THE CONFLICT: WATER TRANSFER (4/2002)
The City of San Diego wants to purchase runoff water from the Imperial Valley to feed its thirsty growing population. But that same water is currently sustaining an ecosystem called the Salton Sea. The clock is running out on the deal as the federal government clamps down on San Diego’s other water dependencies.
San Diego wants to buy the runoff water from the Imperial Valley farmers at the tune of $50 million per year. But this is the same surplus water that currently sustains the Salton Sea. Without external water sources San Diego County can sustain 50,000 residents. San Diego county is home to 2.6 million people.
According to the L.A. Times, “the San Diego-Imperial Valley deal would be the largest transfer of water from agricultural to urban users in the nation’s history.” But, if the Salton Sea becomes smaller and saltier, it could produce toxic dust storms that would endanger its environs, including Coachella Valley which already contends with stagnant smog from Los Angeles. Both federal and state laws would make those responsible for this potential eco-meltdown financially responsible.
Scared off by the potential risk of lawsuits, the Imperial Irrigation District is starting to think twice about the water sale to San Diego. But the time for a decision is running out: without this transfer Southern California would continue to depend on the Colorado River for its water and the federal Department of the Interior, at the behest of neighboring states, have already placed a deadline on terminating this dependency.
Enter Congressman Duncan Hunter (R), of the 52nd Congressional District, consisting of eastern San Diego County and Imperial County, and his bill H.R. 2764. This law would provide a $60 million “insurance policy” to prevent an ecological meltdown by funding habitat enhancement projects at the Salton Sea as well as off-stream water management reservoirs.
Rep. Mary Bono, (R-Palm Springs), who represents the Salton Sea’s northern edge and has been a strong avocate for its sustainability, is taking a very, very close look at H.R. 2764.
Rep. Duncan Hunter, (R-El Cajon), of the 52nd Congressional District, eastern San Diego County and Imperial County, introduced H.R. 2764 which would provide a $60m “security deposit” for Salton Sea fallout.
The Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, which serves 16 million people in six counties, endorsed the Hunter bill. They work to expand Southern California’s “water portfolio.”
The Imperial Irrigation District is concerned that environmentalists and politicians will try to force the district into paying most of the cost of protecting the Salton Sea.
The Salton Sea Authority, a joint powers agency formed in 1993 by the Coachella Valley Water District, the Imperial Irrigation District, Riverside County and Imperial County, is comprised of elected officials from each of these member agencies.
San Diegans, import nearly 90 percent of their water from other areas. Are San Diego companies and citizens ready to embrace water reclamation and conservation in order to continue to grow?
Those in favor might say:
Without this deal, the San Diego metropolitan area would have to scramble to find an alternative source of water. The $60 million freed up by this legislation is meant to contain the ecological fallout of killing off the Salton Sea. This might prevent the lawsuits that would ensue if a dead Salton Sea become a source of toxic dust storms.
Those against might say:
Should the Federal gov’t subsidize San Diego’s purchase of the Imperial Irrigation District’s sale at a cost of $60 million to taxpayers? Will the $60m be enough to curtail the damage done to the Salton Sea when it loses its replenishing feed from the Imperial Irrigation District? Could the cost of the repairs or prevention be passed along to San Diego?
H.R. 2764. Title: To address certain matters related to Colorado River water management and the Salton Sea by providing funding for habitat enhancement projects at the Salton Sea, authorization and direction to the Secretary of the Interior regarding Federal environmental compliance, and funding for off-stream water management reservoirs and associated facilities near the All American Canal.