BLACK CANYON RESERVED RIGHTS
Interior Department has amended its original filing for water rights to protect the Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park. The original filing was for all unappropriated water in the Gunnison River with a 1933 priority date. This would have provided the Canyon with a minimum flow, year-round and peak flows in the spring. The amended filing is for up to 300 cfs, year-round, based on a closed-door agreement between Interior and the State of Colorado. Interior (for the Park Service, through the Justice Department) has also stipulated to honor all water rights claimed between 1933 and 1957 as well as up to 60,000 af of future depletions. Several non-governmental organizations (NGOs) have filed objections to the amended water rights application.
NON-RESERVED FEDERAL WATER CLAIMS
Rep. Stevan Pearce (R-NM) introduced legislation, to limit the authority of the Secretary of the Interior to claim title or other rights to water absent specific direction of law, or to abrogate, injure or otherwise impair any right to the use of any quantity of water. H.R. 2603 has been referred to the House Resources Committee. According to Rep. Pearce, the bill would: (1) protect water rights adjudicated in state or federal courts pursuant to the McCarran Act; (2) protect interstate compacts from assault by those claiming that other laws trump compact provisions. The bill would not apply to claims for Indian reservations. Western States Water Council (WSWC), 7/3/03
COLORADO VOTERS SHOULD START PAYING ATTENTION TO INITIATIVE PETITIONS
It’s not too early for Colorado voters to start sizing up measures that may be on the fall ballot, including a referendum that would allow the state to issue as much as $2 billion in bonds for water projects. Boulder Daily Camera; July 9 <http://www.dailycamera.com/bdc/editorials/article/0,1713,BDC_2489_2094403,00.html>
COLORADO RIVER BOARD WORRIES $2 BILLION WOULD GO TOWARD ‘BIG STRAW’
The major water agency on Colorado’s Western Slope voted to oppose an initiative that would spend $2 billion on a water project supposedly yet to be picked. Denver Rocky Mountain News; July 16 <http://www.headwatersnews.org/stories/redirect.php?id=9777>
COLORADO FRONT RANGE WATER PLAN DIVIDES STATE
Front Range business and civic groups continue to support a $2 billion water finance plan that leaders from the western half of the state say doesn’t do enough to protect their interests and resources. Denver Rocky Mountain News; July 28 <http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/state/article/0,1299,DRMN_21_2140203,00.html>
DENVER WATER TO AGAIN PERMIT LAWN WATERING
Denver Water officials decided to ease watering rules and again allow homeowners to water their lawns. Denver Post; July 10
DENVER WATER OFFICIALS LOOK AT TAPPING AQUIFER
A proposal to drill 127 wells in Denver city parks as an emergency backup to the city water system would cost $65 million, take as many as 30 years to complete and still supply only a fraction of the city’s needs. Denver Rocky Mountain News; July 22 <http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/local/article/0,1299,DRMN_15_2126438,00.html>
ALP COSTS SKYROCKET
The Animas-La Plata Project is expected to cost $162 million more than originally estimated — nearly 50 percent above the original $338 million cost estimate, the Department of Interior reported. The whopping cost overrun was caused in part by “deficiencies and omissions” in the bureau’s 1999 cost estimate, which the agency did not examine closely enough, Patrick J. Schumacher, the Bureau of Reclamation’s division manager in western Colorado, said in an interview. Rather than shrinking the scope of the project to deal with costs, Bureau of Reclamation Commissioner John Keys wants to extend A-LP’s construction schedule. He said his plan would add 2.5 more years to the original seven-year schedule without cutting the $162 million. Mark Pearson, executive director of San Juan Citizens Alliance and a critic of the project, said it is no surprise the project is over budget. “They woefully under-price everything and present the public with a massive bill later,” he said. Congress approved legislation in 1988 giving the Ute tribes the right to build the project without competition, and that has proven more expensive than what the government projected. (Various sources)
LA PLATA RIVER DRIED UP
