Searching and Conserving
In the Coachella Valley, water conservation is not enough—finding new sources is also part of the resource management master plan.
If you look up the word crisis in the dictionary, you’ll find multiple definitions, but not one reference to the water shortage in California. Nevertheless, the situation on the West Coast has come to define the term. With explosive growth and limited water available, the state has been gripped in a tug of war—both within its boundaries and beyond—between the need to acquire a sufficient water supply and the need to support its farms, businesses, and people. Thankfully, most crises have solutions, and such is the case in one California valley.
The battle for water was waged for over a century as western states and districts jockeyed for water. Exchanges weren’t measured in dollars and cents, but in acre-feet. As the Colorado River was harnessed and water swapped and traded, municipal governments and agencies operated with a wet currency.
California comprises 29 water districts. One in particular, the Coachella Valley Water District (CVWD), is working to acquire more water while encouraging conservation of this limited resource. Success is and will continue to be measured by replenishment of a falling aquifer while providing safe and relatively low-cost water to its customers.
The district spans 1,000 miles in the Coachella Valley. It covers Riverside County and parts of Imperial and San Diego counties and delivers irrigation water to 60,000 acres of farmland and domestic water to 102,000 customers. Wastewater collection and regional stormwater protection also fall within the organization’s responsibilities. To fulfill its duties, the district actively promotes water conservation across the board for residents, businesses, and farmers.
It was the district’s conservation efforts that spurred the Association of California Water Agencies to honor the CVWD as a finalist for the 2007 Clair Hill Water Agency Award for Excellence. It’s an effort that will hopefully save at least a portion of southern California from state-enforced water shortages in the future.
Steve Robbins is general manager and chief engineer for the district. “We started working on a plan in 1997, and it took us five years to finish,” explains Robbins. “The plan was finalized in 2002 and includes a 35-year horizon and a best estimate of what we need to do to get the basin back in balance.”
The basin Robbins refers to is the aquifer that’s been strapped for decades by a thirst that started when would-be miners headed west to the Golden State.
A Look Back
Over a century ago gold was discovered in California and the rush was on. But when the dust settled, disappointed miners looked for other means of support. Taking advantage of cheap land and a climate that allowed year-round farming, miners traded picks for plows and got to work.
 |
Photos: USGS |
| The Imperial Dam |
 |
If beautiful scenery and weather weren’t enough, farmers had access to ample and high-quality groundwater, much of which flowed freely from artesian wells. Crops became a staple for the area that continues today. Coachella Valley produces 95% of the dates grown in the United Sates. Other crops include table grapes, citrus fruits, peppers, avocados, artichokes, beans, carrots, corn, cotton, and grains.
But this paradise almost imploded as farmers withdrew more and more water from the aquifer. What seemed like an endless bounty began to drop deeper below ground.
Groundwater in the Coachella Valley is pulled from an aquifer basin that stretches west to east from the San Jacinto Mountains and Santa Rosa Mountains to the Little San Bernardino Mountains. From north to south it starts at the San Bernardino Mountains and moves down to the northern and western boundaries of the Salton Sea. The aquifer is naturally recharged with rainfall and snowmelt. But when human demands on the aquifer stretch beyond nature’s replenishment, overdraft results and the water table drops. In extreme conditions, the aquifer has dropped in excess of 60 feet, requiring the installation of deeper wells and larger pumps. In an aquifer that now provides drinking water to more than 100,000 homes and businesses in the valley, it’s a costly dilemma.
Aquifer replenishment efforts started back in 1918, when the Coachella Valley County Water District, now the CVWD, was formed. The district quickly began work to secure rights to unclaimed Whitewater River water and to capture fast-moving floodwater that escaped during storms. Both vital sources of water were needed to replenish the aquifer. Even with these steps and the capping of artesian wells to prevent waste, it was evident that more water was needed to support Coachella Valley’s continuing thirst.
Relief came as part of a 1919 decision from Washington DC. Farms in the Coachella Valley would be allowed to draw from the Colorado River for irrigation, a lofty goal considering over 100 miles lay between the valley and the Colorado River.
But the connection was made. The All-American Canal begins as water bleeds off the Colorado River at the Imperial Dam, 18 miles north of Yuma, AZ, and continues west, running just north of California’s border with Mexico. Smaller canals peel off and head north from the All-American Canal, the first being the Coachella Canal. Construction of the canal began in the 1930s. Building was postponed during World War II but started back up and was completed in the late 1940s.
