MID might stop funding Tuolumne River Trust program for kids. Why things went awry
The Tuolumne River Trust might lose funding from the Modesto Irrigation District for a program that teaches children about water.
MID board member Stu Gilman suggested the move Tuesday in response to the Trust urging, in a Modesto Bee guest opinion last month, that district farmers reduce their water use.
At issue is the Trekking the Tuolumne program, which started receiving $25,000 a year in 2009 and was budgeted at $30,000 this year. It teaches kids about fish and other wildlife along the waterway, how the water is used by people, and how to stay safe around rivers and canals.
The board declined to cancel this year’s payment but agreed to revisit the issue during workshops on the 2022 district budget, which will start in August.
No one from the Trust was on the Zoom call for the board meeting. Reached by email later in the day, Executive Director Patrick Koepele said MID is the only funding source for the Trekking the Tuolumne.
“It’s unfortunate that the MID board is considering ending this valuable educational program that has taught thousands of kids, many from under-resourced neighborhoods, about the Tuolumne River and how valuable it is for the community, where their water comes from, and actions they can take to help conserve water and protect the river, as well as canal and river safety,” Koepele said.
Gilman questioned why the district would fund a group that has long advocated for greater releases from Don Pedro Reservoir for fish. He suggested finding another group to take the Trust’s place.
Director Paul Campbell agreed. “People shouldn’t bite the hand that feeds them, but sometimes they do,” he said.
The April 21 piece was written by Caitlin Perkey, a policy intern with the Trust. She argued that MID water is too cheap to encourage farmers to conserve. She also said the increasing acreage of tree and vine crops has reduced the ability to fallow land during droughts.
All five MID board members responded in a piece published May 3 in The Bee.
The 40-year-old Trust does both advocacy and education, from offices in Modesto, San Francisco and Sonora. It also has helped restore several stretches of the Tuolumne and its fire-scarred watershed in the Sierra Nevada.
Trekking the Tuolumne is part of the group’s effort to connect Modesto-area residents to a nearby river that they might not know well.
“Even though we don’t agree on everything,” Koepele said, “we have worked well together with MID on this valuable program and it’s too bad they would seek to end the collaboration.”
MID increased the funding by $5,000 this year because of the need for online materials during the pandemic, spokeswoman Melissa Williams said.
This story was originally published May 14, 2021 at 4:00 AM.
