Construction on Imperial Valley reservoir begins

Guest post from Shawn Hardeman:

In 2005, Annelia, Doug and I did our WR571 group project on the lower Colorado River. In particular, we discussed salinity issues and water shortages. Since that time we have seen the desalination plant in Yuma fired up, the lining of the All-American Canal and now this reservoir (http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-water22-2008oct22,0,6454616.story). Each event has or will have a profound negative effect on Mexico's agricultural industry and water quality/reliability. The Colorado river barely flows into Mexico as is - they get their allotment of the river water and the tap is literally turned off. To say that water is "lost" to Mexico is an understatement - Mexico is where we dump our slightly treated brine water. I visited Mexicali back in 1996 - it was in a sad state back then, with salt encrusted soils and widespread environmental degradation. I would hate to see it today with the fallout from these projects.

To add insult to injury - an Arizona company is looking at building a desalination plant at the Sea of Cortez. This proposed $40 billion plant would treat salt water and pump it to Phoenix Arizona. At some point we have to take a step back and ask ourselves - "how much abuse can one ecosystem take?" How many times can you rob Peter? Or, in this case Pedro. Only time will tell.

If I were an up and coming water resource specialist I would watch Yuma-Imperial Valley-Mexicali trifecta very closely. This is a very interesting case of "competing interests," even more so, than our Colorado-New Mexico-Texas system. Speaking of Texas, the USA may hold all the cards when it comes to the Colorado River; however, Mexico owns a greater portion of the Rio Grande headwaters (down towards Texas.) These are interesting times, and it's all because we need to grow alfalfa and have lettuce year round.

However, there is up side. A researcher from the U of Arizona has been researching the potential of farming the coastal plains surrounding the Sea of Cortez using salt water (see NYtimes "Man and the Sea.") The preferred crop is called Sea Asparagus and is considered a delicacy throughout the world. If successful, Mexico will not only benefit from this cash crop, but also the seeds, which can be processed into bio-fuel.