http://www.enn.com/news/2003-06-11/s_4917.asp
California desert residents use water like there's no tomorrow - but
tomorrow is coming
11 June 2003
By Seth Hettena, Associated Press
PALM DESERT, Calif. - In the middle of the Southern California
desert, resort guests can travel by gondola to waterfront bistros,
homeowners can water-ski on a huma-nmade lake, and golfers can tee
off at more than 100 courses made lush and green from constant
watering.
How much longer can this go on? That is what some are wondering since
the federal government in April cut the amount of water California
can draw from the Colorado River - a rollback that has thrown into
question the long-term future of the Coachella Valley, a resort and
retirement mecca 110 miles (177 kilometers) east of Los Angeles.
We've gone from being assured that we lived in this magical place
where the rules of water didn't apply to now having, I think, a very
appropriate wake-up call about the fact that we do live in the
California desert, said Buford Crites, a 17-year member of the Palm
Desert City Council. People have lived in this false water utopia.
For years, California has been using more than its fair share of
water from the Colorado River, which flows to seven western states.
But drought and booming growth around the West finally prompted the
government to crack down and demand that the state's water agencies
work out a deal to redistribute the water.
When a deal fell through Dec. 31, the government cut back the state's
share of river water by 15 percent.
The bulk of that cut landed on the Coachella Valley. The valley's
water agency halted deliveries of Colorado River water to about a
dozen golf courses, at least one construction company, and the lake
built for water skiing amid a housing development.
Also, a landscaping ordinance that had been in the works before the
cutbacks and went into effect on June 1 requires new developments to
use 25 less percent water than existing ones. Water rates also may go
up.
It's an attempt to recognize we do live in a desert and water is not
something we can take for granted, said Steve Robbins, general
manager of the water agency.
Dave Twedt, the land development manager for the new Trilogy Golf
Club at La Quinta, is looking for water to ensure his greens are not
brown when Tiger Woods and other top golfers arrive this fall for the
popular Skins Game. The club is one of several spending more than
$200,000 each to drill into the aquifer far beneath the course.
You don't have a whole lot of choices, Twedt said. It's not like
we'll be put out of business because, thank goodness, we can drill an
irrigation well.
Drilling wells, though, may not be the long-term answer, either.
The many homes, farms, golf courses, and other resorts that already
use well water are sucking so much from the ground that the valley
floor sinks more than an inch (2.5 centimeters) a year in spots - a
process that could accelerate if the water agency cannot get more
Colorado River water, which is usually poured onto the ground and
allowed to soak into the earth to replenish the aquifer.
If officials cannot line up more water, the water agency may be
forced to impose tougher restrictions on wells and usage to protect
the aquifer.
It was cheap and abundant water from the aquifer that transformed
this desert - described by 19th-century explorer John Wesley Powell
as the most desolate region on the continent - into a lush
landscape of fairways and luxury neighborhoods decorated with
waterfalls and lakes.
The 300-square-mile (777-square-kilometer) valley stretches from the
former Rat Pack getaway of Palm Springs, which sprang up in the
1950s, south to the briny shores of the Salton Sea. The population
boomed 170 percent between 1980 and 2001 to about 330,000.
Golf courses are the selling point for many of the developers
building gated communities in the valley. Last year, golf helped
attract 3.5 million visitors, who pumped an estimated $1 billion into
the economy. In this self-ordained golf capital of the world, the cut
in Colorado water has shocked golf course managers and development
companies.
Because the club has not been properly forewarned and has not been
given a reasonable amount of time to transition to a private water
supply, there is a real possibility of incurring catastrophic
damages, John Heckenlively, president of The Plantation golf club
wrote in an April 30 letter to the water district.
Meanwhile, fruit and vegetable growers, who use most of the valley's
Colorado River water allotment, face a crisis of their own. They are
paying $15 million over five years - nearly 10 times the usual
cost - to buy excess water from farmers in nearby Palo Verde.
Water officials hope that the valley and three other Southern
California water agencies reach an agreement to share the Colorado
River and secure enough water to supply farmers and recharge the
aquifer for
