Colorado River water deal overturned

A California judge's ruling on a 2003 agreement governing the state's use of Colorado River supplies could affect how farms and cities share water.

By Bettina Boxall
LA Times
January 15, 2010

A state judge has overturned a celebrated 2003 deal governing the state's use of Colorado River water supplies, a ruling that could tilt the equation for how Southern California's farms and cities share the scarce resource.

The Superior Court decision, released Thursday, sets in motion an appeals process as well as efforts to salvage the landmark pact.

"It is not the end," said Dennis Cushman, assistant general manager of the San Diego County Water Authority, a major beneficiary of the deal.

The 2003 agreement put California on a schedule to wean itself from surplus deliveries of Colorado River water. Years in the making, the pact created a multibillion-dollar transfer of Imperial Valley irrigation water to San Diego and the Coachella Valley and also called for the restoration of the ailing Salton Sea.

(More here.)