Last week the La Plata River near the New Mexico state line was completely dewatered. With the help of the Southern Ute Tribe, the Bureau of Reclamation, and the DOW, members of the Fish and Wildlife Service were able to rescue 94 “declining” roundtail chubs. Thirty of the smaller chubs were transported upstream to the Long Hollow Creek confluence with the La Plata River and released. The remaining 64 juveniles and adult roundtail chubs were taken to the Alamosa Native Aquatic Species Restoration Facility to supplement development of a San Juan basin roundtail chub brood stock. Several thousand assorted speckled dace, juvenile bluehead suckers, and juvenile flannelmouth suckers were also salvaged and transported upstream to the Long Hollow Creek confluence, where they were released. USF&WS
REPUBLICAN RIVER SETTLEMENT
The U.S. Supreme Court has approved a settlement agreement reached last December between Colorado, Kansas, and Nebraska. Nebraska Governor Mike Johanns (R) said, “Nebraska is pleased this litigation has been brought to a satisfactory conclusion. The settlement not only secures Nebraska’s share of the basin water supply, it also avoids the prospect of paying as much as $100 million to Kansas in monetary damages for past actions.” Nebraska Attorney General Jon Bruning added, “This is a great day for Nebraskans. The settlement of this case should serve as a model for the states in the current Missouri River lawsuits.” Kansas filed suit in 1998, alleging primarily that Nebraska had overused its allocation under the 1943 Republican River Compact through thousands of irrigation wells. The settlement waives all claims through December, 2002; places a moratorium on drilling new wells in the basin; and contains a dispute resolution clause for future disagreements. The three states have agreed on a computer groundwater model to verify Compact compliance. WSWC
STORMWATER VIOLATIONS
EPA has fined 12 Colorado construction companies almost $1 million for failure to eliminate pollution from stormwater, failing to have a proper stormwater management plan, or failing to obtain a stormwater permit at all, as required by the Clean Water Act. Denver Post; 7/22
MANAGEMENT PLAN FOR ENDANGERED FISHES IN THE YAMPA RIVER BASIN
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service invites public comment on a draft Environmental Assessment (EA) for the Management Plan. The Service’s proposed action is to enter into a cooperative agreement with the States of Colorado and Wyoming to implement provisions of the Plan. Comments must be postmarked by August 31, 2003. Comments may also be made at three public meetings: August 11 – Little Snake River Valley Library, 105 2nd Street, Baggs, Wyo.; August 12 – Centennial Hall, 124 10th Street, Steamboat Springs, Colo.; and August 13 – Shadow Mountain Clubhouse, 1055 County Road 7, Craig, Colo. All meetings begin at 7 p.m. The draft EA is available at <http://mountain-prairie.fws.gov/fisheries/yampaea.htm>
PARTS OF RIO GRANDE DRY IN NEW MEXICO
Long stretches of the middle Rio Grande in New Mexico are already dry, irrigators will be out of water by mid-August, and the effects of the continuing drought go beyond crops and fish kills. Albuquerque Tribune; July 8 <http://www.abqtrib.com/archives/news03/070703_news_riverdry.shtml>
ALBUQUERQUE STARTS TO USE TRANSPLANTED COLORADO RIVER WATER
Albuquerque is drawing its first water from the San Juan-Chama Project, the first delivery from the Colorado River into the Rio Grande, in a deal the city signed 40 years ago. Albuquerque Tribune; July 14 <http://www.headwatersnews.org/stories/redirect.php?id=9706>
UTAH ENTERS SILVERY MINNOW WATER DEBATE
Officials in Utah are joining New Mexico and other Western states in requesting that the 10th Circuit Court of appeals review its decision allowing the federal government to control water in the Rio Grande on behalf of a small endangered fish. Deseret News; July 31 <http://deseretnews.com/dn/view/0,1249,510043497,00.html>
WHIRLING DISEASE SPREADS ACROSS UTAH
Whirling disease has spread into the Uinta River basin along the Utah-Wyoming border, and for the first time in Utah, has infected brook trout and native cutthroat. Salt Lake Tribune; July 13 <http://www.sltrib.com/2003/Jul/07132003/utah/75052.asp>
RESISTANT MONTANA TROUT MAY HOLD KEY TO EASING EFFECTS OF DISEASE
Biologists discovered a strain of rainbow trout in Montana that is resistant to whirling disease, and they’re looking at the potential to transfer its characteristics to other populations. Salt Lake Tribune; July 13 <http://www.sltrib.com/2003/Jul/07132003/utah/75068.asp>
WYOMING WATER OFFICIALS MULL CROSS-STATE PIPELINE
State water officials are in the early stages of drafting a proposal to move water from the Green River in western Wyoming to the North Platte River in eastern Wyoming. Casper Star-Tribune; July 24 <http://www.casperstartribune.net/articles/2003/07/23/news/wyoming/517948670ed16d0386db4459f88e3887.txt>
TRIBAL SETTLEMENT
