MWD Official, Farm Interests Clash Over Water Policy Change

SACRAMENTO —  A Metropolitan Water District official clashed Thursday with Central Valley agricultural interests over how much water is likely to become available to urban Southern California because of recent changes in federal water policy.

MWD General Manager Carl Boronkay said urban areas will be able to take advantage of provisions in the new law that allows farmers served by the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation’s Central Valley Project to sell water to outside users.

“It’s tantamount to creating a reservoir overnight,” said Boronkay. “It’s a new source of water. There hasn’t been anything like it for a long time.”

But those representing farm interests, who fought unsuccessfully to stop the passage of the law, labeled Boronkay’s predictions “highly speculative.” They said a prolonged drought and new environmental restrictions on water allocations make it unlikely that, in most years, farmers would have enough water to sell.

“I don’t see where you have anything but some words on a piece of paper,” said Stuart Somach, a lawyer who represented Central Valley farmers in their unsuccessful efforts to stop the legislation.

The exchange occurred as both sides attempted to assess the impact of the new legislation at a meeting sponsored by the Water Education Foundation. Though the fight over passage of the new law is behind them, it became clear that farm and urban interests are just beginning to tangle over the interpretation and impact of the law.

At one point, Somach scolded Boronkay for suggesting that the law had created a new source of water for urban areas that would be much less expensive than if urban users had been forced to construct additional dams and reservoirs.

“This is not a new source of water; it was already dedicated to someone else,” Somach snapped.

The legislation, sponsored by Rep. George Miller (D-Martinez), rewrites federal water policy by revamping the way Central Valley Project water is distributed in California. In addition to allowing the marketing of water outside the CVP service area, the law requires farmers to pay new, higher rates for their supplies and reduces the length of their new contracts from 40 to 25 years.

The Central Valley Project provides irrigation water for about 3 million acres of farmland.

The law also requires the project to set aside 800,000 acre-feet of water each year for the environment and establishes an annual $50-million restoration fund for fish and wildlife, to be financed by fees on CVP water and power sales.

Although the new environmental requirements do put some restrictions on water deliveries, Boronkay said that in normal rainfall years the project will have enough water for everyone. In average years the project delivers about 8 million acre-feet of water, but in recent drought years it has been delivering only half that amount.

And despite what they are saying now, Boronkay predicted that many farmers will be more than willing to sell water in years of plenty.

“Farmers are the best businessmen you can find,” he said. “They’ll respond to economics. They’ll sell water.”