Fallowing Programs /
Water Department- Water Conservation - Water Conservation Implementation -
While fundamentally opposed to fallowing during the QSA negotiations, IID ultimately agreed to a 15 year fallowing program in order to eliminate potential effects to the Salton Sea resulting from the transfer of water out of the Imperial Valley. Water conserved from the fallowing program and transferred to SDCWA ramps up for the first 10 years and then decreases for the next 5 years as efficiency conservation projects are developed and implemented. Efficiency conservation replaces all fallowing by 2018. The purpose of the Fallowing Program is that willing land ownders and/or lessees will contract with the Imperial Irrigation District to fallow fields to meet the transfer and Salton Sea mitigation water needs for the first 15 years of the IID/SDCWA and QSA Compromise Delivery Schedule. Each year the price for the water to be conserved from fallowing is set by IID and solicitations are sent out asking for voluntary participation to fallow a field in return for payment of the conserved water. Fields are then contracted based on a random selection to meet the amount of conserved water needed each year. Each field is limited to participate in the fallowing program two in every four years. IID will be initiating efforts to ensure that water cannot be delivered to any field participating in the 2007-2008 Fallowing Program as of July 1, 2007. In most cases this will involve locking the delivery gate, but in some cases participants may be required to make alternative accommodations to physically prevent the possibility of water reaching a field. Cropping codes for fallowed fields will also be changed to reflect their participation in the 2007-2008 Fallowing Program, which also prevents water from being ordered for these gates until July 1, 2008. Please be aware that IID will be monitoring all Fallowing Program fields and water accounts associated with them, and no water deliveries will be scheduled for these lands during the fallowing period (July 1, 2007 to June 30, 2008). Questions regarding the fallowing program should be directed to (760) 339-9898. _______________________________________________ The 2008-2009 Fallowing Program solicitation process, initiated on December 21, 2007 closed as of noon on February 1, 2008. Solicitation announcements and fallowing proposal forms were mailed to all IID landowners and tenants, and were also made available online. IID received over 260 field applications comprised of approximately 27,500 acres of agricultural lands. The applications were processed for eligibility and water delivery data analyzed further to determine contract values. The first sets of contracts were mailed to applicants on March 18, 2008. As contracts are declined or applicants fail to meet response deadlines, additional contracts will be issued as per the order determined by a random selection process as described in the solicitation announcement. We appreciate your patience as IID staff works to meet the Fallowed Water Requirements for the 2008-2009 Fallowing Program. Once all contracts have been issued and the 2008-2009 Fallowing Program is fully subscribed, IID will send final notifications to any fields that submitted applications but not offered contracts.
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