Site chosen for managed marsh project to be implemented as part of QSA
Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on June 26, 2008 at 7:57 am
From the Imperial Valley Press:
After several years of delay, a proposed site has been chosen for the Imperial Irrigation District’s managed marsh project. This week the IID board voted to select land owned by the district to implement a component of the controversial 2003 Quantification Settlement Agreement. IID General Manager Brian Brady said the site chosen, east of the Salton Sea and north of Calipatria, is the least productive farmland among the sites considered.
The zoning designation on the land also allows for mixed use, and geothermal exploration in the area would still be possible, Brady said.
“This is an important component of the QSA,” Brady said. The 75-year water pact that has seen conserved water transferred to the coast from the Imperial Valley continues to be fought in a state court.
Meanwhile, conservation efforts must go forward, officials said. Brady said if the project were not built, it would leave the IID vulnerable to giving up more water to the metropolitan areas.
Director Mike Abatti raised questions as to where the water would come from, it’s location, and if the project should even be started at all, citing pending litigation:
Abatti submitted comments to Tina Shields, assistant Water Department manager, earlier this year on the project and noted he believed it was premature to implement components of the QSA “while the QSA is still being litigated.”
Abatti also cited concerns about where the water is going to come from and suggested the project should use land that is not being farmed.
Abatti said he is using reclaimed wastewater, and that tailwater for the project should be an option instead of stretching the district’s shrinking water allocation.
The volume of water to be used, Hanks said, is still an issue if it is not reclaimed for other use. “It’s time to look at reclamation,” Hanks said. “If people (on the coast) see 15,000 to 20,000 acre-feet being used in a marshland, they may question where we’re headed.”
Read the full text of this article from the Imperial Valley Press by clicking here.
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