Project background

The Lower Colorado Water Supply Project allows the consumption of up to 10,000 acre-feet of Colorado River water in California and within the river’s hydrologic boundary for non-agricultural uses. As this consumptive use would otherwise represent a loss to high priority downstream users (namely, the Imperial Irrigation District and the Coachella Valley Water District, CRB member agencies), this is enabled by the compensatory pumping of 10,000 acre-feet of groundwater from a well field in the Sand Hills area in Imperial County, California into the All-American Canal for use by those same users.

In 1986, Congress enacted the Lower Colorado Water Supply Project Act (Public Law 99-655) (pdf), which authorized the Secretary of the Interior to “construct, operate, and maintain the Lower Colorado Water Supply Project to supply water for domestic, municipal, industrial and recreational purposes”. In 2005, the act was amended to authorize the Secretary of the Interior to enter into an agreement with the City of Needles for the design and construction of Stage 2 of the Project that will add 5,000 acre-feet of capacity to the Project. The 2005 amendment further authorized the Secretary to contract with additional entities who hold Section 5 contracts for municipal and industrial uses within the State of California for the use of any unused Project water (Public Law 109-103, Sec. 203).

In 1992, the City of Needles contracted with the Department of Interior for rights to water created under the project and assumed administrative responsibility to execute subcontracts for the use of Colorado River water with other eligible water users. Eligible subcontractors are limited to persons or non-Federal governmental agencies whose lands or interests in lands are located adjacent to the Colorado River in the State of California, who do not hold rights to Colorado River water or whose rights are insufficient to meet their present or anticipated future needs as determined by the Secretary of the Interior.

Information for Applicants

The right to use Colorado River water under the LCWSP is established through a subcontract with the City of Needles. To obtain this subcontract, interested parties must submit an application to the Colorado River Board of California for review (see below). Upon completion of its review, CRB will then make a recommendation to Reclamation as to whether a subcontract should be granted. Reclamation will then make its own determination and advise the City of Needles.

Screening questions

Before applying for water use under the LCWSP, please review the following two questions to determine whether or not an application is needed and, if needed, whether it will be considered for approval.

Do I need to apply for LCWSP water?

You must apply for water use under the LCWSP if the point of diversion is 1) within California AND 2) either a) within the Colorado River floodplain or b) within the Colorado River hydrologic boundary and near or below the accounting surface. See more below.

Does my water use qualify under the LCWSP?

An application for LCWSP water will be considered for approval if ALL of the following conditions apply:

1. Place of use: The place of use is within California.
2. Purpose of use: The water is used for domestic, municipal, industrial and/or recreational purposes and the purpose is reasonable and beneficial.
3. Quantity of water: The quantity of water is reasonable for the intended purpose.

Please see the application instructions and FAQs below for further clarification.

Application Download

Persons interested in obtaining a subcontract with the City of Needles for LCWSP water should download, fill out and send to the CRB an Application for LCWSP Water (pdf).

IMPORTANT: Please review the application instructions and frequently asked questions (FAQs) below before submitting an application!

Application Instructions

Applicant Information

Provide the basic details of the applicant.

1. Place of Use

Provide the county Assessor Parcel Number (APN), legal description, and property address of the parcel. The APN and legal description can be obtained from the county assessor office in person or online.

Provide the owner’s name and contact information. If there are additional owners, please include them in a separate attachment.

The CRB will verify that the place of consumptive use for the proposed use of Project water is within California.

2. Point of Diversion of Colorado River Water

Provide a site plan showing the location of the well, current or proposed, that will be used to obtain the water on the parcel of land. 

The site plan can include, but is not limited to: a map, illustration, and/or drawing that clearly shows the current or proposed location of the well relationship to the parcel of land.

The CRB will determine whether the applicant is proposing to divert water directly from the Colorado River, or in the case of a request to divert groundwater, whether the applicant’s well or wells are potentially withdrawing water that is replaced by water from the Colorado River.

Two criteria are used to determine whether or not a well draws water replaced by water from the Colorado River:

Within the Colorado River flood plain – Water withdrawn from wells located within the flood plain of the Colorado River will be deemed to be diverting water from the Colorado River.

Below the accounting surface – Wells located outside of the flood plain of the Colorado River, but within the Lower Colorado River accounting surface area (description below) that have a static water-level elevation near (within ± 0.84 feet at the 95-percent confidence interval), equal to, or below the accounting surface are presumed to yield water that will be replaced by water from the Colorado River. Wells that have a static water-level elevation above the accounting surface are presumed to yield water that will be replaced by water from precipitation and inflow from tributary valleys, not the Colorado River.

