Groundwater recharge east of Turlock could get OK

Correction: The meeting has been moved to Dec. 17, according to water consultant Kevin Kauffman. An earlier version of this story noted the meeting would take place Thursday.

A December vote could launch a groundwater recharge project that aims to reduce the overdraft in the Eastside Water District by a tenth.

The district, which serves about 61,000 acres in eastern Stanislaus and Merced counties, proposes a $6 million project funded by assessments on 320 or so parcel owners. Under state law, it could not go through if a majority of them file protests at or before the Dec. 17 public hearing.

The plan is to build a few shallow basins that would hold excess water from a Turlock Irrigation District canal, as well as Mustang and Sand creeks, in wet years. The water would seep into the ground and be available for use in Eastside, which depends almost entirely on wells. Recharge also could take place on farmland that is purposely flooded during winter.

Eastside farmers would pay up to $30 per acre per year to build the project to start. The figure would be adjusted for inflation over the 10-year buildout. The charges would be roughly $20 to $30 per year in the ensuing 15 years.

The system would capture up to 6,500 acre-feet of water in a year. This is a small part of the 70,000 to 75,000 acre-feet needed to stabilize the aquifer, but backers see it as a good start.

The district has identified four sites, ranging from 7 to 49 acres, where recharge basins could be created with levees up to about 10 feet tall. The sites have soil and rock suited to percolation.

This story was originally published November 17, 2015 at 4:19 PM with the headline "Groundwater recharge east of Turlock could get OK."