IID now engaged in federal process to guide how the Colorado River will be managed after current operating guidelines expire at the end of 2026, emphasizing that the newly released federal draft study provides a broad analytical framework within which a negotiated consensus plan can be developed.
Press release from the Imperial Irrigation District
IID has played a leading role in stabilizing the Colorado River through conservation. Through voluntary conservation programs, since 2003, IID has conserved more than 9 million acre-feet of Colorado River water through 2025, more than twice California’s annual allocation.
The Imperial Irrigation District (IID) is actively engaged in the federal process now underway to guide how the Colorado River will be managed after current operating guidelines expire at the end of 2026, emphasizing that the newly released federal draft study provides a broad analytical framework within which a negotiated consensus plan can be developed.
On January 9, the U.S. Department of the Interior released a Draft Environmental Impact Statement (Draft EIS) for a 45-day public comment period, as part of a required process under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). The Draft EIS does not determine how the river will be operated after 2026 and does not make decisions regarding individual agency water allocations, nor does it include a preferred alternative, leaving space for the ongoing negotiations to continue. The DEIS presents a range of alternatives, including measures that could not be implemented under existing law, to “bookend” the potential impacts of various operating parameters, including water supply reductions. This provides for a full range of concepts to be analyzed under NEPA, and allows for a future 7-states consensus plan to be inserted in the Final EIS provided it falls within the range of the EIS analysis.
“The Draft EIS is an analytical framework, not a decision document,” said Karin Eugenio, Chairwoman of the Imperial Irrigation District Board of Directors. “Federal law requires that a broad range of alternatives be studied. IID representatives are already reviewing the document and drafting formal comments to underscore IID’s water rights, ensure existing legal agreements are properly described, and provide input on the various analyses for Reclamation’s consideration prior to the issuance of a final document.”
For the Imperial Valley, the Colorado River is the region’s sole water supply. It supports more than 470,000 acres of farmland that produce a significant share of the nation’s winter vegetables and generate more than $3 billion in annual economic activity. Approximately one in six local jobs depend on agriculture. IID holds the largest single entitlement on the Colorado River, including 2.6 million acre-feet of senior present perfected rights with a 1901 priority date, protected by federal law, binding contracts, and United States Supreme Court decrees.
“The Draft EIS appropriately acknowledges that any post-2026 operating framework must be adopted and implemented consistent with the Law of the River,” Eugenio said. “That legal certainty is essential for system stability and for protecting the Imperial Valley, and may require additional intrastate negotiations, voluntary agreements and environmental review to implement these federal operating guidelines.”
IID has played a leading role in stabilizing the river through conservation. Through voluntary conservation programs, since 2003 IID has conserved more than 9 million acre-feet of Colorado River water through 2025, more than twice California’s annual allocation.
“Our community has delivered conservation at an unprecedented scale,” said Jamie Asbury, IID general manager. “That leadership reflects a long-term commitment to the river and our California partnerships, while also recognizing the real economic, environmental, and public-health impacts conservation has in a region that depends entirely on the Colorado River water supply and includes the Salton Sea.”
As Basin States continue to negotiate the post-2026 operational guidelines, IID reaffirms its commitment to voluntary, equitable, and durable solutions that uphold its senior water rights, sustain food security, and recognize environmental resources in the Imperial Valley and across the Southwest.
“The Lower Basin has put forward a measurable proposal for post-2026 operations, committing to conserve up to 1.5 million acre-feet per year in coordination with Mexico,” said JB Hamby, California’s Colorado River Commissioner and IID vice chairman. “California’s proposed annual contribution of 440,000 acre-feet must be part of a durable operating plan that requires enforceable commitments by all seven states across the Basin.”
IID emphasized that no immediate changes in river operations result from the Draft EIS, new guidelines won’t be implemented until the 2027 Water Year. The federal NEPA process will continue, Basin States will work toward agreement, and any final framework must comply with the law or be subject to judicial action.
“IID’s role is to help shape a lawful, workable path forward,” Eugenio said. “We will continue advocating for solutions that protect the Colorado River while safeguarding the Imperial Valley’s communities, agriculture, and environment.”
