Modesto wants to end water partnership with Ceres, Turlock

Modesto has decided it wants to end its partnership with Ceres and Turlock in a project to build a drinking water plant near the Tuolumne River.

The City Council on Tuesday gave direction to staff members to have Modesto leave the Stanislaus Regional Water Authority, the joint powers agency the three cities formed. The SRWA board members are Modesto Councilman Bill Zoslocki, Turlock Mayor Gary Soiseth and Ceres Mayor Chris Vierra.

Vierra said the SRWA board could meet as soon as Friday to start the process of having Modesto leave the joint powers authority. He said Ceres and Turlock would continue with the project, which he said would need to be redesigned. Soiseth could not be reached for comment, but he and other Turlock officials have said the project would continue without Modesto.

Unlike Modesto, which gets its drinking water from wells and the Tuolumne River through a Modesto Irrigation District drinking water plant, Ceres and Turlock rely completely on wells. Officials with those two cities have said this project is critical for their cities to diversify their water supply and improve water quality.

Modesto officials have said a recent analysis shows the city no longer needs the water from the project and has a less expensive option of serving the future needs of south Modesto. The SRWA project has been estimated to cost $150 million to $200 million, but that estimate is several years old. Modesto officials have said their costs would be at least $55 million, while they could serve south Modesto by expanding their own infrastructure for $20 million.

The SRWA board in July entered into an agreement with the Turlock Irrigation District to have it provide the proposed plant with as much as 30,000 acre-feet of river water annually. Modesto’s reversal had caused frustration among Ceres and Turlock officials, but Vierra said that has gone away as officials with the three cities have engaged in talks.

The three cities formed the joint powers authority in 2011. It would take several years to build the plant, and that includes TID getting state permission to change the use of the water it has agreed to sell to the SRWA from agricultural to urban use.

This story was originally published November 15, 2015 at 5:53 PM with the headline "Modesto wants to end water partnership with Ceres, Turlock."