STORIES FROM THE PAST
50 years ago
Neal Jack, member of the Imperial Irrigation District Board of Directors, asked at the regular weekly meeting Tuesday in El Centro that a cost study be made for accelerating the cement lining of ditches.
“Our program is not moving fast enough,” he said. Asked how he proposed to finance a faster plan, he replied that various methods should be included in the study.
His motion to the board asked for a study to see how long it will take IID at its present rate to complete the concrete lining of ditches. “The ditches are getting bigger, and we are spending the same number of dollars on lining as we did in the past with the result that we now are lining fewer miles of ditches for the amount of money.”
General Manager Robert F. Carter said 330 miles of ditches had been lined since the program began in 1960. He said about 1,300 miles still need to be lined. “At the rate we are going,” he added, “a fairly accurate estimate would be 25 years for completion of the program.” Jack said he wanted it done “as soon as possible.” He said he didn’t believe IID could finish the program in 50 years at the current rate because of the budget used now. He mentioned inflation and the increasing size of the ditches as obstacles to maintaining the rate now set.
40 years ago
Defensive flaws and a lack of offensive punch cost the Imperial Valley College Arabs a 6-3 defeat to the Hartnell Panthers at Merced College Saturday afternoon.
The setback eliminated the Desert Conference champions from the State Division II Community College Baseball Playoffs. It marked IVC’s second loss in three games.
IVC lost a 10-7 decision to Merced on Friday but bounced back to defeat Butte, 8-4. Butte was eliminated in the loss to IVC and the Arabs’ loss to Hartnell cost coach Mark Meka’s horsehiders a chance for additional participation.
30 years ago
IMPERIAL — Imperial’s Jon Van Zandt has been voted the Most Valuable Player for the 1988 Desert League baseball season.
Van Zandt played outfield and pitched. In league games, the senior hit .400 and recorded four saves.
The coaches voted on the all-league team Saturday.
Three other members of the league champion Tigers were voted to the first team. Senior Alex Necochea (.333) batting average in league games and juniors Joe Roderick (.444) and Tony Castleberry (.266) were the other Imperial selections. Castleberry, a catcher, made the team largely due to his defensive play.
20 years ago
The Metropolitan Water District of Southern California has announced it will make available $1 billion “to expedite a proposed water transfer that would bring 200,000 acre-feet of water from the Imperial Valley to San Diego.
“This billion dollars includes payments to the San Diego County Water Authority as well as investments in storage for water purchased by San Diego, which will benefit the entire region,” said John R. Wodraska, MWD general manager, in a press release.
The transfer will consist of water voluntarily conserved on Valley farms and sold to San Diego. The agreement to transfer the water was signed by IID and SDCWA on April 29 in San Diego.
Exactly how MWD would spend the money is not known, as its media relations office was not available for comment this morning.