Water flows through the Coachella Canal and is distributed through a unique 500-mile underground delivery system. Originally, water from the canal was allocated exclusively to farmlands for irrigation; over time however, golf courses and homeowners’ associations began tapping into this resource for greening the landscape. Because of its high salinity, roughly 600 and 900 parts per million, using the river for drinking water hasn’t always been feasible.
 |
Photo: Coachella Valley Water District |
| Mission Hills Golf Course in the Coachella Valley |
The Coachella Canal is deemed an engineering marvel by many, but bears at least some of the responsibility for enabling the valley’s water addiction. With water flowing into the valley, growth and development took off. But California wasn’t the only state dependent on the Colorado River. Southern California is actually the river’s last US stop on its way to Mexico.
The Colorado River is divvied and parsed as it flows south from the Rocky Mountains to the Gulf of California and is portioned by two basins. The upper basin comprises Wyoming, Colorado, Utah, and New Mexico. In the upper basin, states are permitted a certain percentage of available water. California, Arizona, and Nevada make up the southern basin, where water is divided by quantified entitlements.
The upper and lower basins were each allocated 7.5 million acre-feet annually. But the upper basin was at somewhat of a disadvantage. To ensure the lower basin received its full allotment, the upper basin could be required to cut back. It made for a sometimes contentious situation. Within the lower basin, Arizona and Nevada were allotted more water than they could use, so the two states allowed California to take more than its share. As far back as 1953, California was operating on as much as 800,000 acre-feet of surplus water.
All was good until populations in the upper basin states grew, as did their need for water. Clamoring started, and the other six states in the Colorado River basin formally called California out on what they saw as its overuse of river water.
News of the clash made it to Washington DC, where the US Department of the Interior was brought in to settle the dispute. It was years in the making, but the end result was an official document, the Quantification Settlement Agreement (QSA). It is a veritable peace treaty between warring water districts. The agreement was signed in October 2003, and along with the CVWD, parties include the San Diego County Water Authority, the Imperial Irrigation District, the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, the State of California, and the US Department of the Interior, all of whom agreed to live within their water means.
Under the agreement, California would reduce its overdependence on Colorado River Water and learn to live within the annual 4.4-million acre-feet allotment. As such, the CVWD was entitled to 330,000 acre-feet and included transfer of water from the Imperial Irrigation District and lining of the Coachella Canal to ensure that water on its way to the valley would not seep into the ground.
 |
Photos: Coachella Valley Water District |
| Coachella Valley depends on irrigation for its wide variety of farmlands |
 |
| Conserving water without sacrificing landscaping at the Coachella Valley Water District |
But Californians were warring over water long before the QSA was formulated. Even before the canals were constructed, there was controversy over whether the northern portion of the state should share with those living farther south. Arguments were made, acts were passed, and eventually, in 1960, the State Water Project (SWP) was born, allowing swapping of water and water rights throughout the state.
The initial allotment by the SWP afforded Coachella Valley 23,100 acre-feet of water. The plan doesn’t directly deliver water to southern California but allows contracting agencies to trade with one another, which is important in that Coachella Valley has no direct physical connection to the State Water Plant district. As part of the project, Coachella Valley has an agreement with the Metropolitan Waste District of Southern California that allows the release of 100,000 acre-feet of Colorado River water from an aqueduct to the Whitewater River for aquifer recharge.
Moving Forward
In California, the distribution of water can be a heated topic, a situation stemming from high demand and limited supply—a particularly volatile issue now because of drought. In 1997, even as the QSA was being negotiated, Coachella Valley began work on a management plan. Finalized in 2002, the plan has multiple components married together like a puzzle.
The plan laid out a matrix of goals and objectives formulated into alternatives to be evaluated. Goals and objectives included eliminating groundwater overdraft, maximizing conjunctive use opportunities, and minimizing adverse economic and environmental impacts, all while accommodating continued growth in the valley. Alternatives evaluated included employing urban, golf course, and agricultural conservation measures, recharging the aquifer in both the upper and lower valley, implementing source substitution for urban, golf course, and agricultural users.
