We need to think about how to do that consistently.”


Tough funded by Reclamation and


the Basin states, the Moving Forward effort is all about what people believe are the best solutions for the Colorado River, Jerla said. “We don’t see this as a Reclamation-


led effort; we see it more as a multi- stakeholder-led effort,” she said. “We see [the stakeholders] as the guiding body about decisions regarding how this plays out and what areas we focus on.” Keeping enough water in the river for people and the environment requires a careful, measured approach, Jerla said. “It’s complicated and it doesn’t do


anyone any favors to oversimplify it and just think you can implement efficiency measures and that’s necessarily going to be a one-to-one translation,” she said. “Environmental and recreational flows are directly tied to either municipal and industrial or agricultural use and if you are talking about increasing flows or changing the timing of flow, you can’t get very far without coordination and collaboration from the urban and ag communities. Going forward we need to be strategic about it and do things the right way, stressing this multi-benefit solution.” Tere are unknowns going forward,


Trujillo said. “Is the hydrology going to get worse?


Are we going to rebound? We don’t know so we erred on side of planning for bad hydrology,” she said. Tough California’s flexibility is


limited by the drought, Trujillo said “we are interested in trying to work with the other Colorado River states in expanding programs like the Intentionally Created Surplus program, doing system conser- vation projects, funding, on a voluntary basis, folks to put in sprinkler systems or do some kind of conservation effort that would result in system benefits.” She acknowledged the concern


expressed by agricultural water users that they will be asked to give more but said more can be done. “California has done a lot already,” she said. “Is there


October


5 Utah Water Law Sponsored by CLE International, Salt Lake City, UT http://www.cle.com/product.php?proid=1534&src=Featured&page= Utah_Water_Law


7-9 WaterSmart Innovations 2014 Conference and Exposition, Las Vegas, NV http://www.watersmartinnovations.com


7-9 Annual New Mexico Water Conference Sponsored by New Mexico Water Resources Research Institute, Taos, NM http://nmwrri.nmsu.edu


22-23 Tribal Water Law Sponsored by CLE International, San Diego, CA http://www.cle.com/product.php?proid=1543&src=Featured&page= Tribal_Water_Law


November


2 Colorado River, Law & Policy Issues Unique to Arizona, Sponsored by CLE International, Scottsdale, AZ http://www.cle.com/product.php?proid=1547&src=Featured&page= Colorado_River


4-6 National Water Resources Association Annual Conference, Denver, CO http://www.nwra.org/upcoming-conferences-workshops.html


December


16-18 Colorado River Water Users Association Conference Sponsored by the Colorado River Water Users Association, Las Vegas, NV http://www.crwua.org


Check out the Foundation’s online calendar http://www.watereducation.org/ calendar/2015 for more events. And contact Sue McClurg with your calendar items from January 2016 through June 2016 for inclusion in the Winter issue of River Report, smcclurg@watereducation.org or 1401 21st Street, Suite 200, Sacramento, CA 95811


potential for finding win-win transfers or fallowing programs in Arizona?” Water transactions between agricul-


ture and the urban sector “don’t have to have a negative connotation,” she said, adding that “California is a great example of win-win projects.” One of those projects is the agree- ment between the Palo Verde Irrigation District and MWD that delivers as much as 36 billion gallons of additional water each year under the terms of a 35- year contract that began in 2002. Under the agreement, farmers in


the Palo Verde Valley stop irrigating a certain amount of their land in any year,


with the maximum amount of farmland taken out of production in any year set at 26,500 acres. Farmers receive a one- time payment of $3,170 per water toll acre for signing up and $602 per water toll acre annually for participating. Among the issues to be explored are


cross-jurisdictional, multiparty agree- ments that allows those facing the most risk to pay for solutions “even if the solution gets implemented in a place where the risk [of shortage to the user] is not high,” Pitt said. A variable element in the water


conservation discussion is the degree to Continued on page 11


Summer 2015 • River Report • Colorado River Project • 9


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