You all know by now that I have a fondness for the Colorado River. I'm often pessimistic about the situation there, but today there is some news of cooperation among environmentalists, water managers, the U.S. government (U.S. Bureau of Reclamation), and others.
The story centers around the USBR's Yuma Desalting Plant, which took 18 years and $250M to complete. Heck, I was in grad school when the thing was started! To top that, it has not been used for about 13 years, because by the time it was completed, it was unneeded. It was built to desalt the Colorado River so that the water we delivered to Mexico, 1.5 million acre-feet per year (about 59 cms), was "fresh enough" so as to not ruin irrigated agriculture in the Mexicali Valley. The USA could have met those standards by reducing irrigated agriculture in the WelIton-Mohawk Irrigation and Drainage District (www.wellton-mohawk.org) north of Yuma. It was the return flow from the WMIDD that was the "straw that broke the camel's back" vis-a-vis the river's salinity. For reasons that are best the subject of another post (or 2, or 3) the USBR opted for the desalting plant.
By the time the plant was finished, flows in the Colorado were high and there was plenty of water of sufficient quality available without using desalted WMIDD water. The salinity problem was avoided by digging a canal for the WMIDD drainage water and allowing the water to flow south,
where it created a marvelous 15,000-acre (6,100-hectare) wetland, the Cienega de Santa Clara (see map, courtesy of the San Diego Union-Tribune). This has become an important wildlife habitat, especially for migratory birds.
So what's the problem? Well, now the Southwest is in the throes of a drought, and every bit of the Colorado's flow is needed to meet deliveries to Mexico. Even the WMIDD water is needed, so the USBR is firing up the plant for a 90-day test run. If the plant goes online (the decision is not certain), then the WMIDD water will be desalted and added to the river's flow; it will no longer flow to the Cienega de Santa Clara, which will then cease to exist.
Here's where the cooperation comes in - the USBR, environmentalists (both in Mexico and the USA), and the Central Arizona Project are working together to try to find a solution that will provide good-quality water to Mexico, but save the cienega. This could involve desalting poor-quality ground water to supply the cienega.
This story was recently reported today on NPR's Morning Edition and in the San Diego Union-Tribune:
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/state/20070326-9999-1n26desalt.html
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=9237380&sc=emaf
When it comes to Western water, good things sometimes do happen.
"One hand washes the other, and the two wash the face."
-- translation of a Spanish proverb on cooperation
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