Desert Hot Springs city councilman calls for groundwater adjudication in the Coachella Valley before the situation becomes dire
Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on February 21, 2008 at 8:54 amFrom MyDesert.com, this commentary from Karl Baker, a city councilman for Desert Hot Springs regarding the serious groundwater overdraft and water use in the Coachella Valley:
… it is this writer’s opinion that unless water is rationed in one form or another, all of the “conservation talk” will fall on deaf ears - especially those whose landlords pay the water bill as well as those who insist on having green lawns and golf courses.
May I suggest a couple of proposals? Treated sewage water is now in use in a moderate way. This water is piped through “purple pipes” and is definitely non-potable but perfectly suited for landscape and irrigation uses. If all new developments were required to have purple pipes alongside potable water pipes - one pipe for inside usage and one for outside usage there could be a tremendous savings of water. Given the advances in technology this purple water
could be piped into the toilets in every home - the dogs might not like it - but inside the home, toilets use the largest amount of water. For example, if the proposed new development in Indio for an abundance of new houses as well as a golf course had “purple pipe” water available, the need to draw from the aquifer would be drastically reduced.
Secondly, and probably more important, the one area of conservation that has yet to be mentioned in solving the water conservation problem is the matter of “aquifer adjudication.” Water law is extremely complex. However, there is a legal remedy available to any water user who draws water from an underground aquifer. The process involves getting an order from a Superior Court limiting all of the water users from a given aquifer - or sub basin - to an amount equal to their established “water rights.” Stated a little differently, if one supplier of water begins to draw water from an overdrafted aquifer (an aquifer where more water is drawn than being naturally or artificially replaced) so as to cause harm to the other water users from that aquifer - the court can limit the amount of water each agency can draw from the aquifer.
Currently the aquifer under the Coachella Valley is seriously overdrafted. The Coachella Valley Water District and the Desert Water Agency are buying water from the Metropolitan Water District to recharge the aquifer. Recent news stories indicate that that source of water (Colorado River) may disappear as early as 2013 and more probably by 2021. Therefore, the only real solution to the water problem in the Coachella Valley is “adjudication of the aquifer.” Developers, will scream, water districts will scream, businesses will scream, golfers will play in dirt and homeowners will have dead lawns. But, by limiting the amount of water that CAN be drawn from the aquifer all of the conservation measures being proposed will not only be desirable - but MANDATORY.
Read the whole text of Mr. Baker’s commentary from MyDesert.com, click here.
Picture of Palm trees in Palm Springs by flickr photographer Rob Lee.
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