Controversy, concerns surround drought contingency plan

EL CENTRO — After four public workshops, the Imperial Irrigation District Board of Directors will be asked Monday to approve an agreement that addresses California’s part to save the drought-plagued Colorado River as well as bolster supplies of water to Lake Mead.

IID General Manager said staff will recommend the approval of the intra-California drought contingency plan agreement between IID and Metropolitan Water District, but the decision ultimately lies with the board.

It appears at the moment that any vote would not be unanimous, as Director Bruce Kuhn continued to voice concern over the agreement with MWD during the fourth and final public workshop held Thursday evening at IID’s Condit Auditorium in El Centro. Kuhn has said before that as it stands, he would not vote for the agreement. However, Thursday night he said he could change his mind.

Board President Jim Hanks continued to speak in support of the agreement, while board Directors Norma Sierra Galindo and Erik Ortega did not comment.

Outgoing Director Juanita Salas, who was replaced on the board Friday by former El Centro City Councilman Alex Cardenas, told those gathered Thursday that if she were to vote today, she would vote against the agreement. She urged the board to delay a vote.

Farmers in attendance at the workshop continued to warn the IID board not to rush into any agreement with MWD. Larry Cox, a member of the Imperial County Farm Bureau, told the board the Farm Bureau is against it as well.

The IID board meets in open session at 1 p.m. Monday in Condit Auditorium in El Centro.

On Thursday, IID outside counsel, water attorney Charles Dumars, said the DCP actually protects Imperial Valley’s water rights. It caps IID’s DCP contribution at 250,000 acre-feet using water IID has already conserved and paid for through its on-farm conservation program. And he said the DCP prevents impacts to the Salton Sea because it doesn’t call for additional conservation.

One farmer, Brian Strahm of Holtville, late in the workshop asked what happens when MWD comes looking to IID to backstop MWD’s portion of the DCP in a worst-case drought scenario. IID is capped at 250,000 acre-feet over seven years, but if Lake Mead goes down beyond a certain point, MWD has taken sole responsibility for California’s contribution to Lake Mead should it increase. The concern voiced by some is that in the future, there is a chance MWD could look to IID to help address a worst-case scenario shortage. That could potentially impact the Salton Sea as well.

IID General Manager Kevin Kelley, who is retiring at year’s end, said the district is aware of that and is considering those possibilities. He said nothing else.

Paula Pangle, another local farmer, said the Imperial Valley — IID and farmers alike — can’t let these kinds of agreements fracture the community. She said we need to have unity.

MWD is expected to vote on its agreement with IID on Tuesday.

The Coachella Valley Water District, which has its own agreement with MWD, has a resolution in front of it on Tuesday that calls on the board to continue discussions on the DCP.

If IID votes Monday and approves the intra-California agreement, the board still has to approve an overall companion agreement to the DCP. That wouldn’t happen until after the first of the year.