Congress has ratified the Settlement Agreement concerning Zuni Indian Tribe water rights claims in the Little Colorado River basin in Arizona. In 1984, the tribe claimed water rights for lands in northeastern Arizona under the Winters doctrine, but the desired water was not available since non-Indian communities adjacent to the reservation had already laid claim to available water. The settlement will provide the Zuni tribe with money to buy water rights in the Little Colorado River Basin, and restore the riparian environment of sacred lands on the Zuni Reservation. A total of $26.5 million — with over 70% coming from the federal government — is authorized to implement the agreement. For its part, the tribe agreed to waive future claims to water rights and agreed not to object to current water uses by non-Indians. WSWC
DROUGHT STILL LAYS SIEGE TO ARIZONA RANCHES
Arizona ranchers have been battered by drought since 1999, with no relief this year, and some have cut their grazing by half or more. Santa Fe New Mexican (AP); July 6 <http://www.headwatersnews.org/stories/redirect.php?id=9593>
JUDGE ORDERS AGENCY TO KEEP DEVELOPMENT OFF ARIZONA RIVERS
A federal judge has ordered Forest Service officials to protect from development more than 750 miles of Arizona streams while the agency considers adding them to the Wild and Scenic Rivers list. Arizona Daily Sun; July 8 <http://www.azdailysun.com/non_sec/nav_includes/story.cfm?storyID=69156>
NEVADA ASKS FOR MORE COLORADO RIVER WATER
Nevada officials want to draw more water from the Colorado River and to disassociate the state from the California water agencies that reneged on a water pact. Reno Gazette-Journal; July 10
<http://www.rgj.com/news/stories/html/2003/07/09/46544.php?sp1=rgj&sp2=News&sp3=Local+News>
Nevada proposes a timetable for discussions with Reclamation and the Seven Basin States through early August, with a proposed modification of the guidelines for publication in late August for public comment, and execution of a record of decision by mid-October. [The Interim Surplus Criteria was developed to allow the Secretary to declare a surplus even if the hydrologic conditions did not warrant it to give CA 15 years to come back into compliance with the Compact. When CA did not complete the Quantification Settlement Agreement, the Secretary declared an average water year. What Nevada is now asking is for the Secretary to declare a surplus only for Nevada. I don’t think the Compact allows for such a declaration.]
BUREAU OF RECLAMATION STUDY SHOWS IMPERIAL IRRIGATION DISTRICT (IID) IS WASTING WATER
A study of water use by IID indicates all of its diversions are not being put to beneficial use. As a result, IID’s annual request of 3.1 maf will be cut by 9% or 275,900 af to 2,824,100 af. This is roughly the same amount of water IID was anticipating selling to San Diego and the Coachella Valley Water District (Palm Springs). The approved amount of deliveries for 2003 remains subject to adjustment in the event of an overuse repayment requirement for 2002. This is likely to scuttle attempts to get voluntary adherence to the Quantification Settlement Agreement (QSA) that would have allowed California a “soft landing” weaning itself of its excess use of the Colorado River. Without the QSA, California is only entitled to 4.4 maf of Colorado River water. IID plans on appealing the results of Reclamation’s study. WSWC
CALIFORNIA WATER AGENCIES CONSIDER NEW COLORADO RIVER DEAL
California Gov. Gray Davis has a new plan for four Southern California water agencies to cut their share of Colorado River use, this one with more backing from environmentalists. Santa Fe New Mexican (AP); July 11 <http://www.santafenewmexican.com/main.asp?SectionID=2&SubSectionID=7&ArticleID=29733>
ALL AMERICAN CANAL LINING DELAYED
Imperial Irrigation District has suspended plans to line 23 miles of its All American Canal. The $200 million project would save 67,700 af and was supposed to be paid for by state funds and by the Metropolitan Water District. The legislature has removed the funding from its budget and IID is looking for another partner to produce the saved water. 7/25/03 Imperial Valley Press
DROUGHT BRINGS SLOW DEATH TO JOSHUA TREES
The spiky-leaved, weirdly shaped Joshua trees of Southern California’s deserts are being nibbled to death by hordes of thirsty rodents. <http://www.enn.com/news/2003-07-23/s_6593.asp>
ACTIVIST
Western Water Report: August 2, 2003
Although portions of this report are used on occasion in Colorado Central Magazine, we do not publish the full report there, as we do on this website. It is prepared by Steve Glazer of Crested Butte and is distributed early each month via an email list. To subscribe to that list, email to <listserv@lists.sierraclub.org> with SUBSCRIBE RMC-CONS-WATER as the message.
