Colorado River water: Is fallowing farmland a fair way to conserve?
What’s a farmer’s favorite vegetable to eat?
“The one that’s making the most money,” Craig Elmore says.
Crops bring profit. But this year, as before, Mr. Elmore isn’t farming some fields. These more than 2,000 idled acres – roughly a quarter of his terrain, he says – could have sprouted plumes of Sudan grass or wheat.
But he’s wary of running out of water allocated to him from the drought-stressed Colorado River. California’s Imperial Irrigation District, which serves growers like him, has the single largest entitlement to the river. The Colorado is also its only source of water.
Mr. Elmore isn’t the only one worried. Seven basin states, including large metro areas like Las Vegas, Phoenix, and Los Angeles, as well as 30 tribal nations, and part of Mexico depend on the river to sustain not only livelihoods but life itself.
Though critically low reservoirs along the river may see some relief from recent heavy snow in the West, chronic deficits are likely to persist. The federal government on Tuesday announced draft plans for revising Colorado River management through 2026, offering paths forward that could invoke major water cuts – including here in the Imperial Valley.
“To meet this moment, we must work together through our shared values and a
