IID Clarifies Position on All-American Canal Lining Project Safety Features

In response to the May 2, 2010, 60 Minutes segment on the All-American Canal lining project, Imperial Irrigation District Division 4 Director Stella Mendoza strongly objected to the mischaracterization of her position regarding the incorporation of enhanced safety measures in the newly lined 23-mile segment of the 83-mile-long waterway.

"I spoke with the correspondent for perhaps an hour," Mendoza said, "and I made clear in that time that the IID Board of Directors unanimously supports incorporating enhanced safety measures into the canal-lining project. That this simple fact was omitted from the 22-minute piece that was aired to the public is inaccurate and patently unfair."

The All-American Canal is owned by the U.S. government and managed by IID under contract with the Department of the Interior. The $300-million lining project, which was paid for by the state of California and the San Diego County Water Authority, is already conserving – and transferring - an estimated 57,700 acre-feet of seepage water annually for use in San Diego County. This fact, too, was missing from the segment presented by 60 Minutes.

Also missing from the report was the fact that IID, SDCWA and the Mexican Consulate have jointly sponsored extensive public outreach in the Imperial and Mexicali valleys to highlight the dangers of entering the All-American Canal, a combined effort that has been in effect since 2009.

Return to June 2010 Western Energy News

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