Please note that this is an archive, and some links may no longer function.
BLACK CANYON RESERVED RIGHTS
Interior Department has amended its original filing for water rights to protect the Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park. The original filing was for all unappropriated water in the Gunnison River with a 1933 priority date. This would have provided the Canyon with a minimum flow, year-round and peak flows in the spring. The amended filing is for up to 300 cfs, year-round, based on a closed-door agreement between Interior and the State of Colorado. Interior (for the Park Service, through the Justice Department) has also stipulated to honor all water rights claimed between 1933 and 1957 as well as up to 60,000 af of future depletions. Several non-governmental organizations (NGOs) have filed objections to the amended water rights application.
NON-RESERVED FEDERAL WATER CLAIMS
Rep. Stevan Pearce (R-NM) introduced legislation, to limit the authority of the Secretary of the Interior to claim title or other rights to water absent specific direction of law, or to abrogate, injure or otherwise impair any right to the use of any quantity of water. H.R. 2603 has been referred to the House Resources Committee. According to Rep. Pearce, the bill would: (1) protect water rights adjudicated in state or federal courts pursuant to the McCarran Act; (2) protect interstate compacts from assault by those claiming that other laws trump compact provisions. The bill would not apply to claims for Indian reservations. Western States Water Council (WSWC), 7/3/03
COLORADO VOTERS SHOULD START PAYING ATTENTION TO INITIATIVE PETITIONS
It’s not too early for Colorado voters to start sizing up measures that may be on the fall ballot, including a referendum that would allow the state to issue as much as $2 billion in bonds for water projects. Boulder Daily Camera; July 9 <http://www.dailycamera.com/bdc/editorials/article/0,1713,BDC_2489_2094403,00.html>
COLORADO RIVER BOARD WORRIES $2 BILLION WOULD GO TOWARD ‘BIG STRAW’
The major water agency on Colorado’s Western Slope voted to oppose an initiative that would spend $2 billion on a water project supposedly yet to be picked. Denver Rocky Mountain News; July 16 <http://www.headwatersnews.org/stories/redirect.php?id=9777>
COLORADO FRONT RANGE WATER PLAN DIVIDES STATE
Front Range business and civic groups continue to support a $2 billion water finance plan that leaders from the western half of the state say doesn’t do enough to protect their interests and resources. Denver Rocky Mountain News; July 28 <http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/state/article/0,1299,DRMN_21_2140203,00.html>
DENVER WATER TO AGAIN PERMIT LAWN WATERING
Denver Water officials decided to ease watering rules and again allow homeowners to water their lawns. Denver Post; July 10
DENVER WATER OFFICIALS LOOK AT TAPPING AQUIFER
A proposal to drill 127 wells in Denver city parks as an emergency backup to the city water system would cost $65 million, take as many as 30 years to complete and still supply only a fraction of the city’s needs. Denver Rocky Mountain News; July 22 <http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/local/article/0,1299,DRMN_15_2126438,00.html>
ALP COSTS SKYROCKET
The Animas-La Plata Project is expected to cost $162 million more than originally estimated — nearly 50 percent above the original $338 million cost estimate, the Department of Interior reported. The whopping cost overrun was caused in part by “deficiencies and omissions” in the bureau’s 1999 cost estimate, which the agency did not examine closely enough, Patrick J. Schumacher, the Bureau of Reclamation’s division manager in western Colorado, said in an interview. Rather than shrinking the scope of the project to deal with costs, Bureau of Reclamation Commissioner John Keys wants to extend A-LP’s construction schedule. He said his plan would add 2.5 more years to the original seven-year schedule without cutting the $162 million. Mark Pearson, executive director of San Juan Citizens Alliance and a critic of the project, said it is no surprise the project is over budget. “They woefully under-price everything and present the public with a massive bill later,” he said. Congress approved legislation in 1988 giving the Ute tribes the right to build the project without competition, and that has proven more expensive than what the government projected. (Various sources)
LA PLATA RIVER DRIED UP