To determine the most suitable approaches, groundwater within the Coachella Valley was divided into the upper valley and lower valley, each with distinct economies and hydrogeology. The upper valley economy is based on resorts and recreation. It has access to groundwater and is capable of recharging the aquifer. The lower valley relies on agriculture and is dependent on Colorado River water imported via the Coachella Canal. The lower valley is underlain by impervious clay layers with water released to subsurface flowing to the Salton Sea. The plan was designed to address the specific needs and limitations of the two areas.
 |
Photo: Coachella Valley Water District |
| A new canal running alongside the old one in the Coachella Valley |
The CVWD’s plan will be updated every five years to address current events and lay out strategies for conserving water, finding new sources, and using alternative water sources. The first review is currently under way, and the team is discussing changes.
“We go back and look at what went right, what went wrong, and what’s changed,” explains Robbins. “We look again 35 years in the future so the forecast always moves up five years. We look at the population estimates and the demographics.”
Conservation
One of the main goals of the water plan is to reduce water demand in several areas: domestic, agriculture, and golf courses. One aspect of domestic water conservation comes by way of new development requirements.
“We have fairly restrictive water use requirements on new development,” Robbins says. “Less water is needed by eliminating lakes and ponds and changing the landscaping. Seventy percent to 80% of the water is used outside the home. They can still have landscaping, but we push the use of native desert plants. We’ve worked with large homeowner’s associations with loans to retrofit and use native plants. The money they save every month goes to paying off the loan.”
Loans are given for large organizations and cover the cost of installing approved controller systems and new sprinkler heads, converting to drip irrigation, and replacing high-water-use plants with lower-use ones. The district also published a book, Lush and Efficient, which educates the public in ways to convert traditional lawns to more water-efficient landscapes. Workshops and classes are held, and various nurseries in the area participate by carrying native plants and labeling them with according to water use.
 |
Photo: Coachella Valley Water District |
| The Coachella Valley Water District wastewater reclamation plant |
The district implemented the Water-Based Irrigation Controller Pilot Program in late 2005, providing “smart” irrigation controllers at a reduced rate for homeowners. Even citizens with the best intentions may forget to adjust irrigation systems when the seasons change. Summer settings are frequently left on even when cooler temperatures mean less water is needed. Over 400 of the controllers have been installed that self-adjust using historical and current weather data, and it’s estimated that participants saved an average of 24% the first year.
But what to do about homeowners’ associations that require residents to maintain lush and thirsty lawns? “We did have a local homeowner’s association that wouldn’t allow desert landscape. There’s still that mentality, especially with affluent clientele. They don’t care what they pay,” says Robbins. “We may consider a tiered pay system, where the more you use, the more you pay. That extra revenue stream would help our other conservation programs.”
But Robbins admits that many people still don’t understand and hopes the day doesn’t come that it hits them hard. “People don’t realize it here in southern California. They hear about the Sacramento Delta, but they think it’s 500 miles away.”
Robbins is referring to the recent court decision in which a Sacramento judge stated that California’s northern delta is overusing its water supply. He ordered a massive cut in pumping that could decrease rates from 14% to 35%.
“If that’s a decrease of 35% of water moving south, that impacts everybody,” says Robbins. “If it hits people in the pocketbooks, they notice. In southern California, people pay more for cable than water. If we started charging three dollars a gallon, people would be more cautious. As far as going out and buying more water, the less there is available, the more expensive it’s going to be. It’s either got to be conservation, or we just don’t grow any more. No more schools or homes—nothing.”
Public education has been a large part of the conservation effort initiated by the district. Along with offering classes and working with nurseries, the CVWD combined effort its with the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California in using the California Friendly campaign. Radio ads are played on several stations emphasizing the need to conserve water. Television stations play public service announcements, and newspapers include announcements concerning water conservation. The district has also taken the message into the classroom. The CVWD has two accredited teachers who give presentations on water science, safety, and conservation for more than 13,500 students every year.
Because farms are a business, saving water means saving money on operational costs. The district works with farmers to make sure they’re not overwatering. A design unique to southern California is that agricultural fields have drains installed below grade that collect the salt left over from irrigating with Colorado River water. Periodically, the fields are inundated with the highly saline leachate flowing to the Salton Sea.
The CVWD works with farmers and encourages them to use more scientifically based irrigation by schedules and salinity control rather than to rely on past practices. As a result, more than 55,000 acre-feet of Colorado River water were conserved over the past three years. This surpasses the 7% goal outlined by the district.
