Turlock Irrigation District could reduce water deliveries, though not drastically
The dry winter could prompt the Turlock Irrigation District to cap water deliveries for the first time since the 2012-16 drought.
The district board will hold a special meeting Friday afternoon to consider the staff proposal, which would be much less severe than the worst of the drought.
Farmers would get no more than 42 vertical inches of Tuolumne River water per acre over the irrigation season. The allotment dropped to as low as 18 inches in 2015, forcing many customers to pump groundwater and to stretch the surface supply.
TID is the largest irrigation district in the Northern San Joaquin Valley, supplying about 145,000 acres of farmland. The service area is roughly bounded by the Tuolumne, Merced and San Joaquin rivers and the Hickman and Ballico areas.
The Modesto Irrigation District, which shares Don Pedro Reservoir with TID, has not yet proposed a 2020 allotment. But it is watching the skies in dismay, too.
“The dry conditions in January and to date in February have been unprecedented,” said John Davids, assistant general manager for water operations at MID, in an email Thursday to The Modesto Bee.
The districts have something of a cushion, thanks to abundant rain and snow in 2017 and 2019. Don Pedro is at 115 percent of average storage for this time of year, the California Department of Water Resources reported.
The current winter got off to a good start, but several weeks without storms have changed the picture. The Tuolumne watershed has only 36 percent of its average moisture, said Mike Kavarian, water distribution manager for TID, in a memo to his board Thursday.
He proposes starting the irrigation season March 5, earlier than usual, which would help farmers who count on winter rain for some of their soil moisture. The season would end Oct. 7, also earlier than usual, in an effort to leave a carryover for 2021.
March is usually among the months with sizable rain and snow, but the National Weather Service forecasts it to be dry.
The TID board will meet at 1 p.m. Friday, Feb. 21, at the district office, 333 E. Canal Drive, Turlock.
This story was originally published February 20, 2020 at 6:30 PM.
