In the wake of the arrival of a history-making year in weather, the San Diego County Water Authority is working with two other agencies and the federal government to implement lasting changes to regional water management.
The Imperial Irrigation District and the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California are working with the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation for a one-year water-sharing agreement, building on 2003’s Quantification Settlement Agreement, the largest such agreement in American history.
The QSA was intended to reduce California’s reliance on the Colorado river by agreeing to transfer water from Imperial Valley to coastal San Diego for up to 75 years.
The 2023 water exchange will effectively leave 50,000 acre-feet of conserved water in the Colorado River, equivalent to about three months of the county’s deliveries under the USA and the amount of water used in a year by approximately 150,000 single-family homes.
The downstream effects are expected to raise Lake Mead’s historically low levels, help mitigate increasing water prices, and provide new models for water management throughout the periodically drought-stricken western United States. It will also help shore up the Colorado River, which has been declining for decades.
“This is a great example of what happens when we collaborate and work together. Cooperation by all three water agencies and the Bureau of Reclamation produced a creative solution that helps sustain the Colorado River.” said Water Authority Chair Mel Katz.
The Bureau of Reclamation will cover the cost of the Water Authority’s QSA supplies left in the river. The Water Authority agreed to buy 50,000 acre-feet from MWD to meet current and future demands.
The funds to facilitate the arrangement came from the federal 2022 Inflation Reduction Act. It is expected to save the Water Authority a projected $15 million to $20 million, which will help offset rate hikes due to inflation and other factors, such as climate change.