SoCal farmers agree to big cuts to Colorado River water use in major deal with feds

Farmers in the Imperial Valley of Southern California who use the most Colorado River water across the river basin have agreed to cut their use significantly in a new deal struck with the federal government.

The cuts will happen through 2026 and add up to more than double the amount the entire state of Nevada uses in a year.

“IID [Imperial Irrigation District] has cleared enormous hurdles to make this deal happen — there is no excuse for inaction anywhere along the river,” JB Hamby , the vice chairman of the district and the commissioner representing California in ongoing negotiations about the river, said in a news release .

Brian Richter, who researches water use on the Colorado River, said these kinds of cuts are necessary as the climate crisis pushes the river to unprecedented limits.

"Irrigated agriculture is very, very important both to food security, as well as to the livelihoods and well-being of farmers," Richter said. "That doesn't mean that we shouldn't be asking the question of whether or not we're using that water to the greatest possible benefit."

How to make the cuts

To make the massive cuts, the Imperial Irrigation District will get more than $500 million from the Biden administration’s Inflation Reduction Act. That money adds to a substantial pot of federal and state dollars already helping farmers transition to water-saving technology.

Farmers will also be paid to temporarily not grow thirsty crops like alfalfa — a practice called deficit irrigation.

Trevor Tagg grows alfalfa and other cattle feed crops like most farmers in the Imperial Valley. He plans to participate in the deficit irrigation program, meaning he won’t grow alfalfa during the hottest times of the year. To him, it’s an option of last resort.

“This is a lifeline that we have right now to keep farmers farming,” Tagg said. “In the long run, I don't agree with it. Personally, I don't think water should leave here.”

Damned if you do, damned if you don't

While the Colorado River has long been overused, human-driven climate change is leading to dwindling snowpack that feeds the river, and accelerating how much water evaporates from the river and its major reservoirs, Lake Mead and Lake Powell. The seven states that rely on the river are in tense negotiations to figure out how to make long-term and unprecedented cuts post-2026, when existing, century-old legal agreements expire.

But many Imperial Valley farmers like Tagg say they’re already stretched thin with existing water restrictions. Since 2003, the district’s water sales to cities like San Diego, plus increasingly efficient farming techniques, have cut the region’s water use by more than 7 million acre feet of water. For comparison, the entire city of L.A. uses about 500,000 acre-feet of water every year.

And, Tagg said, as the valley’s farmers continue to use less water, the Salton Sea will continue to dry up, as it acts like a sink for runoff from Imperial and Coachella Valley farms. Originally, the Salton Sea was formed when Colorado River water breached an irrigation canal being built in the Imperial Valley in 1905.

Over the years, the drying lake has long caused dangerous air pollution in surrounding communities, which are largely home to low-income farmworkers, and has reduced habitat for migratory birds that now rely on the lake.

It’s an issue farmers and environmentalists agree on and a big reason why there’s pushback on this new deal. Some environmentalists say the deal was agreed upon without proper environmental review .

Striking a balance?

There are only so many ways to conserve water in farming: using more efficient technology, growing less water-intensive crops, such as vegetables instead of alfalfa, or not growing at all, called fallowing.

That’s what farmers in Blythe, near the border with Arizona , have been asked to do since 2004 in exchange for cash payments from the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California (MWD), which supplies Colorado River water to cities such as L.A.

“They pay us for not farming the land,” said Bart Fisher, a Blythe farmer who grows vegetables, melons and alfalfa, and a former chairman representing California’s rights in the Colorado River basin. He was heavily involved in developing the research and partnership with the MWD.

“In retrospect, that [fallowing program], in our little community here of Blythe, has created some unintended consequences,” he said.

Fisher said not farming land for long periods of time in Blythe has hurt jobs and businesses, despite the cash payouts from MWD.

He said the deficit irrigation program launching in the Imperial Valley is a better approach because farmers only stop growing a couple months out of the year, so the impact on the local economy is lessened, while significant water savings can still be achieved. That program is rooted in the 20 years of research that came out of the program in Blythe.

But, if the world doesn’t slash planet-warming pollution spewed by human society enough, scientists say thirsty crops like alfalfa may eventually not be able to be grown in the Imperial Valley at all.