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By: Mario Conde, Reporter
The Imperial Irrigation District Board of Directors approved the submission authorization of the service area plan to the Local Agency Formation.
In 1997, Assembly Bill 1484 established the Commission of Local Governance for the 21st Century with the role to evaluate local government organization and operational issues, develop a statewide vision, and determine how the State should grow. The Cortese-Knox-Hertzberg Local Government Reorganization Act of 2000 established procedures for local government changes of organization, including annexation through periodic review of municipal services as prepared for each city and special district within the county.
IID has been collaborating with the Imperial County LAFCO for district inclusions as early as 1977. In turn, county LAFCO formalizes the boundary changes requested by the district and processes the changes through the State Board of Equalization. The draft 2019 IID service area plan, is the first formal service area plan completed by the district.
The Service Area Plan illustrates IID’s long-term strategic objectives consistent with other IID adopted plans. A number of uncertainties facing the IID in the next several years are mitigated, within limitations. These external issues include, but are not limited to the protection of water rights held into trust for water users within the district; the increasing use of efficiency-based water conservation measures; compliance with state and federal water quality programs; the emerging and charging State and Federal mandates impacting; additional regulatory compliance requirements for both the Energy and Water Departments; and enforcement of California’s restoration responsibilities in support of a smaller but sustainable Salton Sea.
The plan identifies facilities owned, operated, and maintain by IID for the provision of water and energy services, within the respective service areas, to accommodate current and future service demands. Procedurally, after the IID authorizes the submittal of the 2019 area plan, LAFCO will hold a public hearing and provide comments to the IID.
The IID will then finalized it and bring it back to the board for final approval. LAFCO will subsequently request a legal boundary map of all IID annexed territory to file with the county clerk and complete for review.
The creation of a legal boundary map will be outsourced at an estimated cost of $50,000 that will be budgeted in the 2020 budget.
