Yuma and BOR extend water delivery contract

Unable to negotiate long-term contract, organizations agree on short-term pact

Unable to negotiate a longterm contract with the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, Yuma and the federal agency entered into a short-term IGA until they’re able to reach an agreement. The Yuma City Council unanimously agreed to extend the existing contract to Oct. 1, 2027.

During the May 6 meeting, Councilman Mike Shelton asked whether the existing contract had any disadvantages. Deputy City Administrator Jay Simonton replied that the city would prefer to keep the language in the current contract.

“That’s one of the sticking points,” Simonton said.

The Bureau of Reclamation and Yuma entered into a contract dated Nov. 12, 1959, which among other things, provided for the delivery of Colorado River water to the city at a point immediately below the downstream edge of the California Sluiceway at Im

perial Dam.

The 1959 contract has been amended five times. The first change, made in 1977 for a term of 25 years, stipulated that the city’s Colorado River water entitlement would be delivered at a facility adjacent to the Main Street Water Treatment Plant.

The second amendment, made in 1997, provided that the city receive return flow credits for the quantity of water delivered to the city that is returned to the Colorado River.

The third amendment in 2008 extended the first amendment for 10 years, for a term of 35 years commencing Oct. 1, 1977. It was executed with the understanding that the city and the United States intended to enter into a consolidated contract on or before Oct. 1, 2012.

The fourth amendment, made on July 19, 2012, clarified and renewed the authority of the city to enter into agreements for the diversion and use of Colorado River water by lessees at the Yuma Proving Ground.

The fifth amendment, completed in 2016, extended the contract for five years as the 40 years would have expired on Oct. 1, 2017. The extended term was intended to allow the parties more time to develop a new long-term contract regarding the city’s receipt of water from the Colorado River.

The sixth and latest amendment extends the term of the 1959 contract from 40 years to 50 years, starting Oct. 1, 1977, and ending on Oct. 1, 2027.

In other action, the council agreed to defer for three years development fees and water and sewer capacity charges for Livingston Ranch Unit 2 Subdivision and approved a request to rezone 18.34 acres from agriculture to light industrial for the properties located at the northwest corner of Arizona Avenue and 34th Street. The applicant intends to develop the property into a bus barn for the Yuma County Intergovernmental Public Transportation Authority.

Buy these photos at YumaSun.com PHOTOS BY RANDY HOEFT/YUMA SUN BIRDS FLY FRIDAY MORNING HIGH IN THE SKY above the newer Siphon Drop Power Plant on the east side of the All American Canal, while in the background is the original siphon drop power plant, built in 1926 by the then U.S. Reclamation Service, now known as the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation.Here is where water is fed into the Yuma Main Canal, seen on the far right, headed toward Yuma.

THE YUMA MAIN CANAL (RIGHT IN LEFT PHOTO) BENDS TOWARD YUMA after passing by the old Siphon Drop Power Plant, built in 1932, located on the east side of the All American Canal. Sparkling water flows Friday morning through the Yuma Main Canal in California toward Yuma and the Colorado River Siphon, which siphons the water under the Colorado River. After it reaches Yuma, some of the water in the Yuma Main Canal is used by the City of Yuma. The Yuma Main Canal is then split into the East Main Canal and the West Mani Canal for Yuma Valley irrigation purposes.