Ensuring a Reliable Colorado River Water Supply: San Diego County Water Authoritys Transfer with the

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Ensuring a Reliable Colorado River Water
SupplySan Diego County Water Authoritys
Transfer with the Imperial Irrigation District

• Western Knight Center for Specialized Journalism
  Seminar
• Water and the New West
• June 26, 2002

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San Diego County Water Authority

• Wholesale water supplier to San Diego County
  provide 75-95 of countys water
• 23 member agencies, 2.8 million people
• Purchase water from MWD 80 of Authority supply
  is from the Colorado River

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Importance of River

• Colorado River provides water to more than 30
  million people, irrigates 2 million acres of
  farmland
• River is oversubscribed, with existing water
  supply contracts greater than average supply.

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Colorado River Entitlements(Million acre-feet)
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Authority Transfer Perspective

• Why does the Authority want a transfer?
• Recent history of drought
• Need to diversify water resources
• Help resolve local water rights issue

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Regional transfer perspective

• Why do California, other states want the
  transfer?
• California uses too much Colorado River water
• Apportionment 4.4 maf
• Current use 5.2 maf
• Transfer is key component of Californias
  Colorado River Water Use Plan to reduce use
• Current drought emphasizes need to reduce use of
  the river
• MWD is vulnerable to Colorado River cutback

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Priorities for Californias Colorado River Water
Apportionment

• 1. PVID
• 2. Yuma Project
• 3. IID and CVWD
• 4. MWD...........................................
  550,000 af
• 4.4 maf (Californias apportionment)
• MWD currently uses 1.2 maf each year (capacity of
  Colorado River Aqueduct)
• Extra water available from special, contingent
  surplus

3.85 maf
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Californias Colorado River Water Use Plan (4.4
Plan)

• Objectives
• Reduce California use to 4.4 maf, when necessary
• Enable full MWD aqueduct, without harming
  agriculture or other states
• Provide soft landing, as California reduces
  demand to 4.4 maf
• Cooperative basin-wide approach to utilizing
  limited resources

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Transfer, California Plan are linked

• Complex agreements link the implementation of the
  IID/SDCWA water transfer with California Plan
• Transfer cannot proceed without California Plan
• California Plan cannot proceed without transfer

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California Plan

• Key Elements
• SDCWA/IID Transfer 200,000 af/yr
• MWD/IID Transfer 110,000 af/yr
• CVWD/IID Transfer 100,000 af/yr
• Canal seepage conservation programs (All
  American, Coachella canals) 94,000 af/yr
• Storage and conjunctive use programs

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California Plan Implementation

• Quantification Settlement Agreement
• Interim Surplus Guidelines

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Quantification Settlement Agreement

• Settlement among California agencies limiting
  agricultural water use
• Establishes agency water budgets
• Forms baseline for water conservation
• Includes water conservation and transfer program
  water acquisition agreements

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Interim Surplus Guidelines

• Additional surplus water through 2016, while
  California develops conservation and transfer
  programs
• Kept MWD aqueduct full this year also needed
  next year.
• Suspended if Quantification Settlement Agreement
  is not executed by 12/31/02

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IID/SDCWA Water Transfer

• Agreement completed in 1998
• Largest agriculture-to-urban water transfer ever
  in U.S.
• Authority pays IID farmers to conserve water,
  which becomes available for urban use
• Under current agreement, agricultural land
  fallowing not permitted
• Transfer begins in 2003 at 20,000 af/yr
  increases by 20,000 af/yr until program reaches
  maximum yield of 200,000 af/yr

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IID/SDCWA Water Transfer

• Conveyed through Colorado River Aqueduct
• SDCWA/MWD exchange agreement
• Price is indexed to cost of MWD supplies
  includes farmer incentives
• Begin deliveries in 2003 term is for 45 years,
  with 30-year renewal option
• Contingent upon QSA execution, environmental
  approvals

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Environmental compliance issues

• In the river
• Change in point of diversion
• In the Imperial, Coachella valleys
• On-farm
• Canals and drains
• Project Specific
• All American, Coachella canal lining
• Conjunctive use programs
• San Diego County Area of Use
• Growth inducement issue
• Salton Sea

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Salton Sea

• Created in 1905 through irrigation canal failure
• Landlocked repository for agricultural drainage
• Heavily used by migratory waterfowl, including
  endangered species
• Salinity increasing every year
• Is now 30 saltier than ocean water
• Large-scale fish and bird die-offs in recent
  years
• Without human intervention, sea will eventually
  become hypersaline, unable to support fish,
  waterfowl

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Relationship of transfer to Salton Sea

• Water conservation reduces flows to Sea, causes
  temporal salinity rate increase
• Without transfers, Sea will turn hypersaline in 7
  to 22 years
• With transfers, Sea will turn hypersaline 1 to 9
  years earlier
• Salton Sea will continue to deteriorate with or
  without any water transfers
• Species at the Salton Sea are and will remain in
  jeopardy without human intervention

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1998 Salton Sea Reclamation Act

• Develops reclamation plan and funds studies
• Objective to reduce/stabilize salinity of Sea
• Assumes reduced inflows from transfers
• Inflows could reduced by up to 500,000 af/yr
• Precludes using Colorado River diversions to
  reduce salinity
• January 2000 feasibility study alternatives were
  found not viable.
• Revised feasibility study due in 2002

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Option for environmental compliance

• Fallowing suggested as means of conservation to
  avoid environmental impacts
• would allow continued flow to the Sea
• Causes 3rd-party economic impacts
• Economic impacts vs environmental impacts
• Potential temporary bridge program until
  long-term Salton Sea restoration implemented

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State legislative assistance

• SB 482 (Kuehl)
• Bill addresses
• Fully Protected Species statutes
• California Endangered Species Act
• fallowing as conservation measure
• Assurances for IID

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Federal legislative assistance

• HR 2764 (Hunter)
• Provides funds for first phase of long-term
  Salton Sea restoration
• Salton Sea habitat enhancement after 2007 (if
  long-term restoration is not under way)
• Assurances for IID

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Resolution is Needed This Year

• Deadline to execute Quantification Settlement
  Agreement is December 31, 2002
• Interim Surplus Guidelines suspended if QSA is
  not executed by deadline
• MWD at risk of losing 700,000 af, or 35 of
  imported water used by 17 million people
• increase competition for remaining supplies