Feds give millions to desert water projects, warn a wet year is not enough

Water districts serving the California desert will receive nearly $18 million in federal infrastructure funds, officials announced this week, including for Imperial County's first major reservoir and critical repairs to the aging All-American Canal.

The grants and loans come days before a likely federal announcement on possible cuts or other changes to Colorado River allocations through 2026 across seven Western states. In the run-up to that announcement, senior Biden Administration officials and members of Congress have been touring California and other states doling out hundreds of millions in funds for water projects, while warning that this year's heavy snow and rain are not enough to end long-term drought.

U.S. Interior and Reclamation officials announced on Thursday that the Imperial Irrigation District will receive $9.5 million to plan and design a 2,100-acre-foot reservoir it has long sought, to be built near the southern end of Imperial County. Water not used by farmers during changes between crop worker shifts or at the end of the day would be pumped back to the reservoir, instead of running off into ditches and being wasted, IID water manager Tina Shields said.

Area water presently flows via gravity downhill from the Colorado River and Lake Mead into the Imperial Dam and All-American Canal diversion system, with no way for the district or farmers to capture any unused overflow on site. The reservoir could yield 15,000 acre-feet, or almost 4.9 billion gallons annually of water savings for use in Imperial County. It will likely cost another $50 million to $70 million to build, she said, with funds either coming from San Diego Water Authority revenues paid for some of IID's water that is transferred there, or further grants or loans.

At the Imperial Dam on Wednesday, officials announced, among other projects, another $8.24 million in low-interest loans for repair work to the aging dam's All-American Canal, which brings water to Imperial County and the Coachella Valley. The work includes replacing rusting gates across which silty, salty water has flowed for decades, and installing key replacement parts for radial arms that help whirl the silt to the bottom of collection basins, making the water clean enough to be used by area farmers and domestic water treatment systems.

"They're 60 years old. They're falling apart," Shields said of the gates and arms. "The metal's rusted, and there's cracks and holes, and they're not that effective."

Small districts in nearby Yuma, Arizona which also rely on the dam and its systems will receive the loans to pay IID for their share of the overhauls.

"We're very appreciative of the acknowledgement of the need for funding for our on-farm conservation programs," Shields said of Thursday's announcement. She noted the reservoir would be the largest ever for the district. IID and Imperial County rely on Colorado River water for 100% of its irrigation and drinking water, and hold among the oldest rights to by far the largest share of water, trumping nearly 40 million people in seven states and Mexico. But the district, unlike the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California and others, and has very limited rights to storage in Lake Mead.

"We're way in a little corner of southern California, and we often have a target on our backs, so it's nice to have the acknowledgement of our conservation work and the opportunity to do more," Shields said.

“This is a critical project for the district,” agreed IID Board President Alex Cardenas, who thanked the Department of the Interior and the Bureau of Reclamation. “Once complete, this reservoir will .... facilitate significant system and on-farm conservation."

Desert funds part of efforts to prop up the shrinking Colorado River

Federal officials said that $585 million in funds for projects in 11 states announced this week were part of efforts by the Biden Administration to upgrade and help sustain every major river basin overseen by the Bureau of Reclamation, including the fast-dwindling Colorado River system, which has sunk to unprecedented lows.

“As communities across the Colorado River Basin continue to face the impacts of the ongoing drought crisis, the Biden-Harris administration is acting to improve and protect the stability and sustainability of the Colorado River System now and into the future,” Deputy Interior Secretary Tommy Beaudreau said in a statement.“By working together in close coordination with states, Tribes and other stakeholders, we can provide much needed relief for communities across the West that will have a lasting impact for generations.”

Shields and other state water officials expect a draft federal plan for how to keep the river at functioning levels will be made public on Tuesday. A federal spokesman said he could not comment. The document, known as a supplemental environmental impact statement, will lay out various alternatives for how to conserve possibly as much as 4 million acre feet, a whopping amount for a river that some years only sees 7.5 million acre feet of flows. Reclamation Commissioner Camille Touton told Congress last June that between two and four million acre feet was needed to keep hydroelectric systems working, and to keep its mighty reservoirs from reaching "dead pool," meaning there would be too little water to flow downstream to farms and cities.

At the end of January, all six states that depend on the river submitted a plan for the EIS that would target California the most, while California submitted its own plan that would include more cuts for Arizona. Both plans outlined more than 3 million acre feet in possible cuts, and since that public impasse, key state representatives have been negotiating over a possible compromise lower basin plan. Hopes have been buoyed by an above average snowfall in the Rocky Mountains this year that could help restore the upper river and Lake Powell in particular.

One wet year won't fix the problem

But even as they've visited states to dole out funds, key federal officials have warned that one wet year will not erase long-term drought exacerbated by overuse and climate change. It's not clear that the EIS will even incorporate this year's massive precipitation, since it was begun before those blizzards and rainstorms occurred, and too much warm weather could cause flooding in local areas before it flowed into the Colorado River system.

“Right now even with this winter snowpack and rainfall, most of the American West, including the Colorado River basin, is in the midst of a 23-year drought,” said Beaudreau during a press briefing about Wednesday's funds. “By working together I’m confident we can provide much-needed relief to communities across the West."

Bureau of Reclamation Commissioner Camille Calimlim Touton has echoed those cautionary remarks as she, Beaudreau, White House Infrastructure Coordinator Mitch Landrieu, members of Congress from affected western states, including Democratic Rep. Raul Ruiz of California have visited the Hoover Dam, the Imperial Dam or other parts of the river system.

The officials also noted the infrastructure funds would help with key conservation projects that would aid drought resiliency, and help provide clean, reliable water, including possibly in areas like the eastern Coachella Valley that don't currently receive it.

“The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law is making a historic investment to provide clean, reliable water to families, farmers and Tribes, and increase resilience to drought,” said Touton in a press release after touring Imperial Dam. “The funding announced today will boost water storage opportunities and assist in making a more reliable water supply for future generations, by increasing resiliency and proving more flexibility for water managers.”

All told, legislation passed under the Biden administration will allocate nearly $13 billion toward drought resilience and water infrastructure. That includes $4.6 billion from the Inflation Reduction Act and $8.3 billion from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law Reclamation projects. IID is still waiting to hear about a different, IRA funding request that, if funds are received in time, could help the district reduce at least part of 250,000 acre feet of water it has told federal officials it could try to contribute to prop up the river, atop other savings.

"We were told it's being fast-tracked," said Shields. "We haven't heard anything else yet."

Janet Wilson is senior environment reporter for The Desert Sun, and a Stanford Bill Lane Center Western Media Fellow. She can be reached at jwilson@gannett.com or on Twitter @janetwilson66

This article originally appeared on Palm Springs Desert Sun: Feds give millions to desert water projects, warn a wet year is not enough