The accounting surface represents the extent of the unconfined static water table in the aquifer adjacent to and outside the Colorado River flood plain. The accounting surface has been defined by the U.S. Geological Survey in its Scientific Investigations Report 2008-5113.

Both the floodplain and accounting surface areas are shown in the interactive map below (also available as a full map), as well as in two maps published in the above USGS report: Plate 2 (pdf) (around Lake Havasu and in Mohave, Parker, Palo Verde, and Cibola Valleys and in Adjacent Tributary Areas) and Plate 3 (pdf) (between Southern Cibola Valley and the Southerly International Boundary and Adjacent Tributary Areas).

Wells located outside of the flood plain and either above the accounting surface or outside the accounting surface area will be deemed to be not diverting water from the Colorado River and no subcontract for the use of Colorado River water under the LCWSP will be required or recommended.

3. Purpose of Use

Indicate the type of use for which water has been, or will be, used on the parcel. Select the appropriate types of water use and time period for which water has been used or will be used in the future. NOTE: The type of water use may change from one time period to another. If that has occurred or is anticipated to occur, that fact should be indicated on this application.

Be sure to provide documentation. Documentation should include a brief description of past, present and anticipated type of uses for each time period.

The CRB will consider whether the applicant is consumptively using, or proposing to consumptively use, Colorado River water for a domestic, municipal, industrial or recreational purpose, which are the only uses of Project water permitted under the Act.

4. Quantity of Water Requested

Indicate whether the quantity of water requested will be utilized with the next calendar year, known as “current use” or in the future, known as “future use”.

The CRB will review the quantity of water requested for current and/or future use and determine whether or not the quantity is reasonable for the intended purpose and whether or not a sufficient supply is available from the Project.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

What is the Lower Colorado River Water Supply Project?

In 1986, Congress enacted the Lower Colorado Water Supply Act of 1986 (LCWSA) (Public Law 99-655) as a mechanism to enable water users within California without contracts or with contracts for an insufficient amount of water to collectively obtain by exchange up to 10,000 acre-feet of water per year from the Colorado River for existing and future uses within California.

How do I obtain the property’s County Assessor Parcel Number (APN) and legal description?

The APN can be obtained from the county assessor office in person or online. Refer to the links following links for the county assessor’s office within the region:

1. San Bernardino County – https://arc.sbcounty.gov/property-information/
2. Imperial County – https://assessor.imperialcounty.org/
3. Riverside County – https://www.rivcoacr.org/

What should be included in the application?

The application should include a site plan that identifies the volume of annual water use needed on a diversion or consumptive use basis. If the applicant chooses to provide an annual diversion volume, include the point of diversion, type of diversion, and location of water use so that we can estimate the consumptive use, which is a requirement for Reclamation’s annual Water Use Accounting report.

The site plan can include, but is not limited to: a map, illustration, and/or drawing that clearly shows the current or proposed location of the well in relationship to the parcel of land.

In addition, please include a brief description of past, present and anticipated type of uses.

What is the application process?

CRB staff review applications for use of Colorado River water based on the evaluation criteria listed in the previous section. If CRB staff finds that the applicant meets the eligibility requirements, the CRB will recommend that the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation (Reclamation) , in coordination with the City of Needles, offer a subcontract to the applicant. 

If the CRB finds that the applicant is ineligible to participate in the project, the applicant will be informed in writing. Reclamation has the sole discretion in determining whether or not an applicant shall be offered the opportunity to receive LCWSP water and will notify the applicant of its decision in writing.

What are the fees associated with the application?

There are no fees associated with the review of the application by the Colorado River Board. Once an applicant has been approved to execute a subcontract with the City of Needles to receive water through the Lower Colorado Water Supply Project the applicant must pay a well connection fee to Needles. The fee is $1,000 per acre feet for current use (within the next calendar year) and $950 per acre feet of water for standby use (future use).

How do I contact CRB Staff to submit an application or request additional information?

Please submit application and questions by email to crb@crb.ca.gov.

Application

• Information for Applicants
• Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
• Application for LCWSP Water (pdf)

Related links

• Lower Colorado Water Supply Project Act (pdf)
• Update of the Accounting Surface Along the Lower Colorado River (USGS)