Agencies Near Deal on Water
Prodded by the Davis administration, negotiators for four embattled Southern California water districts indicated Wednesday that they are close to a compromise on the contentious issue of divvying up the state's share of the Colorado River.
Richard Katz, lead water negotiator for Gov. Gray Davis, said legislation may be introduced as early as today to ratify the four agencies' agreement and allow the sale of water from Imperial Valley to arid San Diego County. That sale is considered vital by state and federal officials if Southern California is to avoid shortages.
"We are very, very close; we are dotting I's and crossing Ts," said Katz amid daylong bargaining sessions with representatives of the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, the Imperial Irrigation District, the San Diego County Water Authority and the Coachella Valley Water District.
Under the tentative deal, the water-rich Imperial district also would sell water to Metropolitan, which is the wholesaler to 18 million people in six counties. In exchange for being able to buy water, Metropolitan apparently is willing to drop its long-standing opposition to a four-agency deal.
"Metropolitan had been concerned that it was asked to pay money for nothing," said Adan Ortega, Metropolitan vice president. "Now, Metropolitan would be paying for water." Metropolitan is central to the overall plan because its owns the Colorado Aqueduct. The Imperial Valley farmers can only sell water to San Diego if Metropolitan allows the water to be shipped through its aqueduct to San Diego.
Katz said a tentative plan would be ready for a hearing Friday before the Assembly Committee on Water, Parks and Wildlife. The legislation would then be rushed to the Senate for approval before it recesses late next week.
Katz said that waiting until the Legislature returns in January could kill the delicate negotiations. By January, he said, the lawsuit filed by Imperial against the federal government over its reduction of the irrigation district's share of the river could be in court.
To make the compromise a reality, negotiators have been meeting in Sacramento to resolve complex details involving water, money and the Salton Sea. The deal would provide a fund for Salton Sea restoration.
One part of the legislation would renew a bill signed by Davis that, in effect, softened the environmental safeguards for the sea. The bill, however, expired on New Year's Day after no agreement was reached by the four agencies.
