#Sun outline install#

No dollar amount per acre-foot has been agreed upon, and wildly divergent numbers are being proposed.

#Sun outline install#

IID would likely achieve its reductions by paying farmers and landowners a per-acre-foot fee to forgo planting crops, or to install costly but efficient low-drip systems, pump-back recycling and other equipment that uses less water to grow crops. The plan would not be cheap - billions of dollars in public funds would be needed for fallowing and equipment programs that could last through 2026, Martinez and others said. Two other sources who spoke on condition of anonymity said the maximum amount is closer to 400,000 acre feet.

Martinez could not be reached for clarification on the latest working numbers, but an IID spokesman said Wednesday that 'while the range of volumes being discussed is technically up to 500,000 (acre-feet), the California totals are not as aggressive as that upper limit.' 'There's no deal until you have a deal, and there's no deal yet, so we have targets more than exact numbers.' 'We are in constant discussions, in fact we had a call at 3 o'clock today and things continue to evolve. It has for years banked surplus water in Lake Mead, including paying IID for transfers of imports to its accounts. Hasencamp said that by year's end, the district would still have an estimated 1 million acre-feet of reserves, though not all of that could be contributed in one year or as part of a single agreement. MWD could contribute a significant amount fairly easily. Federal reclamation officials want steep reductions on top of that plan, though. 'We definitely have a challenge on our hands, and our assumption here is we're not going to be able to rely on snowpack or rainfall at historic levels' to restore flow naturally, Martinez said.ĬVWD did not respond to requests for comment, other than brief messages from board member Peter Nelson, who also chair's California's Colorado River Board, to say the district has already committed to cuts if necessary under a signed 2019 drought contingency plan. He emphasized that the negotiations were fluid and numbers could change, but he said his agency, which serves Imperial County and holds by far the largest and among the oldest California rights to Colorado River water, recognizes serious action must be taken to keep water flowing to the region amid prolonged drought and a changing climate. Bureau of Reclamation for all those who rely on the river to cut 2 million to 4 million acre-feet of water usage within 60 days, Imperial Irrigation District and Metropolitan Water District officials are negotiating 'around half a million, between 400,000 and 500,000 acre-feet' in combined reductions, IID general manager Enrique Martinez said on Monday. Responding to a June mandate from the U.S. Two powerful Southern California water districts are actively negotiating an agreement for hefty voluntary cuts of Colorado River supply to farmers and reduced delivery of water to greater Los Angeles, as part of urgent efforts across seven states and Mexico to stave off the collapse of the drought-stricken river system that provides drinking water and irrigation for nearly 40 million people.