Water War along
Mexico-California Border Sparked by Proposed Improvements to Canal
December 05, 2006 — By David Kravets, Associated Press
SAN FRANCISCO — Government lawyers are
urging a federal appeals court to allow a section of a canal separating
California and Mexico to be lined with cement to stop millions of gallons
of water from seeping south of the border each year.
The lining is proposed along a portion of the 82-mile (132-kilometer)
All-American Canal that delivers Colorado River water to crop land on both
sides of the border about 100 miles (160 kilometers) east of San Diego.
The U.S. government says Mexico already gets 489 billion gallons (1.8
trillion liters) of Colorado River water legitimately each year under a
1944 treaty and isn't entitled to the seepage, which provides a farming
lifeline in Mexico.
A Justice Department attorney told a panel of three appellate judges on
Monday that Mexicans have no right to the water, which is also the
lifeblood for 500,000 acres (200,000 hectares)of U.S. farmland.
The lining project will provide enough water for 135,000 new homes in the
San Diego area.
The San Francisco-based appeals court temporarily blocked construction of
the US$210 million (euro158 million), 23-mile (37-kilometer) -long lining
in August after Mexican business interests and U.S. environmental groups
sued.
The lawsuit claims there would be significant job losses on the Mexican
side of the border as thousands of acres (hectares) of crops would turn to
dust, that Mexican wells would become polluted without the seepage and
migratory birds would be threatened if wetlands disappeared.
R. Gaylord Smith, an attorney for Consejo de Desarrollo Economico de
Mexicali, a Mexican business group, argued that the U.S. has abandoned
rights to the water.
Judge Sidney Thomas said the U.S. might have abandoned the water, but that
doesn't mean "somebody else acquires it."
Malissa Hathaway, another attorney for the business group, argued the
canal project would be detrimental to both sides of the border.
"No one has looked at the economic effects of taking land out of
production," she said.
Water consumption spurred by breakneck growth in Southern California
prompted Western states to complain they weren't getting their share of
Colorado River water. The dispute resulted in a water redistribution deal
that included the lining project as California settled for less water.
Colorado River water first flowed to California's arid southeast in 1901
on the Alamo Canal, which dipped into Mexico. California farmers soon
decided they needed a canal completely within the United States, leading
to completion of the All-American in 1942.
Critics of the project say migrants might die crossing a lined canal
because concrete will deprive desperate swimmers of tall grasses to grab.
While the canal appears calm, migrants who cram onto inflatable rafts
could be swept away by a fierce undercurrent.
The appeals court did not indicate when it would rule.
The Mexican government is not a party to the case, but disapproved of the
lining in court briefs.
Source: Associated Press