Imperial Water Deal Completed
El CENTRO, Calif. — After seven years of negotiations and political wrangling, the Imperial Irrigation District board on Thursday approved the largest sale of water from farms to cities in the nation -- a move seen as vital if coastal Southern California is to avoid shortages.
But the 3-2 vote to approve the 75-year agreement to sell water to San Diego was made over the strenuous objections of some farmers, who fear that the sale could devastate Imperial Valley's farm economy in order to provide water for cities unable to control growth.
For the first time, Imperial Valley farmers will have to accept limits on how much water they can draw from the Colorado River.
Board member Andy Horne, who voted against the plan, said it violates the legacy provided by Imperial Valley pioneers who staked claim to the river a century ago and turned a hostile desert into one of the most productive agricultural regions in the world.
Still, state and federal officials have put increasing pressure on Imperial to approve the water sale or face mandatory cutbacks for which the district and its farmers will receive no money, a strategy derided by some farmers as "sell it or lose it."
Imperial director Bruce Kuhn, who opposed a similar deal in December but switched sides and provided the swing vote, said he had received calls in recent days from officials in Washington and Sacramento, urging him to vote for the plan.
"I wouldn't wish this kind of pressure on anyone," Kuhn said. "I've lost friends and business associates over this
Some farmers and others argued that the deal could devastate the Imperial Valley by forcing farmers, in the first 15 years of the agreement, to fallow approximately 25,000 acres of farmland -- about 5% of the valley's acreage -- so that water can be sold to the San Diego County Water Authority.
"What do you tell a person who has lost his job and his home and has to leave the valley because of the fallowing," said board member Stella Mendoza, who voted "hell no" during a roll call.
At its height, the agreement calls for the sale of 277,000 acre feet of water a year, enough for the needs of 2 million people.
Even board members and others who supported the deal were largely unenthusiastic and viewed it not as a boon to the valley, but as preferable to continued pressure from Sacramento and Washington and a court fight with the Department of the Interior.
