With the Colorado River in decline, even the New River looks inviting

The Colorado River is suffering the biggest mega-drought in the last 1200 years. The conservation efforts and reductions worked out in 2007 and then again in 2019 woefully underestimated how quickly water supplies would dry up.

In response, Upper Basin states of Wyoming, Utah and Colorado are drawing down reservoirs, and the Bureau of Reclamation is holding back 480,000 acre-feet in Lake Powell — both measures designed to keep enough water in Lake Powell to generate electricity. The Lower Basin states of Nevada, California, Arizona and New Mexico have agreed to an additional 500,000 acre-feet of cuts to slow the plunging level of Lake Mead. These measures are all added to the first shortage declaration last year that has already cut into water deliveries to Nevada, Arizona and Mexico.

Our water steward, the Imperial Irrigation District, may soon be cut, too, but luckily for the Imperial Valley, the IID has the most senior water rights on the river. While those large policy matters are being worked out, we should turn our attention to preserving another source of water to the Valley: The New River.

Not so long ago, all of Mexicali’s urban wastewater and some farm runoff came across the border in the New River — 180,000 acre-feet annually. Because it was so polluted, there was even talk of building a dam at the border so Mexicali would get the message and clean it up.

Around the year 2000, a binational effort built new infrastructure in Mexicali that pumped half of Mexicali’s wastewater south to be treated, lowering the flow into the United States. That project also updated the collectors, pumps and treatment system, so the water crossing the border is now generally cleaner. Moreover, a project is underway to encase the New River through Calexico. That’s the good news.

Here’s the bad news. Even when Mexicali’s treatment system is working properly, the New River is still contaminated. The other bad news is that Mexicali wants to recycle New River water and reduce the cross-border flow to zero. Despite the New River being contaminated, we should now see its water as a resource to pursue.

With the Salton Sea shrinking because of the IID water transfers to the urban coast, we now need that water for the Salton Sea. Fresh water will keep hopes alive to revive lost bird and fish habitat. And if the IID’s Colorado River water allocation gets cut due to crisis at Lake Mead and Lake Powell, we’ll need New River water even more.

The IID and the County of Imperial should be working with the federal agency responsible for the New River, the International Boundary and Water Commission (IBWC), to ensure that we continue to get a guaranteed quantity of water crossing the border, and that it should be treated water.

But what can we offer Mexico for that water? Here’s one idea. In return for Mexicali delivering treated water to us here in the Imperial Valley, we (the IBWC) pump treated Tijuana River water back into Tijuana. Why not? Tijuana water is mostly Colorado River water pumped over from Mexicali.

Tijuana’s water situation is more than dire. At the very end of the Colorado River delivery system, it’s been suffering water shortages for years. Tijuana would love to recycle all its wastewater but can’t afford the huge investment on its own. Meanwhile, its present wastewater system is at full capacity and in disrepair. Years of sewage spills into the United States have caused beaches from Imperial Beach to Coronado being closed more than they are open due to contamination.

Justifiably, the city of Imperial

Beach and others have sued the IBWC for relief. In response, the United States will provide $300 million to repair and rebuild Tijuana’s water collection and treatment infrastructure.

At the same time, fast-growing Tijuana needs still more water. And so, TJ is putting heavy pressure on Mexicali to provide more Colorado River water via a second aqueduct across the mountains to the coast.

A deal such as I’m proposing could be one way to provide Tijuana more water and at the same time finally, finally clean the New River. We need to now realize that Mexicali, Tijuana, Imperial Valley and San Diego are all connected by Colorado River water. Let’s make a deal.

Our IBWC can assure that Imperial Valley receives a given quantity of adequately treated water from Mexicali. In return, the IBWC can pump treated water from its South Bay International Wastewater Treatment Plant back into Tijuana. IBWC Commissioner Maria-Elena Giner and her counterpart in Mexico, CILA Commissioner Adriana Reséndez Maldonado, need to take the lead. As this mega-drought clamps down on everyone’s supply, the time to act is now.