Imperial Valley Ca

Federal authorities Wednesday announced indictments against the alleged leaders of six drug distribution rings charged with transporting cocaine and methamphetamine for one of Mexico's largest drug cartels. Thirty-five people face smuggling and conspiracy charges in what authorities described as a trafficking network based in the Imperial Valley. About $20 million in drugs and cash were seized during the 18-month investigation, according to federal prosecutors.

Federal authorities Wednesday announced indictments against the alleged leaders of six drug distribution rings charged with transporting cocaine and methamphetamine for one of Mexico's largest drug cartels. Thirty-five people face smuggling and conspiracy charges in what authorities described as a trafficking network based in the Imperial Valley. About $20 million in drugs and cash were seized during the 18-month investigation, according to federal prosecutors.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service on Wednesday reduced by nearly 60% the amount of land in California's Imperial Valley considered essential to a broom-like plant's survival. Last year, Fish and Wildlife Service biologists in California proposed designating 52,780 acres of the Algodones Dunes as critical habitat for Peirson's milk vetch. In a final rule published Wednesday, the critical habitat was reduced to 21,863 acres. The Center for Biological Diversity criticized the decision.

Pacific Ethanol Inc., which counts Microsoft Corp. Chairman Bill Gates among its shareholders, has halted construction of a distillery in California. The firm was building the 50-million-gallon-a-year plant in the Imperial Valley near Calipatria. "We remain committed to completing our ethanol project in Imperial Valley," Pacific Ethanol Chief Executive Neil Koehler said Monday.

Negotiators for the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California offered a counterproposal in the proposed sale of water from the Imperial Valley to San Diego County that is meant to protect Metropolitan customers from being billed for environmental projects at the Salton Sea. Metropolitan board members have insisted that the environmental costs of the sale be paid by the San Diego County Water Authority, Coachella Valley Water District and Imperial Irrigation District.

The county water agency unanimously approved a 75-year deal on Thursday to buy water from Imperial Valley. The deal had been approved Tuesday by the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California and Wednesday by the Coachella Valley Water District. For decades, San Diego officials have sought to decrease the region's dependence on water purchases from the MWD.

The Metropolitan Water District and the biggest irrigation district in the state have tentatively agreed on an unusual $92-million water conservation project that will free 100,000 acre-feet of water a year for use in urban Southern California. That is enough water to supply the cities of Long Beach and Santa Ana, according to experts from MWD, which serves 14.5 million people in Southern California.

The U.S. Geological Survey on Thursday upgraded the magnitude of the two earthquakes that rocked the Imperial Valley last week, explaining that Richter scale readings are not always the most accurate. In a statement from its Reston, Va., headquarters, the survey upgraded the size of the Nov. 24 quake from 6.3 to 6.6 and that of the temblor the previous afternoon from 6.0 to 6.2.

Efforts to secure a major water transfer between Imperial Valley farmers and San Diego took a step forward late Tuesday when the Imperial Irrigation District board effectively guaranteed the availability of some of the water necessary for the deal. The board waived a requirement that water conservation contracts with farmers be in place by Oct. 31. The conservation is necessary to free up agricultural water for transfer to San Diego in the latter years of the deal's term.

A federal agency with authority over the Colorado River ruled Thursday that Imperial Valley farmers are guilty of wasting water and should have their mammoth allocation of the river reduced by 9%. The ruling by Robert Johnson, the Bureau of Reclamation's Lower Colorado regional director, was immediately denounced by farmers and officials of the Imperial Irrigation District who vowed to fight any reduction to the U.S. Supreme Court.

A federal court Friday lifted an injunction that had blocked the lining of the All-American Canal in Imperial Valley, a project meant to provide water to arid San Diego County and help California learn to live on a "water diet." Environmentalists and business interests on both sides of the border had sued to block the $200-million-plus project on the grounds that it would devastate farmers in the Mexicali Valley, where the aquifer is replenished by seepage from the canal.

Federal officials Wednesday announced the indictment of the alleged ringleader and 18 members of a drug trafficking organization accused of smuggling tons of cocaine into the U.S., in large part through the Imperial Valley. Dubbed Operation Imperial Emperor, the two-year investigation by several agencies has resulted in more than 400 arrests nationwide, including 66 in California, U.S. Atty. Gen. Alberto R. Gonzales said at a news conference.

Two people were killed and two dozen others were hurt Monday night when a van carrying a suspected 27 illegal immigrants crashed on Interstate 8 near Holtville. The injured passengers were taken to hospitals in El Centro, Calif.; San Diego; and Yuma, Ariz. The driver was trying to flee from the Border Patrol when the van hit a curb and rolled over, officials said.

The state's water barons stood at the mighty Hoover Dam and triumphantly signed a deal meant to end decades of feuding by divvying up California's share of the Colorado River between the water-rich Imperial Valley and the thirsty cities of San Diego County. "With this agreement, conflict on the river is stilled," Interior Secretary Gale Norton said at the Oct. 16, 2003, ceremony, which capped nine years of politicking, litigating and negotiating.

Dozens of small earthquakes up to magnitude 4.5 shook the Imperial County desert Wednesday afternoon, but there were no reports of damage. Kate Hutton, a staff seismologist at Caltech in Pasadena, called the event "a very typical Imperial Valley swarm." She said the temblors occurred in the Brawley seismic zone, which runs from the San Andreas Fault on the north to the Imperial Fault on the south. Hutton said additional small quakes could be expected for the next day or two.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service on Wednesday reduced by nearly 60% the amount of land in California's Imperial Valley considered essential to a broom-like plant's survival. Last year, Fish and Wildlife Service biologists in California proposed designating 52,780 acres of the Algodones Dunes as critical habitat for Peirson's milk vetch. In a final rule published Wednesday, the critical habitat was reduced to 21,863 acres. The Center for Biological Diversity criticized the decision.

As the region's rival water agencies met for an all-day negotiating session Wednesday, the Imperial Valley water district unveiled a proposal it says could rescue a deal vital to the future of Southern California water supplies. The plan calls for using water from a little-known desert aquifer in Imperial County to keep the Salton Sea from becoming too salty to support the countless fish and birds that rely on it.

The state's water barons stood at the mighty Hoover Dam and triumphantly signed a deal meant to end decades of feuding by divvying up California's share of the Colorado River between the water-rich Imperial Valley and the thirsty cities of San Diego County. "With this agreement, conflict on the river is stilled," Interior Secretary Gale Norton said at the Oct. 16, 2003, ceremony, which capped nine years of politicking, litigating and negotiating.

The Supreme Court on Monday let stand an order requiring stronger clean air protections for Imperial County, a region that has one of the highest childhood asthma rates in the state. In October, the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled 3 to 0 that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency erred in blaming Mexico for unhealthful air quality in the Imperial Valley and ordered the agency to impose more stringent control measures on the U.S. side of the border.

After nine years of haggling over the details of the nation's largest transfer of water usage from farms to cities, officials in the Imperial Valley now face an equally daunting task: easing the economic pain of farmworkers and business owners expected to be hurt by the deal's controversial fallowing plan.