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Coachella Canal and All-American Canal Lining Projects Background The All-American Canal System, located in the southeastern corner of California, conveys water from the Colorado River into California's Imperial and Coachella Valleys. The system consists of the Imperial Diversion Dam and Desilting Works, the 82-mile All-American Canal, the 123-mile Coachella Canal, and appurtenant structures. Both the All-American Canal and the Coachella Canal are gravity-flow systems. The existing All-American and Coachella Canals are constructed in the desert's sandy soils. The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation has concluded that an estimated 70,000 acre-feet of water per year is lost to seepage along a 23-mile section of the All-American Canal running through the sand dunes from Pilot Knob to Drop 3, with an additional 32,350 acre-feet per year lost to seepage along the 33.2-mile unlined portion of the Coachella Canal. Federal Authorization to Line the Canals
Role of Canal Lining in Implemention of California's Colorado River Water Use Plan A core component of California's Colorado River Water Use Plan is the lining of these canal sections and the subsequent transfer of conserved water to the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California. This transfer will be made according to terms and conditions of a series of agreements entered into by contracting California water agencies (the Quantification Settlement Agreement). Water conserved through lining of the canals will be made available to Metropolitan Water District and the San Luis Rey Settlement parties. State Funding to Assist in Implementation of the Plan California Water Code Sections 12560 et seq. authorizes and appropriates, on a continuous basis, $200 million, subject to specified conditions, to help fund the canal lining projects in furtherance of implementing California's Colorado River Water Use Plan. The Department of Water Resources has entered into a $74 million contract with the Metropolitan Water District for the Coachella Canal Lining Project and is in the process of arranging a $126 million contract with the Imperial Irrigation District for the All-American Canal Lining Project. Lining the canals will conserve water and help California reduce its use of Colorado River water to meet its basic apportionment of 4.4 million acre-feet. Estimates of the amounts conserved by lining the canals are 26,600 acre-feet per year for the Coachella Canal and 67,700 acre-feet per year for the All-American Canal. Current schedule relies on the lining being in place by 2006 and on the conserved water serving to fulfill the obligations of California's Colorado River Water Use Plan. P.L. 100-675 requires that the projects mitigate for environmental impacts on an acre-for-acre basis, based on ecological equivalency, and that the mitigation measures be implemented concurrent with construction of the canal lining projects. California Water Code Section 12565 contains conditions that must be met prior to disbursement of State funds for the projects. Among these conditions is a finding by the Director of the California Department of Fish and Game that the projects will avoid or mitigate all significant impacts on fish and wildlife. The finding must be accompanied by a statement from the U.S. Secretary of the Interior certifying that measures to be taken for replacing fish and wildlife values lost as a result of the canal lining or for mitigating impacts on the fish and wildlife resources from construction of a new canal or for lining of the existing canals meet the requirements of Section 203(a)(2) of P.L. 100-675. All-American Canal Lining Project Environmental review for the All-American Canal Lining Project was completed in 1994. In 1999, the U.S. Department of the Interior informed Imperial Irrigation District that the 1994 Environmental Impact Statement/Environmental Impact Report and Record of Decision on the lining of the canal continue to meet the requirements of the National Environmental Policy Act and the California Environmental Quality Act and should be valid until construction is completed in 2006. Development of the Mitigation Plan for the project has not begun. Water now seeping into the ground from the unlined All-American Canal is pumped by users in Mexico for agricultural and domestic purposes. Mexico has raised concerns over the loss of this water. If the canal is lined, the consequences to Mexico (Baja California) would be reduced amounts of water available to agriculture in the Mexicali Valley (the breadbasket of Baja California). The International Boundary and Water Commission conducted formal consultation on the project. Its formal determination is that Mexico is not entitled to seepage water from the All-American Canal. In the spirit of comity, U.S. agencies have offered to convey portions of Mexico's legal entitlement of Colorado River water, via the All-American Canal, to the Mexicali area. Coachella Canal Lining Project The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation published a Notice of Availability of a Final EIS/EIR in the Federal Register on April 27, 2001. Currently, the Bureau is undertaking endangered species consultation, which will be followed by the issuance of a Record of Decision on the Project. The Board of Directors of the Coachella Valley Water District issued a Notice of Determination for the project on May 24, 2001. (Adobe Acrobat Reader is needed to view this document.) The Water District is developing a Mitigation and Monitoring Plan, which includes a strategy to focus mitigation within the Dos Palmas Area of Critical Environmental Concern. Mitigation plans include removing the invasive tree known as salt cedar, planting native vegetation, and providing water through a managed irrigation system. Construction and mitigation design, which is scheduled to commence by the end of the year, will take approximately one year. Construction and mitigation implementation activities are projected to be completed by the end of 2005. |
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For further information, contact: Charles Keene |
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Copyright © 1998. California Department of Water Resources. All rights reserved. |
U.S. Public Law 100-675 authorized the U. S. Secretary of the Interior to construct a lined canal or to line the previously unlined portions of the Coachella Canal and All-American Canal, but did not authorize the use of federal funds for the work.
It further authorized the Secretary to enter into agreements with the