2023 System Conservation Implementation Agreement

2023 System Conservation Implementation Agreement

On December 1, 2023 IID approved the 2023 System Conservation Implementation Agreement, a subsequent discretionary action to carry out the Project that was previously reviewed and analyzed under CEQA in the certified 2002 EIR/EIS “Imperial Irrigation District Water Conservation and Transfer Project and Draft Habitat Conservation Plan” (State Clearinghouse No. 1999091142) and as amended in 2003 by the “Amended and Restated Addendum to Environmental Impact Report/Environmental Impact Statement (EIR/EIS) for the Imperial Irrigation District Water Conservation and Transfer Project. The Project analyzed under the certified EIR, as amended, involves a water conservation and transfer project that would conserve and transfer up to 300 thousand acre-feet per year (KAFY) of IID's Colorado River entitlement using a variety of methods. The water would be transferred by IID to the San Diego County Water Authority (“SDCWA”), Coachella Valley Water District (“CVWD”) and/or Metropolitan Water District of Southern California (“MWD”), and as set forth in the Agreement for Transfer of Conserved Water (IID/SDCWA Transfer Agreement) executed by IID and SDCWA, as amended, and the proposed Quantified Settlement Agreement (QSA), executed by IID, CVWD, and MWD and the proposed Colorado River Water Delivery Agreement (CRWDA), executed by IID, CVWD, MWD, SDCWA and the Secretary of Interior. These transfers, and authorized volume adjustments are to remain in effect for up to 75 years, and will facilitate efforts to reduce and sustain California's diversions of Colorado River water in normal years to its annual 4.4 million acre-feet per year (MAFY) apportionment. The Project also includes implementation of a Habitat Conservation Plan to address impacts to covered species and habitats within the IID water service area, the right-of-way of the All American Canal and Salton Sea. The December 1, 2023 action was within the scope of, and previously analyzed under, the Project’s certified EIR, as amended, and would not result in new or unstudied potentially significant impacts under CEQA. Therefore, no additional environmental review, including a subsequent or supplemental EIR or addendum, was required.

Countywide

Imperial

Countywide

Imperial