LETTER: On a water shortage and growing crops in the desert
Steve Sebelius’s June 5 column, “Time to get creative to solve water crisis,” highlighted the positive measures that the Southern Nevada Water Authority has taken, including “contributing to a water-recycling project in Southern California to cut down on use there.” However, the amount of water used by the California’s Imperial Irrigation District — the largest user of Colorado River water — has not been reduced.
According to the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation Water Use Summary, as of May 19 the Imperial Irrigation District is using more water than allotted. The district’s allotment of Colorado River water is nearly nine times the amount the entire state of Nevada is authorized.
A significant portion of the Colorado River water that Imperial gets results in runoff from the irrigated fields that ends up in the 343-square-mile, land-locked, extremely salty Salton Sea. May be it’s time to get creative regarding the amount of river water the district uses and the value of maintaining the man-made Salton Sea during this period of extreme drought.