STORIES FROM THE PAST
50 years ago
PALM SPRINGS — Deterioration in the water quality of the Colorado River is rapidly becoming the major water problem in Imperial Valley, officials of the Imperial Irrigation District said in separate meetings this week.
“The quality of water coming in to our system as late as 1953 average 1.4 tons of salt per acre-foot, while today we are required to use a water that averages 0.94 tons of salt per acre-foot,” Robert F. Carter, IID general manager, said at a briefing conference of the state Water Resources Control Board Wednesday.
The previous day, IID President Carl C. Bevins had made a presentation before a joint session of the Colorado River Board of California and the control board.
“The total water-surface storage in the seven Colorado River Basin states is the highest at any time in history — 31 million acre-feet,” Bevins said. “Despite this, the water quality is poorer than last year, especially for users in the Lower Basin.”
40 years ago
A major reorganization of the county mental health services that would close the Brawley outpatient clinic while strengthening hospital and day-treatment services was unveiled Tuesday night.
Mental Health Director Dr. John Compton told the Mental Health Advisory Board the proposed reorganization “is probably the most major change the program has gone through since the day it started.”
The Board of Supervisors, which was set to review the plan today, postponed its meeting until Tuesday to let Compton incorporate concerns of the advisory board.
He said the reorganization is an attempt to answer concerns raised in a recent state review of the program and to solve growing community complaints about the department.
All of this must be accomplished with a budget that does not buy as much as it used to, he noted.
The program has come under attack for its lack of psychiatrists, inability to meet state standards for several programs, inability to meet the needs of the Spanish-speaking community and failure to provide adequate services for seniors and children.
Compton said, “I have to admit I am not proud of the way the program is working now. I can’t defend it.”
30 years ago
A group of Valley growers today asked the Imperial Irrigation District to place its water conservation agreement with the Metropolitan Water District on hold for 60 days.
The request was included in a letter presented to the IID Board of Directors by John Pierre Menvielle, a representative of the newly formed Imperial Valley Water Users for Fairness. The delay will give the board time to answer concerns about the agreement raised by local landowners, Menvielle said.
During a hearing last week, the group complained that the agreement leaves Valley landowners with the liability for environmental damage resulting from the conservation effort, gives up local control of the conservation program and transfers an open-ended quantity of water that could greatly exceed the 100,000 acre-feet mentioned in the contract.
The group has asked the board to renegotiate these and other provisions of the contract that was approved by the IID in December.
“We’re not being unreasonable in the demands we’re asking for in this agreement,” Menvielle said. “They’re all legitimate demands that Metropolitan can live with.”