into the western half of the Imperial Valley. It is also the place where three potential routes for a new water conveyance system, now being analyzed in the study, would begin.
“The goal of the study is to determine first, whether there is a cost benefit to the Water Authority and its member agencies in the long-term to build a regional conveyance system to transport our independent Colorado River supplies from the Imperial Valley directly to San Diego County,” said Dan Denham, the Water Authority’s deputy general manager.
One specific benefit to the Water Authority, the Imperial Irrigation District, and farmers in the Imperial Valley, would be the proposal to build an operational storage facility in the valley’s western area. The facility could help manage water deliveries to serve the needs of agriculture in the valley, while helping the Water Authority manage its transfer supply.
“This canal is a lifeline to the Imperial Valley,” says Tina Shields, @IIDatWork water dept. manager, standing where the All-American Canal meets the Westside Main Canal & where water from a canal system in Mexico first flowed into the western half of Imperial Valley. #IVtour2020 pic.twitter.com/JgkM8LXZiG
— San Diego County Water Authority (@sdcwa) January 30, 2020
The trip included visits to several agriculture fields for a first-hand look at the latest conservation techniques used by farmers under the 2003 Colorado River Quantification Settlement Agreement.
Tom Brundy has been farming in the Imperial Valley for more than 40 years, and today he grows hay on 4,000 acres. Most of the hay produced by the farm is sold to customers in San Diego County, one of many connections between Imperial and San Diego counties.
Tom Brundy has farmed in the Imperial Valley for more than 40 years and has embraced conservation like other Imperial Valley farmers. #IVtour2020 https://t.co/sQKoyMUL3y #cawater #agriculture @IIDatWork @ICFarmBureau @CAFarmBureau @ucanr #sustainability pic.twitter.com/3eM3YWkYXl
— San Diego County Water Authority (@sdcwa) January 31, 2020
“Every farmer in Imperial County is conserving water, and quite a bit,” said Tom Brundy, president of the Imperial County Farm Bureau. “I have subsurface drip on alfalfa, we’re using soil monitors and soil sensors to help us in our water scheduling, and we continue to modify our methods using new technology that saves water.”
Jack Bros. Inc. also is an innovator in on-farm conservation. Alex Jack is a third-generation farmer using pump back systems and permanent drip irrigation. Many of his crops, from lettuce to cauliflower, are grown with zero water runoff.
Jack calls his progressive approach “out of the box thinking.”
“My goal is to be the best farmer possible,” said Jack. “If I happen to conserve water, that’s fantastic, but most of the new high-technology methods are conserving water.”
Jack Bros. Inc. is an innovator in implementing conservation. Alex Jack is a third-generation farmer using pump back systems and permanent drip irrigation and systems. Jack says his approach is “out of the box.” #IVtour2020 #cawater @IIDatWork @ICFarmBureau @Ivh2O #agriculture pic.twitter.com/X2jK7TDGBJ
— San Diego County Water Authority (@sdcwa) January 30, 2020
The east side of the Salton Sea was the final stop on the Imperial Valley tour. Board members got an update on restoration efforts, including the 500-acre Red Hill Marina Wetlands Project, one of the first Salton Sea Management Program projects.
Representatives from the California Department of Water Resources, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, and the Imperial Irrigation District described how the area was once a prime bird-watching location before the Salton Sea began receding. The 500-acre project will decrease dust emissions by creating a shallow marine habitat using water from the Salton Sea and a nearby river.
The #SaltonSea is the final stop on the Imperial Valley tour, for an update on restoration efforts, including the 500+ acre Red Hill Marina Wetlands Project – one of the first Salton Sea Management Program projects. https://t.co/J2VQ6xsXCW #IVtour2020 #cawater #habitat #wetlands pic.twitter.com/ke4ae5F7Su
— San Diego County Water Authority (@sdcwa) January 31, 2020
The project is a partnership between the federal and state government, and the Imperial Irrigation District – with a portion of the funding coming from a federal assistance program that the Quantification Settlement Agreement Joint Powers Authority helped fund. Work is expected to be completed by the end of this year.
The Imperial Valley tour, which highlighted the partnerships between San Diego and Imperial County, was part of an on-going series of tours led by the Water Authority’s Colorado River Program.
Division 2 and Division 4 on the Imperial Irrigation Board are two of the toughest races candidates are facing in the county’s primary.
In public forum moderated by Imperial Valley College students, residents wanted to hear how candidates plan to protect the valley’s land and water rights.
Division 2 incumbent, Bruce Kuhn talked about how he has been fighting to protect the valley’s resources from stakeholders in the Coachella district.
The Imperial Irrigation District board of directors voted this week to approve an option to sell 2,880 acres near Niland and Calipatria to a Moreno Valley-based developer for the construction of an “inland port.”
The board postponed action on the deal in December and called for more information and new terms, which IID staff presented before Tuesday’s vote. By a 4-1 vote, the board approved the amended deal, with President Norma Sierra Galindo as the lone vote in opposition.
US developer Sunpin Solar on Friday held a groundbreaking ceremony to mark the start of construction of the 98-MW Titan Solar 1 project in California.
Commissioning is expected to take place in the fourth quarter of 2020.
The solar park will be built on 569 acres (230.3 hectares) between the Salton Sea and Anza Borrego Desert State Park in California’s Imperial County. With over 260,000 panels installed, Titan Solar 1 is set to produce more than 218,000 MWh per year, or enough power for over 26,900 homes annually, the California-based solar developer said.
EL CENTRO — If Imperial County Superior Court Judge L. Brooks Anderholt rules that Imperial Irrigation District violated a previous ruling by agreeing to provide an extra 500 acre-feet of water to the Heber Geothermal plant, that decision could cost the district $3.6 million and then some.
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