Finding New and Using Alternative Sources
Even with conservation efforts going full bore, finding new water sources is vital. The Mid-Valley Pipeline project will deliver a blend of water from the Coachella Canal and wastewater effluent from the CVWD’s wastewater reclamation plant in Palm Desert to golf courses in Palm Desert, Rancho Mirage, and Indian Wells. The project encompasses 50 golf courses and reduces the drain on groundwater.
Because of the continued draw, aquifer recharge is a vital component of water management in the valley. This is where results of the CVWD’s water plan are seen. And they have been successful.
Additional allotments include 9,900 acre-feet from Tulare Lake Basin Waste Storage district. A success in May 2007 resulted in an additional 7,000 acre-feet of water being garnered from the Desert Water Agency (DWA) in Palm Springs. An agreement with a northern California water district is in the works and if finalized will result in the CVWD garnering an additional 12,000 acre-feet of water. All of which will be used to hydrate the parched aquifer.
Depending on the snowmelt and rainfall, the Coachella Valley could see as much as 195,000 acre-feet of water flowing in annually as part of the SWP. This compares well to the 132,000 acre-feet of water dispersed by the district and could potentially reverse the overdraft on the aquifer.
The district is also looking for ways to tap into more of the Colorado River and ensure all the water allocated arrives at its final destination. Improvements to the All-American and Coachella Canals have been going on since the 1980s and include lining and constructing parallel concrete canals to replace original earthen canals. The final 34.8 miles of canal were replaced in late 2006. Savings from this $100 million construction are estimated to be 26,000-acre feet
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All of the measures taken to ensure Coachella Valley has ample water at reasonable prices require a lot of work by many people. The district currently employs over 500 people and plans to add more in 2008. Sufficient staff allows the district to install and maintain new infrastructure and review new development and landscaping plans. Other behind-the-scene activities include overhauling outdated computer software that will streamline operations in an effort to help customers reduce their water dependency and ensure a source well in the future.
With a history of garnering supply as demand increases, Robbins knows it’s important to balance conservation with finding new sources of water. “We have to look at and update the plan. The market has changed, and the cost of water went up. We have to consider, is it cheaper to continue to buy it, or enforce conservation? It’s likely a combination of both.”
Author's Bio: Diane McDilda is an environmental engineer and technical writer.
January-February 2008
Searching and Conserving
In the Coachella Valley, water conservation is not enough—finding new sources is also part of the resource management master plan.
If you look up the word
crisis in the dictionary, you’ll find multiple definitions, but not one reference to the water shortage in California. Nevertheless, the situation on the West Coast has come to define the term. With explosive growth and limited water available, the state has been gripped in a tug of war—both within its boundaries and beyond—between the need to acquire a sufficient water supply and the need to support its farms, businesses, and people. Thankfully, most crises have solutions, and such is the case in one California valley.
The battle for water was waged for over a century as western states and districts jockeyed for water. Exchanges weren’t measured in dollars and cents, but in acre-feet. As the Colorado River was harnessed and water swapped and traded, municipal governments and agencies operated with a wet currency.
California comprises 29 water districts. One in particular, the Coachella Valley Water District (CVWD), is working to acquire more water while encouraging conservation of this limited resource. Success is and will continue to be measured by replenishment of a falling aquifer while providing safe and relatively low-cost water to its customers.
The district spans 1,000 miles in the Coachella Valley. It covers Riverside County and parts of Imperial and San Diego counties and delivers irrigation water to 60,000 acres of farmland and domestic water to 102,000 customers. Wastewater collection and regional stormwater protection also fall within the organization’s responsibilities. To fulfill its duties, the district actively promotes water conservation across the board for residents, businesses, and farmers.
It was the district’s conservation efforts that spurred the Association of California Water Agencies to honor the CVWD as a finalist for the 2007 Clair Hill Water Agency Award for Excellence. It’s an effort that will hopefully save at least a portion of southern California from state-enforced water shortages in the future.
Steve Robbins is general manager and chief engineer for the district. “We started working on a plan in 1997, and it took us five years to finish,” explains Robbins. “The plan was finalized in 2002 and includes a 35-year horizon and a best estimate of what we need to do to get the basin back in balance.”
The basin Robbins refers to is the aquifer that’s been strapped for decades by a thirst that started when would-be miners headed west to the Golden State.
