KXO RADIO - Fallowing needs will be met

You are here : Home

Fallowing needs will be met

Todays is : Thursday, 04 September 2008

Written by George Gale
Thursday, 15 May 2008
(There will be enough water for next round of Fallowing)…Imperial Irrigation District Water Department Manager Mike King gave his Fallowing Report to the IID Board of Directors this week. King said all contract offers had been returned. He said the volume of water for the 2008-09 fallowing program is below the 70,000 acre feet of water needed to comply with the Quantification Settlement Agreement, but he said the difference could be made up. With the contracts finished, King said the fallowing program would result in 68,786-acre feet of water. Also in his report, King said water use in Imperial is exceeding the allotted amount. He said the IID is still about 12,000 acre-feet above its allotted amount of Colorado River water. King attributed the excess to an extra-ordinary amount of Wheat being planted this year. King told the Board Wheat crops were in various stages of harvest right now. He said water use should normalize once the Wheat harvest is over. Wheat is a water intensive crop. King said the water use future is not all that bright. He said there is word that Sudan Grass will go in after the Wheat Harvest. Sudan Grass is also a water intensive crop.