Colorado River forum to discuss local projects
Updates on an environmental program and the Yuma Desalting Plant pilot run are on the agenda for the Colorado River Citizens Forum.
The meeting, which is open to the public, will be held from 4 to 6 p.m. Wednesday at the Yuma Community Food Bank, 2404 E. 24th St.
John Swett, program manager for the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation's Multi-Species Conservation Program (MSCP), will discuss that program's status. MSCP is a long-term, multi-agency effort to work toward the recovery of endangered species and to protect and maintain wildlife habitat on the lower Colorado River.
In addition, Jennifer McCloskey, Yuma-area manager for Reclamation, will present an update on the yearlong pilot run of the Yuma Desalting Plant that began in May. Her presentation will include the plant's performance to date and anticipated outcomes.
The desalting plant, completed in the 1990s, was built to treat high-saline water from farm fields in the Wellton-Mohawk Irrigation District before sending it downriver to help meet a water treaty with Mexico. Since then, there have been sufficient flows in the river to meet the treaty requirements, and the plant has sat idle except for two brief periods while the WMIID runoff has been carried by a bypass canal to the Gulf of California to create the Cienega de Santa Clara wetland.
With the lingering drought and the rising population in the Southwest depleting the Colorado River's water supply, attention has again turned to the desalting plant. As a result, Reclamation is conducting the pilot run of the plant in collaboration with three water agencies from Arizona, California and Nevada.
The pilot run is scheduled to last 365 days, with the plant operating at one-third capacity.
For more information about the meeting, call 782-1598.
The citizens forum was established by the United States Section of the International Boundary and Water Commission to facilitate the exchange of information between the community and the commission about activities and related projects in the region.
