Related Articles
-Editorial
The Imperial Irrigation District (IID) Board of Directors has approved the 2025 Deficit Irrigation Program (DIP), a voluntary water conservation initiative aimed at addressing the ongoing drought crisis affecting the Colorado River Basin. The approval includes updates to the program description and a formal agreement outlining participation terms for local growers.
The Colorado River Basin has endured its driest 24-year period on record, with climate change and persistent drought driving historically low water levels in Lake Mead and Lake Powell. In response, the U.S. Department of the Interior revised the 2007 Colorado River Interim Guidelines in 2024 to implement the Lower Division Proposal, which includes a commitment from California water users to generate 1.6 million acre-feet (MAF) of water savings through 2026.
Funded by federal dollars distributed through the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022, the DIP is part of a broader conservation initiative known as the Lower Colorado River Basin System Conservation and Efficiency Program (LC Conservation Program). IID has taken part in the program through two System Conservation Implementation Agreements (SCIAs)—one for 2023 and another for the 2024–2026 period.
In 2024, IID created 257,640 acre-feet (AF) of system conservation water, including 172,389 AF through the first implementation of the Deficit Irrigation Program. The DIP compensates growers who agree to temporarily suspend irrigation for short periods—either 45 or 60 days—for established crops such as alfalfa, Bermuda grass, and Klein grass. Eligible crops must have been planted on or before January 1, 2024.
Participants in the 2025 DIP will receive a conservation payment of $300 per acre-foot of water saved. Water savings are calculated based on historic water delivery data from 2003 to 2012. The water conserved through this process will be deducted from the grower’s water account and credited to IID’s conservation account. As with previous programs, landowner consent is required to participate.
Recent updates to the 2025 DIP include flexible start dates and an option for fields enrolled in the DIP to later take part in the 2025 On-Farm Efficiency Conservation Program (OFECP), provided they are implementing capital-based conservation methods such as sprinklers, drip systems, or tailwater return systems.
IID staff also introduced a selection mechanism in case program interest exceeds the annual conservation target of 226,000 AF. In such instances, IID may conduct a lottery to reduce participation and ensure compliance with funding and environmental limitations. Fields yielding conservation volumes below a set threshold (e.g., 750 AF) would be prioritized for inclusion, while remaining fields could be subject to random exclusion through the lottery process.
The 2025 DIP will be fully funded with federal monies under the existing SCIA, and the staff recommended board approval of the updated program description and agreement. The board also directed staff to establish a cumulative threshold volume to guide program implementation.
The initiative is part of ongoing efforts by IID and its regional partners to support long-term sustainability and resilience in the face of historic water shortages across the Southwest.
Eric Reyes and Mary Helen McComb voiced strong concerns about the economic and environmental impacts of IID’s conservation program.
“This feels like a market-driven opportunity that only benefits certain large growers,” Reyes said. “Last year’s program caused severe environmental damage in a short time, especially around the Salton Sea. While this year’s window is longer, we still risk accelerating the sea’s decline. We should consider in-season conservation rather than full-year following to protect jobs and the environment. If the market shifts and growers make more money farming than fallowing, what’s the plan?”
McComb echoed the concern for working families: “What about the people who weed, cut, bale, and maintain roadsides? They lose their income. How do they pay rent or buy food? Beekeepers, too, saw a 60% drop in honey production last year. These ripple effects hurt our entire local economy. We need solutions that support farmworkers, not just landowners.”
Local farmer Steve Benson raised concerns about the long-term viability of IID’s on-farm conservation efforts, pointing to how recent program windows have impacted field participation.
“When I look at the last couple of years, most of the conservation on individual fields happens during the summer because of high evapotranspiration rates,” Benson said. “But with two key summer months already taken out for DCP, you’re creating a big gap in the on-farm program. I don’t know if you hit your 2024 targets, but I’d be curious to see the data. If you exclude those fields again in 2025, you’ll really start shrinking the program. I don’t oppose the effort—it’s fast, it’s for the river, and the river is clearly in crisis—but you need to be mindful of how much ground you’re losing.”