A Look Back
Over a century ago gold was discovered in California and the rush was on. But when the dust settled, disappointed miners looked for other means of support. Taking advantage of cheap land and a climate that allowed year-round farming, miners traded picks for plows and got to work.
|
Photos: USGS |
| The Imperial Dam |
|
If beautiful scenery and weather weren’t enough, farmers had access to ample and high-quality groundwater, much of which flowed freely from artesian wells. Crops became a staple for the area that continues today. Coachella Valley produces 95% of the dates grown in the United Sates. Other crops include table grapes, citrus fruits, peppers, avocados, artichokes, beans, carrots, corn, cotton, and grains.
But this paradise almost imploded as farmers withdrew more and more water from the aquifer. What seemed like an endless bounty began to drop deeper below ground.
Groundwater in the Coachella Valley is pulled from an aquifer basin that stretches west to east from the San Jacinto Mountains and Santa Rosa Mountains to the Little San Bernardino Mountains. From north to south it starts at the San Bernardino Mountains and moves down to the northern and western boundaries of the Salton Sea. The aquifer is naturally recharged with rainfall and snowmelt. But when human demands on the aquifer stretch beyond nature’s replenishment, overdraft results and the water table drops. In extreme conditions, the aquifer has dropped in excess of 60 feet, requiring the installation of deeper wells and larger pumps. In an aquifer that now provides drinking water to more than 100,000 homes and businesses in the valley, it’s a costly dilemma.
Aquifer replenishment efforts started back in 1918, when the Coachella Valley County Water District, now the CVWD, was formed. The district quickly began work to secure rights to unclaimed Whitewater River water and to capture fast-moving floodwater that escaped during storms. Both vital sources of water were needed to replenish the aquifer. Even with these steps and the capping of artesian wells to prevent waste, it was evident that more water was needed to support Coachella Valley’s continuing thirst.
Relief came as part of a 1919 decision from Washington DC. Farms in the Coachella Valley would be allowed to draw from the Colorado River for irrigation, a lofty goal considering over 100 miles lay between the valley and the Colorado River.
But the connection was made. The All-American Canal begins as water bleeds off the Colorado River at the Imperial Dam, 18 miles north of Yuma, AZ, and continues west, running just north of California’s border with Mexico. Smaller canals peel off and head north from the All-American Canal, the first being the Coachella Canal. Construction of the canal began in the 1930s. Building was postponed during World War II but started back up and was completed in the late 1940s.
Water flows through the Coachella Canal and is distributed through a unique 500-mile underground delivery system. Originally, water from the canal was allocated exclusively to farmlands for irrigation; over time however, golf courses and homeowners’ associations began tapping into this resource for greening the landscape. Because of its high salinity, roughly 600 and 900 parts per million, using the river for drinking water hasn’t always been feasible.
|
Photo: Coachella Valley Water District |
| Mission Hills Golf Course in the Coachella Valley |
The Coachella Canal is deemed an engineering marvel by many, but bears at least some of the responsibility for enabling the valley’s water addiction. With water flowing into the valley, growth and development took off. But California wasn’t the only state dependent on the Colorado River. Southern California is actually the river’s last US stop on its way to Mexico.
The Colorado River is divvied and parsed as it flows south from the Rocky Mountains to the Gulf of California and is portioned by two basins. The upper basin comprises Wyoming, Colorado, Utah, and New Mexico. In the upper basin, states are permitted a certain percentage of available water. California, Arizona, and Nevada make up the southern basin, where water is divided by quantified entitlements.
The upper and lower basins were each allocated 7.5 million acre-feet annually. But the upper basin was at somewhat of a disadvantage. To ensure the lower basin received its full allotment, the upper basin could be required to cut back. It made for a sometimes contentious situation. Within the lower basin, Arizona and Nevada were allotted more water than they could use, so the two states allowed California to take more than its share. As far back as 1953, California was operating on as much as 800,000 acre-feet of surplus water.
All was good until populations in the upper basin states grew, as did their need for water. Clamoring started, and the other six states in the Colorado River basin formally called California out on what they saw as its overuse of river water.
News of the clash made it to Washington DC, where the US Department of the Interior was brought in to settle the dispute. It was years in the making, but the end result was an official document, the Quantification Settlement Agreement (QSA). It is a veritable peace treaty between warring water districts. The agreement was signed in October 2003, and along with the CVWD, parties include the San Diego County Water Authority, the Imperial Irrigation District, the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, the State of California, and the US Department of the Interior, all of whom agreed to live within their water means.
