California farmers at odds with states seeking Colorado River conservation plan
The law of the River– the Colorado River, that is – says the farmers come first. That’s how they see it in California, in the Imperial Valley, where farming is big business. Take Andrew Leimgruber of Holtville, Calif. … a fourth-generation farmer who believes the water rights bestowed unto the farmers in the 1922 accord between California, and the other six states – including Nevada – that rely on Colorado River water to live. That water right established a system putting the farmers at the top of the list. … Since the 1922 agreement expired earlier this year, California has refused to sign an agreement with the six other so-called “basin states.” In fact, the Bureau of Reclamation has proposed an emergency plan for dividing Colorado River water unless the states are able to ink a new deal with each other.
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