Last week the La Plata River near the New Mexico state line was completely dewatered. With the help of the Southern Ute Tribe, the Bureau of Reclamation, and the DOW, members of the Fish and Wildlife Service were able to rescue 94 “declining” roundtail chubs. Thirty of the smaller chubs were transported upstream to the Long Hollow Creek confluence with the La Plata River and released. The remaining 64 juveniles and adult roundtail chubs were taken to the Alamosa Native Aquatic Species Restoration Facility to supplement development of a San Juan basin roundtail chub brood stock. Several thousand assorted speckled dace, juvenile bluehead suckers, and juvenile flannelmouth suckers were also salvaged and transported upstream to the Long Hollow Creek confluence, where they were released. USF&WS
REPUBLICAN RIVER SETTLEMENT
The U.S. Supreme Court has approved a settlement agreement reached last December between Colorado, Kansas, and Nebraska. Nebraska Governor Mike Johanns (R) said, “Nebraska is pleased this litigation has been brought to a satisfactory conclusion. The settlement not only secures Nebraska’s share of the basin water supply, it also avoids the prospect of paying as much as $100 million to Kansas in monetary damages for past actions.” Nebraska Attorney General Jon Bruning added, “This is a great day for Nebraskans. The settlement of this case should serve as a model for the states in the current Missouri River lawsuits.” Kansas filed suit in 1998, alleging primarily that Nebraska had overused its allocation under the 1943 Republican River Compact through thousands of irrigation wells. The settlement waives all claims through December, 2002; places a moratorium on drilling new wells in the basin; and contains a dispute resolution clause for future disagreements. The three states have agreed on a computer groundwater model to verify Compact compliance. WSWC
STORMWATER VIOLATIONS
EPA has fined 12 Colorado construction companies almost $1 million for failure to eliminate pollution from stormwater, failing to have a proper stormwater management plan, or failing to obtain a stormwater permit at all, as required by the Clean Water Act. Denver Post; 7/22
MANAGEMENT PLAN FOR ENDANGERED FISHES IN THE YAMPA RIVER BASIN
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service invites public comment on a draft Environmental Assessment (EA) for the Management Plan. The Service’s proposed action is to enter into a cooperative agreement with the States of Colorado and Wyoming to implement provisions of the Plan. Comments must be postmarked by August 31, 2003. Comments may also be made at three public meetings: August 11 – Little Snake River Valley Library, 105 2nd Street, Baggs, Wyo.; August 12 – Centennial Hall, 124 10th Street, Steamboat Springs, Colo.; and August 13 – Shadow Mountain Clubhouse, 1055 County Road 7, Craig, Colo. All meetings begin at 7 p.m. The draft EA is available at <http://mountain-prairie.fws.gov/fisheries/yampaea.htm>
PARTS OF RIO GRANDE DRY IN NEW MEXICO
Long stretches of the middle Rio Grande in New Mexico are already dry, irrigators will be out of water by mid-August, and the effects of the continuing drought go beyond crops and fish kills. Albuquerque Tribune; July 8 <http://www.abqtrib.com/archives/news03/070703_news_riverdry.shtml>
ALBUQUERQUE STARTS TO USE TRANSPLANTED COLORADO RIVER WATER
Albuquerque is drawing its first water from the San Juan-Chama Project, the first delivery from the Colorado River into the Rio Grande, in a deal the city signed 40 years ago. Albuquerque Tribune; July 14 <http://www.headwatersnews.org/stories/redirect.php?id=9706>
UTAH ENTERS SILVERY MINNOW WATER DEBATE
Officials in Utah are joining New Mexico and other Western states in requesting that the 10th Circuit Court of appeals review its decision allowing the federal government to control water in the Rio Grande on behalf of a small endangered fish. Deseret News; July 31 <http://deseretnews.com/dn/view/0,1249,510043497,00.html>
WHIRLING DISEASE SPREADS ACROSS UTAH
Whirling disease has spread into the Uinta River basin along the Utah-Wyoming border, and for the first time in Utah, has infected brook trout and native cutthroat. Salt Lake Tribune; July 13 <http://www.sltrib.com/2003/Jul/07132003/utah/75052.asp>
RESISTANT MONTANA TROUT MAY HOLD KEY TO EASING EFFECTS OF DISEASE
Biologists discovered a strain of rainbow trout in Montana that is resistant to whirling disease, and they’re looking at the potential to transfer its characteristics to other populations. Salt Lake Tribune; July 13 <http://www.sltrib.com/2003/Jul/07132003/utah/75068.asp>
WYOMING WATER OFFICIALS MULL CROSS-STATE PIPELINE