Under the agreement, California would reduce its overdependence on Colorado River Water and learn to live within the annual 4.4-million acre-feet allotment. As such, the CVWD was entitled to 330,000 acre-feet and included transfer of water from the Imperial Irrigation District and lining of the Coachella Canal to ensure that water on its way to the valley would not seep into the ground.
|
Photos: Coachella Valley Water District |
| Coachella Valley depends on irrigation for its wide variety of farmlands |
|
| Conserving water without sacrificing landscaping at the Coachella Valley Water District |
But Californians were warring over water long before the QSA was formulated. Even before the canals were constructed, there was controversy over whether the northern portion of the state should share with those living farther south. Arguments were made, acts were passed, and eventually, in 1960, the State Water Project (SWP) was born, allowing swapping of water and water rights throughout the state.
The initial allotment by the SWP afforded Coachella Valley 23,100 acre-feet of water. The plan doesn’t directly deliver water to southern California but allows contracting agencies to trade with one another, which is important in that Coachella Valley has no direct physical connection to the State Water Plant district. As part of the project, Coachella Valley has an agreement with the Metropolitan Waste District of Southern California that allows the release of 100,000 acre-feet of Colorado River water from an aqueduct to the Whitewater River for aquifer recharge.
Moving Forward
In California, the distribution of water can be a heated topic, a situation stemming from high demand and limited supply—a particularly volatile issue now because of drought. In 1997, even as the QSA was being negotiated, Coachella Valley began work on a management plan. Finalized in 2002, the plan has multiple components married together like a puzzle.
The plan laid out a matrix of goals and objectives formulated into alternatives to be evaluated. Goals and objectives included eliminating groundwater overdraft, maximizing conjunctive use opportunities, and minimizing adverse economic and environmental impacts, all while accommodating continued growth in the valley. Alternatives evaluated included employing urban, golf course, and agricultural conservation measures, recharging the aquifer in both the upper and lower valley, implementing source substitution for urban, golf course, and agricultural users.
To determine the most suitable approaches, groundwater within the Coachella Valley was divided into the upper valley and lower valley, each with distinct economies and hydrogeology. The upper valley economy is based on resorts and recreation. It has access to groundwater and is capable of recharging the aquifer. The lower valley relies on agriculture and is dependent on Colorado River water imported via the Coachella Canal. The lower valley is underlain by impervious clay layers with water released to subsurface flowing to the Salton Sea. The plan was designed to address the specific needs and limitations of the two areas.
|
Photo: Coachella Valley Water District |
| A new canal running alongside the old one in the Coachella Valley |
The CVWD’s plan will be updated every five years to address current events and lay out strategies for conserving water, finding new sources, and using alternative water sources. The first review is currently under way, and the team is discussing changes.
“We go back and look at what went right, what went wrong, and what’s changed,” explains Robbins. “We look again 35 years in the future so the forecast always moves up five years. We look at the population estimates and the demographics.”
Conservation
One of the main goals of the water plan is to reduce water demand in several areas: domestic, agriculture, and golf courses. One aspect of domestic water conservation comes by way of new development requirements.
“We have fairly restrictive water use requirements on new development,” Robbins says. “Less water is needed by eliminating lakes and ponds and changing the landscaping. Seventy percent to 80% of the water is used outside the home. They can still have landscaping, but we push the use of native desert plants. We’ve worked with large homeowner’s associations with loans to retrofit and use native plants. The money they save every month goes to paying off the loan.”
Loans are given for large organizations and cover the cost of installing approved controller systems and new sprinkler heads, converting to drip irrigation, and replacing high-water-use plants with lower-use ones. The district also published a book, Lush and Efficient, which educates the public in ways to convert traditional lawns to more water-efficient landscapes. Workshops and classes are held, and various nurseries in the area participate by carrying native plants and labeling them with according to water use.
|
Photo: Coachella Valley Water District |
| The Coachella Valley Water District wastewater reclamation plant |
The district implemented the Water-Based Irrigation Controller Pilot Program in late 2005, providing “smart” irrigation controllers at a reduced rate for homeowners. Even citizens with the best intentions may forget to adjust irrigation systems when the seasons change. Summer settings are frequently left on even when cooler temperatures mean less water is needed. Over 400 of the controllers have been installed that self-adjust using historical and current weather data, and it’s estimated that participants saved an average of 24% the first year.
