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29-704: The Imperial Irrigation District ( IID ) is an irrigation district that serves the Imperial Valley and a large portion of the Coachella Valley in the Colorado Desert region of Southern California . Established under the State Water Code, the IID supplies roughly 500,000 acres (200,000 ha) of Imperial Valley farmland with raw Colorado River water to support irrigation. IID also supplies electrical energy to

58-522: A parallel canal along the designated section of the original canal, and the water flow was rerouted into the new lined canal. Construction began in 2007 and was completed in 2009. Over 500 people have drowned in the All-American Canal since its completion due to deep, cold water, steep sides that make escape difficult, and swift currents that can reach 5.45 mph (8.77 km/h). Many of those killed are undocumented immigrants attempting to cross

87-643: A state-of-the-art energy battery storage unit in El Centro, which would provide backup energy resources but also help the IID grid integrate the many megawatts of solar energy entering the IID grid during the day. Under the nation's largest ag-to-urban water conservation transfer agreement (called the Quantification Settlement Agreement, a series of pacts between California water districts to help California live within its 4.4 million acre-foot entitlement right of Colorado River water), since 2003 water

116-483: A temporary loss of electricity from Arizona to San Diego and into parts of Mexico. All utilities involved in providing energy to the affected areas were investigated by NERC and FERC . While not admitting any wrongdoing, in 2014 IID agreed to a $ 12 million settlement with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, bringing to a close the federal probe into the events surrounding the outage. Most of

145-426: A width of 150 to 700 feet (46 to 213 m) and a depth of 7 to 50 feet (2.1 to 15.2 m). The canals get smaller as they run west because they carry less water. Eight hydroelectric power plants have been constructed along drops in the All-American Canal system. Drops 1 through 5, Pilot Knob , and East Highline are located on the All-American Canal. Two other power plants, Double Weir and Turnip, are located on

174-530: Is a special-purpose district created by statute in order to develop large irrigation projects. These districts have the power to tax, borrow, and condemn. All-American Canal The All-American Canal runs parallel to the Mexico–California border for several miles. With over 500 people having drowned in the canal since its completion, it has been called "the Most Dangerous Body of Water in

203-738: Is a key partner in the Quantification Settlement Agreement —a pack of several agreements among California water districts entered into in 2003 to help California live within its entitlement of 4.4 million acre-feet of Colorado River water a year. Water conserved through conservation projects under the QSA is made available for the Southern California Coastal communities (San Diego County Water Authority, Coachella Valley Water District and Metropolitan Water District of Southern California). Prior to 1942, irrigation water delivered to

232-526: The "renewable energy capital of the world", IID serves as a catalyst for renewable energy development in the Imperial Valley and is going to great lengths to enhance its energy infrastructure to be able to move renewable energy generated in the Imperial Valley to markets far and wide. The Energy Department has an aggressive transmission expansion plan and, over the next five years, intends to invest $ 1 billion in its energy infrastructure, which includes building

261-652: The All-American Canal make up most of the flows in the Alamo River and New River , both of which drain into the Salton Sea , now providing most of its water. The rest is from smaller rivers and drainage systems. Historically, the Salton Sea had been periodically flooded by extreme Colorado River floods and usually dried up before being reflooded. If not for the All-American Canal, the Salton Sea would have likely dried up long ago. The system transports silt, selenium and salts from

290-592: The Central Main Canal and Westside Main Canal branches, respectively. The power plants are all relatively small and have a combined capacity of 58 MW. Electricity generation is dictated by water delivery needs. There is also a 7.2 MW pumped storage plant at Senator Wash Dam. Water from the Senator Wash Reservoir is released when water needs exceed flows at Parker Dam . Runoff from the farmland irrigated by

319-576: The Colorado River into the Salton Sea. Because there is no outlet to the ocean, these salts and minerals are concentrated by evaporation. Approximately 68,000 acre-feet (84,000,000 m ) was lost annually by seepage from the All-American Canal, especially from the point where the canal crosses the great Algodones Dune Field . About 90% of this seepage entered Mexico. At first this seepage caused widespread flooding, but Mexicali Valley residents and businesses built drainage and pumping systems to recover

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348-585: The Imperial Valley and Coachella valleys includes the Imperial Valley cities of El Centro , Calexico , Holtville, Brawley and Coachella Valley cities including Mecca, Thermal, La Quinta, Coachella and Indio, Bermuda Dunes, Thousand Palms, Indio Hills and Sky Valley. As the third largest public power utility in California, IID controls more than 1,100 megawatts of power derived from a diverse resource portfolio that includes its own generation, and long- and short-term power purchases. Located in what's been referred to as

377-588: The Imperial Valley was diverted from the Colorado River near Pilot Knob through Mexico to bypass the Imperial sand dunes west of Yuma and into the IID-operated Alamo Canal (also known as the Imperial Canal). Since 1942, water has been diverted at Imperial Dam on the Colorado River through the 82-mile All-American Canal , all of which the IID operates and maintains, although the structures are owned by

406-551: The Imperial and Coachella valleys. IID was formed in 1911 under the California Irrigation District Act to acquire the properties of the bankrupt California Development Company and its Mexican subsidiary. The IID was formed as a public agency, acquiring 13 mutual water companies in the valley which had developed and operated water distribution canals. The district is headquartered in Imperial, California . The IID

