Lawsuit challenges California canal project

David Kihara

Wednesday, July 20, 2005 | 9:22 a.m.

Proposed construction on parts of the 80-mile All-American Canal in Southern California will seriously reduce the amount of Colorado River water reaching Mexico, according to a lawsuit filed in federal court in Las Vegas on Tuesday.

The Consejo de Desarrollo Economico de Mexicali (Mexicali Economic Development Council), a nonprofit organization, filed the federal civil suit with several American nonprofit environmental organizations against the U.S. Interior Department and the Bureau of Reclamation.

The suit claims that proposed construction on a 29-mile section of the canal will essentially cut off the amount of seepage water reaching Mexicali.

The suit pits the rights of Mexicans against the interests of the United States and directly challenges the Bureau of Reclamation's proposed construction project.

The suit centers on a 29-mile section of the All-American Canal, which takes water from the Colorado River near Imperial Dam and irrigates agricultural areas in California's Imperial Valley.

The groundwater re-charge from the seepage is essential to the sustainability of the Mexicali aquifer, according to the suit.

But the canal is considered the "lifeline" from the Colorado River, according to the Imperial Irrigation District. Water in the canal serves nine cities and approximately 500,000 acres of agricultural land in the Imperial Valley, according to the district.

Construction could begin in Spring 2006 and, according to the Imperial Irrigation District, is slated to be completed in December 2008.

Seepage from the canal -- which is not lined -- has flowed to the Mexicali Valley for more than 100 years, according to the suit, and residents and business people have reportedly invested large amounts of cash for pumping facilities to access the water resources.

Approximately 100,000 acre-feet of water per year is recharged to the aquifer underlying Mexicali from seepage from the All-American Canal, the suit claims.

Malissa McKeith, president of the Citizens United for Resources & Environment, a plaintiff in the case, said that the government's construction plan will result in a loss of water and groundwater replacement in Mexicali.

"The Mexicali Valley will be directly impacted by the canal," she said.

She said the suit was filed in the U.S. District Court in Las Vegas because the Bureau of Reclamation's Lower Colorado Region is located in Boulder City, and the Lower Colorado Region is responsible for the canal.