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 owners 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’s participation in the fallowing program is limited to two out of every four years.  

The 2010-2011 Fallowing Program application solicitation process began on October 26, 2009 and concluded on December 15, 2009. Solicitation announcements and fallowing application forms were mailed to all IID landowners and tenants and posted online (see below). After the solicitation period concludes, the applications are sorted based on a random selection process and screened based on eligibility criteria. Water delivery data is then analyzed to determine conservation payment values and contracts issued according the order determined by the random selection process. The 2010-2011 Fallowing Program payment rate will be $75 per acre-foot with a 6 acre-feet per acre payment cap, as set by the IID Board of Directors. IID anticipates offering a limited number of contracts based on its 2010 Fallowed Water Requirements. The contracting process, originally scheduled to begin in late February 2010, may be affected by the pending QSA litigation issues. 

On March 9, 2010 the Third District Appellate Court announced that a temporary stay of the Superior Court judgment regarding the QSA litigation has been granted. The Superior Court judgment is stayed pending the filing of any opposition to the IID petition for a longer stay during the full appeal process, and any further order of the Appellate Court. Any opposition to the petition is due to be filed on or before April 1, 2010, and any papers in reply to the opposition are due 15 days after the filing of the opposition. Since the temporary stay may only last through April 16, 2010, IID does not yet have sufficient clarity on the status of the QSA to begin issuing 2010-2011 Fallowing Program contracts. The Appellate Court may grant a much longer stay after it receives full briefing on the matter, after which IID will likely initiate the contracting process. 

Thank you in advance for your interested in IID's Fallowing Programs. IID appreciates the efforts of its landowners and water users as it works to meet the water transfer and delivery schedules outlined in both the QSA and the IID/SDCWA Water Conservation and Transfer Program.

Additional questions should be directed to the IID Fallowing Hotline at (760) 339-9898.

2-19-2008

Fallowing Program Summary 2003-2008 Fallowing-Program-Summary-2003-2008-Presentation.pdf