435-579: The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation. Water from Imperial Dam serves the Yuma, Ariz. region as well as the Imperial Valley. The All-American Canal also delivers water from the dam to the Coachella turnout—a section east of Yuma that diverts water to the Coachella Valley Water District. Imperial Dam, located about 20 miles north of Yuma, contains four desilting basins which help remove silt and sediment from

464-492: The U.S." The California Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment has issued an advisory for any fish caught in the All-American Canal due to elevated levels of mercury, PCBs, and selenium. The All-American Canal was authorized along with Hoover Dam by the 1928 Boulder Canyon Project Act and built in the 1930s by the United States Bureau of Reclamation and Six Companies, Inc. Its design and construction

493-525: The United States an irrigation district is a cooperative, self-governing public corporation set up as a subdivision of the State government, with definite geographic boundaries, organized, and having taxing power to obtain and distribute water for irrigation of lands within the district; created under the authority of a State legislature with the consent of a designated fraction of the landowners or citizens. It

522-610: The Yuma Main Canal, the Coachella Canal , East Highline Canal, Central Main Canal, and the Westside Main Canal. These six main branches of the canal and a network of smaller canals gradually reduce the flow of the All-American Canal until it ends at a small drop in the western Imperial Valley where it drains into the Westside Main Canal. The main canal is 82 miles (132 km) long, with a total drop of 175 feet (53 m),

551-552: The canal after passing the U.S.–Mexico border . Deaths peaked at 31 in 1998 after increased border security measures in San Diego forced migrants to cross the border in other areas. In 2011 the Imperial Irrigation District allocated $ 1.1 million in order to install lines with lifesaving buoys across the canal in 105 locations. Bilingual signs reading "Warning: Dangerous Water" were also installed in 1,414 locations along

580-627: The larger western grid. IID is led by an elected five-member board of directors who represent divisions in the water service area. IID is advised by the public through citizen cooperation on the Water Conservation Advisory Board and the Energy Consumers Advisory Board. ECAC consists of representatives of both the Imperial and Coachella valley served by the Energy Department. Irrigation district In

609-499: The lining project in US federal court on the basis that it violated the water rights of Mexican water users and violated US environmental statutes due to the seepage's effects on the nearby Andrade Mesa Wetlands. A rider in the Tax Relief and Health Care Act of 2006 required the completion of the lining project, however, and the lawsuit was rendered moot. The Imperial Irrigation District built

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638-586: The money IID had been fined ($ 9 million) will be directly invested into the IID electric system to strengthen and enhance its system. The district has committed to a number of physical improvements that will result in a stronger system and, in combination with the Strategic Transmission Expansion Plan, which is under consideration by the California Energy Commission , will provide greater export of renewable energy capability to

667-399: The residents living in the Imperial and Coachella Valleys (as dried shoreline soil and sediments, saturated with agricultural chemicals , will be spread by dust emissions from strong winds), IID has petitioned California State Water Resources Control Board asking that this governing board initiate negotiations between the QSA parties and the state to develop a plan to restore the sea, meeting

696-505: The river water so it can be delivered by gravity flow. The IID also remotely operates the Brock Reservoir , between El Centro and Yuma, by operating the inlet and outlet gates and regulating the amount of water diverted into the reservoir and returned to the main system. IID's Energy Department provides electric power to more than 145,000 customers in the Imperial Valley and parts of Riverside and San Diego counties. Service to residents of

725-557: The sea ended on December 31, 2017. The State of California has not lived up to its obligation to develop a restoration plan for the sea. In 2009 under the agreement, IID completed the 23-mile concrete lining project of the All-American Canal to recover about 66,700 acre-feet of water per year for use by the San Diego County Water Authority. Because the declining Salton Sea poses a serious public health crisis to

754-453: The seepage. Mexicali Valley agriculture became reliant upon this seepage for irrigation. As water use increased in both rural and urban areas, this seepage became an issue of concern. The All-American Canal Lining Project, a part of California's Colorado River Water Use Plan, lined 37 kilometers (23 mi) of the canal to prevent seepage. In 2006, a Mexicali business and civic organization and two California environmental non-profits challenged

783-418: The state's obligation. Pacific Institute , an Oakland -based environmental think tank , had issued a report stating that the lack of replenishment water to the sea was leading to a "period of very rapid deterioration." With the increased shrinkage, they predicted that dust storms would increase and a rotten-egg smell could reach to the coastal cities. On Sept. 8, 2011, an estimated 5 million people suffered

812-534: Was released to the Salton Sea to mitigate negative environmental impacts. The agreement calls for this for the first 15 years of the water transfer. (Water conserved on Imperial Valley farms and in the IID water delivery system is provided to Southern California coastal communities—specifically the San Diego County Water Authority, the Coachella Valley Water District and the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California). This flow of mitigation water to

841-623: Was supervised by the Bureau's then chief designing engineer, John L. Savage , and was completed in 1942. In 2016, the canal was designated as a National Historic Civil Engineering Landmark by the American Society of Civil Engineers . The Bureau of Reclamation owns the canal, but the Imperial Irrigation District operates it. Water for the canal is diverted at the Imperial Diversion Dam . The All-American Canal feeds, from east to west,

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