Fight over river flows heads to historic Water Board meeting in Sacramento

As all eyes turn to the State Water Resources Control Board on Wednesday, the board won’t have complete settlement agreements with Modesto-area irrigation districts to consider at a crucial meeting.

At most, the districts and negotiators with the state Natural Resources Agency will have the basic framework of an agreement that’s an alternative to a state plan for river flows that is fiercely opposed by water users and local agencies in Stanislaus County.

The Modesto Irrigation District board of directors had no announcement after a closed-door session held Tuesday to discuss potential litigation.

Top officials with the state Natural Resources Agency are expected to give an update on the talks at Wednesday’s meeting in Sacramento. If there is a framework for an agreement, the state board could approve a much-disputed update to its Bay-Delta water quality plan, which could serve as a baseline for considering detailed voluntary settlements with water districts after Gavin Newsom is sworn in as governor in January.

It’s also possible the water board could postpone the matter again. The issue was continued from a Nov. 7 meeting at the request of Gov. Jerry Brown and Newsom, who wanted to allow more time for negotiated agreements with the water districts.

MID Board Member John Mensinger said there is general agreement on many issues with the state Natural Resources Agency, which includes the departments of Fish and Wildlife and Water Resources, among other agencies.

“What we are talking about is much better,” Mensinger said Monday. “On most issues there is general agreement. What was in the Bay-Delta plan and (supplemental environmental document) was unacceptable.”

The Oakdale and South San Joaquin irrigation districts and Merced Irrigation District have tried to negotiate their own agreements for flows in the Stanislaus and Merced rivers, respectively.

Tom Orvis, board president of Oakdale Irrigation District, sounded less optimistic Tuesday. “This is completely in a state of flux,” Orvis said. “I plan on attending the meeting tomorrow to see what happens. ... No matter what happens, the legal teams on both sides are going to be at the ready.”

In July, the irrigation districts and communities in the Northern San Joaquin erupted after the state released a proposal for leaving 40 to 50 percent of unimpaired flows in the Tuolumne, Stanislaus and Merced rivers with a goal of doubling depleted salmon populations in the rivers.

The state water board said those higher flows, at the expense of farmers and city water customers, were needed to revive the troubled ecosystem in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta.

Assemblyman Adam Gray, D-Merced, organized a rally in Sacramento attended by 1,500 residents from the valley and other places in California, saying the state proposal would take too much water, wreak havoc on the farm-based communities and lead to groundwater overdrafting.

The fairness of the flow requirements on the tributaries of the lower San Joaquin River is seriously questioned. The plan requires nothing from upper San Joaquin water users who are said to have more political clout.

The state board has said there is flexibility in the plan, allowing the 40 percent flow requirement to be used as a budget for restoring salmon in the rivers, and will consider voluntary settlements that achieve the goals of the Bay-Delta plan.

“We prefer a deal that improves the fisheries while maintaining our water rights and our economy,” TID Board Member Michael Franz said Tuesday. “We need the water board to do the right thing for that to happen.”

The state board also is under pressure to stop delaying and approve the water quality update for the delta. In a news release, the Environmental Defense Fund said the board could approve the plan to benefit salmon and still keep the door open for voluntary agreements “if reached by all parties.”

The MID and TID, along with the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission, say they have a comprehensive plan for restoring salmon in the Tuolumne, including $171 million in restoration and habitat projects. An MID spokesperson said the funds would be spent over the 30- to 40-year life of a Federal Energy Regulatory Commission license renewal for Don Pedro dam.

Larry Byrd, an MID board member, said the district would prefer to avoid years of litigation that usually follow water policy decisions in California. “We will spend a lot of money on the Tuolumne, but it has to be for fish restoration and to enhance fish habitat,” Byrd said. “We are not going to give up 40 percent flows.”

For all of the districts, the key issues are the amount and timing of river flows to support salmon migration, the amount of cold storage held in reservoirs for fish management and possible “offramps” to keep from draining reservoirs in consecutive dry years.

“Everyone seems to be talking about a suite of flow, habitat restoration and predation management,” said John Sweigard, general manager of the Merced Irrigation district. “It appears there is frustration on all sides.”

A California Natural Resources Agency didn’t have a comment on the progress of negotiations Tuesday.

The irrigation districts want to prevent scenarios in which no water is delivered to farmers in dry years, which would result in pumping and depletion of groundwater basins. With regular cuts to irrigation, farmers converting to lower-value crops would erode property values and tax revenue for public services.

The city of Modesto uses treated water from the Tuolumne River to supplement its drinking water wells and would receive the same reductions as farmers if the MID is forced to cut water deliveries.

This story was originally published December 11, 2018 at 4:35 PM.