City of Indio stops paying aquifer recharge fee; “We don’t think they are doing any groundwater recharge that benefits the Indio area”, official says
Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on February 20, 2008 at 6:42 amHere’s one I missed, so it’s a little old. From the MyDesert.com:
Coachella Valley Water District and Indio officials are in another water fight.
The water district has filed a second lawsuit against the city, asking a judge to force city officials to pay the district a fee that enables the agency to bring in water from outside the valley to help replenish groundwater. Studies have shown groundwater overuse is causing subsidence, the literal sinking of the valley, which if left unchecked could cause millions in infrastructure damage to buildings, pipelines and roads. District general manager Steve Robbins said the fee is charged to all groundwater users who take more than 25 acre-feet of water a year, including farmers, industries and cities.
One acre-foot equals about 327,000 gallons of water, or the amount of water a typical Coachella Valley home uses in a year.
The district’s recharging fee in the east valley is $7.70 per acre-foot. With Indio Water Authority drawing about 24,000 acre-feet of water from the aquifer each year, the fee has meant about a $185,000 annual cost to the city, Robbins said. But Indio officials last summer stopped paying. According to Robbins, Indio owes the water district $130,000 in back fees, and the amount is rising.
“We believe we were paying a fee we were not getting any benefit from,” City Manager Glenn Southard said. “We don’t think they are doing any groundwater recharge that benefits the Indio area.”
District water officials dispute that assertion. Replenishing the underground aquifer is essential, they said. The valley’s growth has meant the district for years has used about 120,000 acre-feet of water more per year than is returning to the ground. “It’s hard to understand why (Indio) would not be supportive of that” recharging program, district board president Peter Nelson said.
Get the rest of the story from MyDesert.com by clicking here.
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did you see this?
http://www.mydesert.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/200804050355/COLUMNS26/804050306