SAN DIEGO -- The San Diego County Water Authority made public Monday a new offer for Imperial Valley water it needs to replace Colorado River water California is scheduled to lose under a multi-state agreement.

The offer came as negotiators met in Sacramento with state Resources Secretary Mary Nichols, racing to beat both the end of the legislative session this week, and a year-end deadline for California's plan to reduce its overuse of the Colorado River.

San Diego imports 90 percent of its water.

The San Diego agency called its offer "a monumental step forward in resolving all outstanding issues." It would pay farmers not to farm, which would let the agricultural irrigation water be used instead by San Diego. And the authority claimed that enough water would continue to flow to the Salton Sea to keep from raising its salinity to fatal levels.

However, Imperial Irrigation District spokeswoman Susan Giller said it appeared to limit the San Diego water authority's cost for preserving the Salton Sea southeast of Palm Springs.

"That still begs the question of who is going to pick (the cost) up," Giller said. Imperial Irrigation District officials were reviewing how the plan fits into its own plan released nearly three weeks ago, which Giller called "sort of the bottom line of what we need to protect this (Imperial Valley) community."

The San Diego authority said its offer would meet Imperial Valley farmers' requirements with a variety of guarantees, including that farmers will not have to permanently idle their land to save irrigation water.

The proposal would restructure the first 15 years of a 75-year water transfer agreement it signed with the Imperial Irrigation District in April 1998. It counts on using, for eight years, water farmers in the Palo Verde Irrigation District already have agreed to transfer to the Metropolitan Water District.

The authority is offering to pay $130 million, including up to $40 million to improve irrigation systems to trap water that currently is lost and flows to the Salton Sea; $50 million for environmental protection; and nearly $40 million for job creation in the Imperial Valley, where residents fear farm-related jobs will be lost in a region with one of the state's highest unemployment rates.

An additional $35 million on top of the existing agreement would go for incentives to farmers who agree to fallow, or leave idle, their land. The proposal would idle about 10 percent of the farmland, on a rotating basis, for 10 years.

The Imperial Irrigation District said earlier this month it would be willing to consider a fallowing plan spanning five years, buying that much time for Southern California water managers to find ways to protect the Salton Sea while channeling unused irrigation water to San Diego.

The artificial lake was created when irrigation water breached a canal in 1905, and has been kept alive since with lost irrigation water. However, scientists fear its increasing salinity will eventually kill the lake. It already is 25 percent saltier than the Pacific Ocean, but teems with wildlife and is a major stopping spot for migratory birds.

The proposal would cover the Imperial Irrigation District's administrative costs, as well as the money it now reaps from water sales and power generation, said Jim Turner, the San Diego Authority's board chairman.

"It's an offer that's intended not just to move the needle, but to rock the house," said Dennis Cushman, the authority's assistant general manager.

The two water districts, along with the Metropolitan and Coachella County water districts, resumed negotiations in Sacramento Sunday night, under increasing pressure from state officials and lawmakers to reach agreement.

California has until Dec. 31 to offer a plan outlining how it will cut its annual use of Colorado River water over the next 14 years. The Interior Department has threatened to cut off the extra water by year's end if the state misses the deadline it accepted in an agreement with six other Western states.

State Sen. Jim Costa, D-Fresno, and Assemblyman Joseph Canciamilla, D-Pittsburg, have proposed placing authority for California water projects under a governor-controlled board to ensure the deadline is met, an idea opposed by the water districts. Canciamilla and a Costa aide were among those attending the negotiating sessions Sunday and Monday.

Their plan has raised eyebrows because it could aid a water banking plan by Santa Monica-based Cadiz Inc., whose chairman and CEO, Keith Brackpool, is a contributor and adviser to Gov. Gray Davis.