Farmland Eyed as MWD Water Source : Growth: Boronkay says that buying agricultural acreage to acquire supply rights is vital to avoid shortages as Southland population continues to surge.

With surging population growth threatening to overburden a dwindling water supply, Southern California urban users must obtain a share of the water now used by the state’s powerful agricultural industry, the general manager of the Metropolitan Water District said Thursday.

In a presentation sure to rile some members of California’s farming community, Carl Boronkay told Metropolitan’s Board of Directors that freeing a portion of water controlled by agriculture--by buying land for the water rights, for example--is vital if the massive district wants to avoid shortages.

“We’re no longer in a time when if you need more water, you simply go out and stake your claim and get more water,” Boronkay told the board during the final meeting of a three-day MWD retreat here.

With environmental and financial obstacles blocking the construction of new dams, agriculture--which uses 80% of the water captured in California--is a source that Metropolitan must tap to meet future needs, he said.

Boronkay’s comments echo those of a growing contingent of experts who believe urban areas must ultimately turn to the state’s farmbelts to find water. Numerous conservationists, led by the Environmental Defense Fund, have long advocated voluntary transfers of water now used on crops as the best way to supply booming cities.

But there is fierce resistance from many farmers in the Central Valley, who are accustomed to contracts that guarantee them federally subsidized water for a fraction of the cost paid by urban users. Many growers fear that large-scale water transfers to cities would cripple local farm economies and could virtually end their way of life.

Boronkay acknowledged that an urban push for agricultural water is a “very touchy subject” and stressed that any reallocation of water “must be voluntary, with a willing seller and a willing buyer.”

Already, he noted, Metropolitan has experience in this area. In 1989, MWD officials concluded a deal with the Imperial Irrigation District that will provide up to 106,000 acre-feet of water for Metropolitan customers within four years. (A Los Angeles family of five uses one acre-foot in 18 months.)

Under the landmark agreement, heralded as the wave of the future in water management, MWD is paying to line irrigation canals and make other improvements that help the Imperial district save water. The water conserved is then taken by Metropolitan as needed.

Boronkay said other options now being pursued by the MWD include:

- The purchase of cropland, in the Central or Imperial valleys, and the water rights that go along with the property.

- So-called “dry year” contracts, under which farmers would agree to fallow their land and sell their water to MWD during droughts.

- Financing the installation of water-saving drip irrigation on San Joaquin Valley farms. Similar to the Imperial district arrangement, this would allow Metropolitan access to any water saved through MWD-funded conservation measures.

Board members, aware that critical water shortages are looming in the Southland, seemed to agree that Metropolitan must pursue these approaches to generate new supplies. Some, however, expressed strong opposition to the outright purchase of farmland, arguing that such a step resembles Los Angeles’ controversial purchase of Owens Valley property earlier this century.

“It’s been more than 50 years since (the Owens Valley episode) and people are still ragging on the city of Los Angeles about it,” said Michael Nolan, who represents Burbank on the board. “I am simply uncomfortable with the idea of buying up land outside the Metropolitan service area and taking it out of production.”

But Christine Reed, Santa Monica’s delegate to the board, supported the idea, noting that what MWD is proposing is “quite different from what happened in the Owens Valley, where there was a lot of secrecy and clandestine activity.”

Metropolitan, which serves 15 million people in six Southern California counties, convenes an annual retreat in an effort to improve relations among board and staff members and build consensus on key issues.