Interior Secretary announces plan for Colorado River water

Lisa Snedeker

Thursday, Dec. 14, 2000 | 5:52 a.m.

A historic agreement to transfer water from farms in the Southern California desert to residential users in San Diego has been completed, Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt told Colorado River water users Thursday.

The agreement, which paves the way for more equitable sharing of Colorado River water, is part of an effort to make sure California reduces its water consumption to its official allotment within the next 15 years.

"I'm confident that California is committed and it's got its act together," Babbitt said, adding Southern Californians have demonstrated they are serious about water conservation.

The agreement among the Imperial Irrigation District, the Coachella Valley Water District and the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California was finalized late Wednesday, Babbitt said.

It resolves a 65-plus year dispute, Babbitt said, and allows the transfer to San Diego of at least 200,000 acre-feet of water from the irrigation district that serves the agricultural needs of the fertile Imperial and Coachella valleys.

"The interim surplus criteria that I will soon put into effect will contain specific benchmarks, conditioning the continuation of those criteria on California's achievement of specified reductions in its need for Colorado River surplus," he said.

That's good news for Nevada and Arizona.

The plan allows surplus water from Lake Mead - lowering the lake's surface level as much as 19 feet - to be used to meet California's needs while the state attempts to wean itself from its reliance on the Colorado River.

The plan also will allow Nevada to store surplus water underground in Arizona, Babbitt said.

In addition, the plan addresses environmental concerns about the Colorado River's parched delta at the U.S.-Mexican border, said Southern Nevada Water Authority General Manager Pat Mulroy.

"These combined efforts are historically significant," she said.

Babbitt also said the United States and Mexico this week signed an agreement to work together to resolve delta issues.

For decades, California consistently has drawn more water from the Colorado River than the other six states along the river.

Now the Interior Department will decide annually who gets the extra water, based on the size of the surplus and the needs of the states.

A final environmental impact statement on the rules governing the surplus will published Friday by the Interior Department, said Jayne Harkin, river operations manager for the Bureau of Reclamation in Boulder City.

"It's not a decision document," she said, adding Babbitt has not decided how the plan should be implemented. "He's to use the final environmental impact statement to make that decision."

Babbitt is expected to sign the new rules Jan. 17.

This year's surplus of 630,000 acre-feet is well below last year's 800,000 acre-feet, said Robert Johnson, Bureau of Reclamation director for the Lower Colorado Basin.

Babbitt's plan gives equal access to river water among the rapidly growing states of Arizona, Nevada and Calfornia, said Bob Walsh, spokesman for the Bureau of Reclamation, which oversees the river.

Under the old rules, California received 50 percent of any surplus, Arizona was entitled to 46 percent, and Nevada was given 4 percent, said David Donnelly, deputy general manager of the Southern Nevada Water Authority.

"The rules give Nevada an opportunity to play on a level field," he said.

The Colorado River serves about 25 million people across the West providing drinking water and hydroelectric power.

Last year California took 800,000 acre feet of water above its official entitlement of 4.4 million acre feet. That extra water served from 3.2 million to 4 million Californians.

By comparison, Nevada gets 300,000 acre feet of the river a year and Arizona receives 2.8 million acre feet.

An acre foot of water is about enough to serve the needs of an average family of five for a year.

Somewhat surprisingly, the secretary known for destroying dams, assured water users Thursday that the Glen Canyon Dam will not be torn down. The dam forms Lake Powell on the Utah-Arizona border.

In his last speech to the Colorado River Water Users Association, Babbitt who will leave office as Interior secretary after the new administration is in place, added, however, that the way the dam operates might be redesigned in response to environmental concerns about water flows.

"I think what he said today was reassuring to everyone in this audience," said Jay Malinowski, director of a water engineering and consulting firm in Glendale, Calif.

It was especially reassuring to Kathleen Clarke, executive director of the Utah Department of Natural Resources, who said she was more relieved than surprised.

"That's good news," she said, referring to threats from environmentalists who claim varying water flows threaten endangered species and the beach habitat below the dam.