Oakdale Irrigation District sets vote on selling water

OAKDALE -- The board of the Oakdale Irrigation District plans an Oct. 2 vote on the tentative terms of a water sale to the city of Brisbane.

That was the outcome of the first public discussion of the sale Tuesday — the same day the Modesto Irrigation District dropped its contentious proposal to sell water to San Francisco, which lies right next to tiny Brisbane.

The OID would sell up to 2,400 acre-feet from its Stanislaus River supply each year, according to a "term sheet" discussed by the board. This would come out of the roughly 40,000 acre-feet the OID has available because two previous water transfers — to Stockton-area domestic users and to river fishery flows — have ended.

For the first five years, Brisbane would pay $500 for each acre-foot it uses each year, with annual increases to reflect inflation. It would pay $100 per acre-foot for anything not used from the total available.

From the sixth year on, Brisbane would pay $500 per acre-foot plus the inflation increases for an amount of water yet to be determined, but not exceeding 2,400 acre-feet.

The OID's farmers pay a flat $19.50 per acre, which provides as much water as can be reasonably used.

The contract would have an initial term of 50 years but could be renewed for 25-year periods. The draft says the supply "will not be reduced on an annual basis by OID for any reason, unless by mutual agreement of the parties."

The Brisbane City Council was scheduled to vote on the term sheet Monday night but postponed the matter to Oct. 1. Council members asked to clarify the financial responsibility of the developer of the Baylands development, which would use most of the water, said Randy Breault, Brisbane's public works director.

If the city and district approve the term sheet, they would work on an agreement to bring back for final votes.

Brisbane, which has about 4,300 people, gets its current supply from San Francisco's Hetch Hetchy Water and Power System on the Tuolumne River.

The OID-Brisbane deal would not be a direct sale of water. Instead, it would require agreement by several parties to take these steps:

• An amount of Stanislaus water equal to the Brisbane purchase would be shifted by the OID to the MID via a connection between their systems.

• The MID would let an equal amount be held back in Hetch Hetchy Reservoir, upstream of the district's diversion.

• The Hetch Hetchy system would deliver extra water to Brisbane.

Bee staff writer John Holland can be reached at jholland@modbee.com or (209) 578-2385.