But what to do about homeowners’ associations that require residents to maintain lush and thirsty lawns? “We did have a local homeowner’s association that wouldn’t allow desert landscape. There’s still that mentality, especially with affluent clientele. They don’t care what they pay,” says Robbins. “We may consider a tiered pay system, where the more you use, the more you pay. That extra revenue stream would help our other conservation programs.”
But Robbins admits that many people still don’t understand and hopes the day doesn’t come that it hits them hard. “People don’t realize it here in southern California. They hear about the Sacramento Delta, but they think it’s 500 miles away.”
Robbins is referring to the recent court decision in which a Sacramento judge stated that California’s northern delta is overusing its water supply. He ordered a massive cut in pumping that could decrease rates from 14% to 35%.
“If that’s a decrease of 35% of water moving south, that impacts everybody,” says Robbins. “If it hits people in the pocketbooks, they notice. In southern California, people pay more for cable than water. If we started charging three dollars a gallon, people would be more cautious. As far as going out and buying more water, the less there is available, the more expensive it’s going to be. It’s either got to be conservation, or we just don’t grow any more. No more schools or homes—nothing.”
Public education has been a large part of the conservation effort initiated by the district. Along with offering classes and working with nurseries, the CVWD combined effort its with the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California in using the California Friendly campaign. Radio ads are played on several stations emphasizing the need to conserve water. Television stations play public service announcements, and newspapers include announcements concerning water conservation. The district has also taken the message into the classroom. The CVWD has two accredited teachers who give presentations on water science, safety, and conservation for more than 13,500 students every year.
Because farms are a business, saving water means saving money on operational costs. The district works with farmers to make sure they’re not overwatering. A design unique to southern California is that agricultural fields have drains installed below grade that collect the salt left over from irrigating with Colorado River water. Periodically, the fields are inundated with the highly saline leachate flowing to the Salton Sea.
The CVWD works with farmers and encourages them to use more scientifically based irrigation by schedules and salinity control rather than to rely on past practices. As a result, more than 55,000 acre-feet of Colorado River water were conserved over the past three years. This surpasses the 7% goal outlined by the district.
Finding New and Using Alternative Sources
Even with conservation efforts going full bore, finding new water sources is vital. The Mid-Valley Pipeline project will deliver a blend of water from the Coachella Canal and wastewater effluent from the CVWD’s wastewater reclamation plant in Palm Desert to golf courses in Palm Desert, Rancho Mirage, and Indian Wells. The project encompasses 50 golf courses and reduces the drain on groundwater.
Because of the continued draw, aquifer recharge is a vital component of water management in the valley. This is where results of the CVWD’s water plan are seen. And they have been successful.
Additional allotments include 9,900 acre-feet from Tulare Lake Basin Waste Storage district. A success in May 2007 resulted in an additional 7,000 acre-feet of water being garnered from the Desert Water Agency (DWA) in Palm Springs. An agreement with a northern California water district is in the works and if finalized will result in the CVWD garnering an additional 12,000 acre-feet of water. All of which will be used to hydrate the parched aquifer.
Depending on the snowmelt and rainfall, the Coachella Valley could see as much as 195,000 acre-feet of water flowing in annually as part of the SWP. This compares well to the 132,000 acre-feet of water dispersed by the district and could potentially reverse the overdraft on the aquifer.
The district is also looking for ways to tap into more of the Colorado River and ensure all the water allocated arrives at its final destination. Improvements to the All-American and Coachella Canals have been going on since the 1980s and include lining and constructing parallel concrete canals to replace original earthen canals. The final 34.8 miles of canal were replaced in late 2006. Savings from this $100 million construction are estimated to be 26,000-acre feet
All of the measures taken to ensure Coachella Valley has ample water at reasonable prices require a lot of work by many people. The district currently employs over 500 people and plans to add more in 2008. Sufficient staff allows the district to install and maintain new infrastructure and review new development and landscaping plans. Other behind-the-scene activities include overhauling outdated computer software that will streamline operations in an effort to help customers reduce their water dependency and ensure a source well in the future.
With a history of garnering supply as demand increases, Robbins knows it’s important to balance conservation with finding new sources of water. “We have to look at and update the plan. The market has changed, and the cost of water went up. We have to consider, is it cheaper to continue to buy it, or enforce conservation? It’s likely a combination of both.”