State water officials are in the early stages of drafting a proposal to move water from the Green River in western Wyoming to the North Platte River in eastern Wyoming. Casper Star-Tribune; July 24 <http://www.casperstartribune.net/articles/2003/07/23/news/wyoming/517948670ed16d0386db4459f88e3887.txt>
TRIBAL SETTLEMENT
Congress has ratified the Settlement Agreement concerning Zuni Indian Tribe water rights claims in the Little Colorado River basin in Arizona. In 1984, the tribe claimed water rights for lands in northeastern Arizona under the Winters doctrine, but the desired water was not available since non-Indian communities adjacent to the reservation had already laid claim to available water. The settlement will provide the Zuni tribe with money to buy water rights in the Little Colorado River Basin, and restore the riparian environment of sacred lands on the Zuni Reservation. A total of $26.5 million — with over 70% coming from the federal government — is authorized to implement the agreement. For its part, the tribe agreed to waive future claims to water rights and agreed not to object to current water uses by non-Indians. WSWC
DROUGHT STILL LAYS SIEGE TO ARIZONA RANCHES
Arizona ranchers have been battered by drought since 1999, with no relief this year, and some have cut their grazing by half or more. Santa Fe New Mexican (AP); July 6 <http://www.headwatersnews.org/stories/redirect.php?id=9593>
JUDGE ORDERS AGENCY TO KEEP DEVELOPMENT OFF ARIZONA RIVERS
A federal judge has ordered Forest Service officials to protect from development more than 750 miles of Arizona streams while the agency considers adding them to the Wild and Scenic Rivers list. Arizona Daily Sun; July 8 <http://www.azdailysun.com/non_sec/nav_includes/story.cfm?storyID=69156>
NEVADA ASKS FOR MORE COLORADO RIVER WATER
Nevada officials want to draw more water from the Colorado River and to disassociate the state from the California water agencies that reneged on a water pact. Reno Gazette-Journal; July 10
<http://www.rgj.com/news/stories/html/2003/07/09/46544.php?sp1=rgj&sp2=News&sp3=Local+News>
Nevada proposes a timetable for discussions with Reclamation and the Seven Basin States through early August, with a proposed modification of the guidelines for publication in late August for public comment, and execution of a record of decision by mid-October. [The Interim Surplus Criteria was developed to allow the Secretary to declare a surplus even if the hydrologic conditions did not warrant it to give CA 15 years to come back into compliance with the Compact. When CA did not complete the Quantification Settlement Agreement, the Secretary declared an average water year. What Nevada is now asking is for the Secretary to declare a surplus only for Nevada. I don’t think the Compact allows for such a declaration.]
BUREAU OF RECLAMATION STUDY SHOWS IMPERIAL IRRIGATION DISTRICT (IID) IS WASTING WATER
A study of water use by IID indicates all of its diversions are not being put to beneficial use. As a result, IID’s annual request of 3.1 maf will be cut by 9% or 275,900 af to 2,824,100 af. This is roughly the same amount of water IID was anticipating selling to San Diego and the Coachella Valley Water District (Palm Springs). The approved amount of deliveries for 2003 remains subject to adjustment in the event of an overuse repayment requirement for 2002. This is likely to scuttle attempts to get voluntary adherence to the Quantification Settlement Agreement (QSA) that would have allowed California a “soft landing” weaning itself of its excess use of the Colorado River. Without the QSA, California is only entitled to 4.4 maf of Colorado River water. IID plans on appealing the results of Reclamation’s study. WSWC
CALIFORNIA WATER AGENCIES CONSIDER NEW COLORADO RIVER DEAL
California Gov. Gray Davis has a new plan for four Southern California water agencies to cut their share of Colorado River use, this one with more backing from environmentalists. Santa Fe New Mexican (AP); July 11 <http://www.santafenewmexican.com/main.asp?SectionID=2&SubSectionID=7&ArticleID=29733>
ALL AMERICAN CANAL LINING DELAYED
Imperial Irrigation District has suspended plans to line 23 miles of its All American Canal. The $200 million project would save 67,700 af and was supposed to be paid for by state funds and by the Metropolitan Water District. The legislature has removed the funding from its budget and IID is looking for another partner to produce the saved water. 7/25/03 Imperial Valley Press
DROUGHT BRINGS SLOW DEATH TO JOSHUA TREES
The spiky-leaved, weirdly shaped Joshua trees of Southern California’s deserts are being nibbled to death by hordes of thirsty rodents. <http://www.enn.com/news/2003-07-23/s_6593.asp>
