Did you know that the Imperial Irrigation District (IID)……

Is the largest irrigation district in the US ?

Takes water from the Colorado River and transports it through miles of canals to irrigate nearly 500,000 acres of agricultural land in the Imperial Valley desert?

Delivers water to nine cities in the Imperial Valley ?

How is IID changing?

In 1998, the IID negotiated a settlement with several other agencies to reduce the amount of water it takes from the Colorado River .

IID will reduce the amount of water by taking farm land out of production. The farmers will then be paid for land the income they lose.

This is called a ‘water transfer’ because the rights to IID’s water are being transferred to other agencies, who will use the water in San Deigo.

Why is IID’s water transfer important to the community? 

By reducing the amount of water IID supplies to farms, many of the agricultural land will no longer produce crops.

This means farm workers will loose jobs, businesses that depend on agriculture may suffer, and the County may loose important sources of income.

How is this an environmental justice issue?

IID and powerful farmers have decided to sell water out of the region. They are making decisions about many people’s futures without including those people in the decision-making process.

While agencies will pay for lost farm crops, they will not pay for lost jobs. Agencies do not want to look at the losses among local communities.

Who is paying attention to the community impacts?

Community advocates have worked hard to ensure the impacts on the surrounding agricultural communities are not ignored.

Community advocates have gotten the agencies to set aside $20 million dollars specifically to address the impacts on local communities, known as ‘mitigation funds.’

What is the Local Entity?

The Local Entity is an advisory group that was created to monitor the impacts of the settlement on communities.

The San Diego County Water Authority, the Coachella Valley Water District, the Imperial Irrigation District, the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, the State of California Department of Water Resources, and the United Farm Workers are all part of the Local Entity.

Make your voice heard!

Receive updates on what the Local Entity decides.

Learn about programs being developed to address the community impacts of lost agricultural land.

Contact Eric Reyes, Institute for Socioeconomic Justice and Progressive Community Development:

(760) 235-8363

Resources:

Read the new progress report on the Local Entity!

Read EJCW's case study of water transfers in California and issues in Imperial County!