The Imperial Valley of southeastern California is a remarkable creation of a modern industrial-hydraulic society. One might argue that the story of the modern western United States begins there. It was ambitious Imperial Valley land speculators shortly after the last turn of the century who, as much as anyone else, drove the development of what finally became the Colorado River Compact, which divided up the Colorado’s water on paper, and Hoover Dam, which made the paper plan a hydraulic reality. Which is why what is happening there today is so remarkable.
An article last week in the Imperial Valley Press outlines the plan to restrict, for “the first time in recent history”, water for farmers served by the massive Imperial Irrigation District:
Farmers would have 5.13 acre-feet of water available per acre of farmed land, down from the average of six acre-feet currently.
These are the people who control 3.1 million acre feet per year of Colorado River Water – the largest single chunk of Colorado water on anyone’s table. The Valley was quite literally uninhabitable desert when the IID was formed in 1911. Brawley, in the heart of the Imperial Valley, averages 2.6 inches (66 mm) of rain a year. But with the All America Canal flowing into the valley from the Colorado River, it’s an agricultural paradise. If you’re in the United States, chances are good that the next bit of lettuce you eat comes from there.
But even in the Imperial Valley, there is a growing tension between growing municipal demand and existing agriculture. Imperial County proclaims itself “California’s growth area”. Even they are shifting water from farms to cities.
Further reading:
- Farmers hardest hit by proposed water limit, Brianna Lusk, Imperial Valley Press
- History of the Imperial Irrigation District, IID
- Brawley weather by the numbers, Western Regional Climate Center
- Irrigated agriculture in California 1997 and 2002, U.S. Census of Agriculture
You have to remember (well, sheesh, I forget the dates) in 2001-2002 that the IID had to give up the CO River overage it was taking and give it back, and sold some to San Diego for municipal uses and Westlands Water District retired (finally) some of its salinated land and sold its CVP water rights…*deep breath* so this isn’t technically unprecedented. The net was that IID quit growing icky Iceberg lettuce.
I do remember, however, I was still living in CA and active in water issues and the politics surrounding who got the water (e.g. ‘agriculture only contributes 7% of CA’s jobs’ hokum), and this was a precursor to the framing of future water wars. Klamath water was different, but up here the S Platte water is the very same as the IID water…
Best,
D