This story is taken from environment at sacbee.com
<http://www.sacbee.com/content/news/environment/v-print/story/7510369p-8452352c.html>
Davis signs historic water agreement into law
But it may be premature to celebrate as the key Imperial district has not yet approved the deal.
By Dale Kasler -- Bee Staff Writer - (Published September 30, 2003)
A historic agreement settling an age-old California water dispute was signed into law Monday by Gov. Gray Davis, although the deal could still be tripped up by opposition from the rural Imperial Valley.
Davis signed three bills needed to finalize the agreement, which would restore Southern California's access to extra water from the Colorado River and alleviate a potentially crippling water shortage affecting the whole state.
"We stand here today to declare peace on the Colorado River," said Richard Katz, senior adviser to the governor, at a press conference at a filtration plant in Granada Hills.
For years the four major water agencies of Southern California -- two rural, two urban -- have squabbled over the Colorado. At the same time, six Western states and the U.S. Interior Department have been pressing California to end its decades-old overuse of the river.
The agreement signed Monday is designed to end both fights.
The deal, if finalized, would restore Southern California's right to use surplus Colorado water, albeit in ever-diminishing amounts. The U.S. Interior Department had cut off that excess flow Jan. 1 because the state missed an agreed-upon deadline to have the deal completed.
At the heart of the agreement is a huge water sale from the Imperial Irrigation District to the San Diego County Water Authority, which would enable California to reduce its total use of Colorado water.
The deal nearly died several times, mostly over concern about the future of the Salton Sea, the vast inland lake that depends on water draining off Imperial's farms. Diverting water to San Diego would speed up the sea's demise.
But an apparent solution was found: Besides selling water to San Diego, the Imperial district would sell additional water to the state, which would resell it to the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California at a profit totaling $300 million. The profit would finance restoration of the Salton.
Katz called the solution a historic breakthrough that uses the proceeds from a market transaction to assist environmental restoration.
Solving the Colorado situation is considered crucial for the whole state's water picture. Last winter, when the excess water was cut off by the Interior Department, officials at MWD purchased supplies from Sacramento Valley rice farmers. By restoring the excess water to Southern California, the Colorado agreement eases pressure on Northern California to send more water south.
Yet the deal still isn't final, and a potential hangup does exist: The plan hasn't been approved yet by the board of directors in the Imperial district, where suspicions about sending farmers' water to cities run high.
The five-person Imperial board rejected the deal once last fall and the next vote, scheduled for Oct. 7, could be a squeaker, said board member Bruce Kuhn.
Kuhn said he isn't sure how he'll vote. Lloyd Allen, president of the Imperial board, said he supports the plan, which he called "good for agriculture."
The deal has been approved by the boards of MWD, the San Diego authority and the fourth agency, the rural Coachella Valley Water District.
About the Writer
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The Bee's Dale Kasler can be reached at (916) 321-1066 or dkasler@sacbee.com.