Tag Archive for: Imperial Irrigation District

A Showdown Over Colorado River Water is Setting the Stage for a High-Stakes Legal Battle

/in , , /by /CNNby Ella Nilsen

Months of bitter negotiations between seven states that rely on the Colorado River’s vanishing water have collapsed along a clear fault line over the past week: California versus everyone else.

The multi-state talks, which have been ongoing in fits and starts for months, were focused on achieving unprecedented water cuts to save the Colorado River – a system that provides water and electricity to more than 40 million people in the West.

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In California’s Imperial Valley, Farmers Brace for a Future With Less Colorado River Water

/in , , /by /Los Angeles Timesby Ian James

Just north of the California-Mexico border, the All-American Canal cuts across 80 miles of barren, dune-swept desert. Up to 200 feet wide and 20 feet deep, the canal delivers the single largest share of Colorado River water to the fertile farmlands of the Imperial Valley.

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Growers Brace to Give Up Some Colorado River Water

/in , , /by /CalMattersby Alastair Bland

Across the sun-cooked flatlands of the Imperial Valley, water flows with uncanny abundance. The valley, which straddles the U.S.-Mexico border, is naturally a desert. Yet canals here are filled with water, lush alfalfa grows from sodden soil and rows of vegetables stretch for miles.

Within this grid of greenery, near the desert town of Brawley, Mark McBroom grows 6,000 acres of hay crops, like alfalfa, and fruit orchards, all irrigated by water imported from the Colorado River.

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IID’s JB Hamby Elected to Lead California’s Colorado River Board

/in , /by /The Desert Review

Imperial Irrigation District Vice President and Division 2 Director JB Hamby will serve as Chairman of the Colorado River Board of California following his unanimous election during Wednesday’s meeting held in Ontario, California, according to a press release.

Hamby has served on the Colorado River Board since April of 2021 and is IID’s fourth member to serve as its chairman. IID’s Executive Superintendent, President, and Division 1 Director Evan T. Hewes served as the board’s first chairman from 1938 to 1947, followed by the district’s Executive Officer Munson J. Dowd from 1962 to 1965, and last by Division 3 Director Lloyd Allen from 2002 to 2006.
As chairman, Hamby serves ex-officio as the Colorado River Commissioner for the State of California. The commissioner is responsible for conferring with representatives of the seven Colorado River basin states and United States on the use of Colorado River water and safeguarding the rights and interests of the state, its agencies, and citizens, pursuant to the federal Boulder Canyon Project Act and the California Water Code.
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Jim Madaffer-Vice Chair-Colorado River Board-Colorado River Board of California

Director Jim Madaffer Elected Vice Chair of the Colorado River Board of California

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San Diego County Water Authority Board Member Jim Madaffer has been elected vice chair of the Colorado River Board of California. The CRB represents California in river management discussions with other Basin states, federal agencies, tribes, and Mexico.

Madaffer, the Water Authority’s CRB representative since 2019, will serve a four-year term as vice chair following his election on January 11 during the CRB meeting in Ontario, Calif. He will serve alongside Imperial Irrigation District Board Vice President JB Hamby, who was elected chair.

Jim Madaffer: “It is essential that California agencies unite to uphold the Law of the River”

“I look forward to working with Chair Hamby and the rest of the Colorado River Board to both protect California’s water supplies during these challenging times and to work collaboratively to keep the river flowing for all users,” said Madaffer, a former chair of the Water Authority Board. “It is essential that California agencies unite to uphold the Law of the River as we seek solutions with the widest possible benefits.”

Established in 1937, CRB consists of agency representatives from the Water Authority, IID, Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, Coachella Valley Water District, Palo Verde Irrigation District, and the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power. Additional representatives include the directors of the California Department of Water Resources and Department of Fish and Wildlife, along with two public representatives.

Madaffer-Colorado River Board-JB Hamby-CRB

Jim Madaffer (L) the Water Authority’s CRB representative since 2019, will serve a four-year term as vice chair and will serve alongside Imperial Irrigation District Board Vice President JB Hamby, who was elected chair. Photo: San Diego County Water Authority

Collaboration to conserve

CRB’s role has been pivotal in protecting the state’s share of the river during this period when two decades of drought have caused a sharp supply/demand imbalance, leading to a severe decline in water levels in the river’s two main reservoirs, Lake Mead and Lake Powell.

Led by CRB, California has proposed conserving up to 400,000 acre-feet annually through 2026 to support the river. Though that conservation will not affect the San Diego region’s high-priority Quantification Settlement Agreement supplies, the region is continuing to take active steps to conserve as it has over the past three decades.

“The San Diego region is committed to doing our part to be good stewards of our water supplies,” said Water Authority Board Chair Mel Katz. “We also believe in working collaboratively with all stakeholders on the river, and Jim’s leadership on the Colorado River Board in his new role as vice chair will only advance those efforts.”

Farmers to Receive Final Conservation 2021 Payments

/in , /by /The Desert Reviewby Betty Miller

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.

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IID Director Appointed to California Farm Water Coalition

/in , /by /KYMAby Dillon Fuhrman

The Imperial Irrigation District (IID) announced that the company’s director, Gina Dockstader, will join the California Farm Water Coalition (CFWC). In a news release, Dockstader’s fellow IID board members selected her to serve as a liaison.

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These Imperial Valley Farmers Want to Pay More for Their Colorado River Water

/in , , /by /Voice of San Diegoby MacKenzie Elmer

Alex Jack says he’s not charged enough for the water he uses at his Imperial Valley farm. Because the Colorado River water shared by him and his neighboring farmers who make up the vast agricultural economy in the middle of the desert is so cheap, he says, farmers have little incentive to conserve.

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IID Approves Possible $250 Million Salton Sea Deal With Feds, State

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

Southern California’s powerful Imperial Irrigation District voted late Tuesday 3-2 to ink an agreement with federal and state officials that could yield as much as $250 million for Salton Sea restoration projects in exchange for not using another 250,000 acre-feet of Colorado River water. An acre-foot is enough to supply about two households.

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Farmers Brace for Water Cuts to Help River

/in , , /by /AgAlert (California Farm Bureau Federation)by Peter Hecht

As the Colorado River water crisis deepens amid withering drought in the West, Imperial Valley growers with historic rights to water from the river are making calculations on whether to farm or fallow.

This month, the Imperial Irrigation District, which supplies Colorado River water to farmers in America’s largest growing region for winter vegetables, joined other California water agencies in offering to take a dramatic cut in the amount of water they pull from the river.

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