San Francisco sues state board over proposed Tuolumne flows. MID and TID join in
San Francisco has sued a state agency over proposed Tuolumne River flows that it claims would be “devastating” to Bay Area water users.
The Modesto and Turlock irrigation districts joined in the lawsuit as “real parties in interest,” due to similar concerns about their customers not getting enough water.
The suit is one more twist in the decades-long battle over how much water to provide for salmon and other fish downstream from Don Pedro Reservoir.
The lawsuit seeks to overturn a Jan. 19 action by the State Water Resources Control Board that could lead to much higher releases.
City Attorney Dennis Herrera filed the suit Thursday, May 13. He did it in Tuolumne County Superior Court because the river is diverted in that county.
The state board does not comment “on current or pending litigation,” spokesman Edward Ortiz told The Modesto Bee by email Monday.
The state plan would mean strict rationing of the city supply during drought years, said Steven Ritchie, assistant general manager for water enterprise, in a phone interview.
The Tuolumne provides the vast majority of San Francisco’s water and varying proportions for 20-plus agencies in San Mateo, Santa Clara and Alameda counties.
“This would have devastating, long-term socioeconomic and environmental impacts on the 2.8 million Bay Area residents and businesses who rely on these water supplies,” the suit said.
The water is diverted at Hetch Hetchy Reservoir, just inside Yosemite National Park, and piped across the Modesto area to the Bay Area.
The districts irrigate about 210,000 acres of farmland from Don Pedro. MID also treats river water to supplement the city of Modesto’s wells. A similar plant is under construction using TID water for Turlock and Ceres residents.
The districts and San Francisco are jointly responsible for providing enough water for fish below Don Pedro. MID and TID are not plaintiffs in the suit but are listed as “real parties of interest” because they own the waterworks in question.
The Jan. 19 action involved conditions that the state board sought for the districts’ new federal license to operate the reservoir. It would succeed the 1966 license that led to construction of Don Pedro and would last for up to 50 years.
The Tuolumne River Trust disputes San Francisco’s claim that the state flow proposal would harm water customers during droughts.
In an email alert to supporters, the group noted that the Hetch Hetchy system can store six years worth of demand. It also said the Tuolumne on average has only 21% of its natural volume left as it reaches the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta.
“The Bay Area will not run out of water, but we could easily run out of salmon and the species that depend on them,” the Trust said.
San Francisco and the districts have said they could support a moderate increase in Don Pedro releases combined with habitat improvements. This can include restoring the streambed gravel where salmon spawn and the downstream floodplains where baby fish develop before heading to sea.
San Francisco was one of the many funders of the Dos Rios Ranch floodplain project, where the Tuolumne meets the San Joaquin River.
This story was originally published May 18, 2021 at 2:03 PM.
