Much of West Side gets zero federal water once again. A few districts are doing OK
Large expanses of the San Joaquin Valley will get zero federal water once again due to drought.
The Central Valley Project announced that news Wednesday while also providing 75% of contracted amounts to users with senior rights.
The CVP pumps water from the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta to as far south as Kern County. The supply can be constrained even in adequate runoff years because of protections for Delta fish.
The same allotments were provided in 2021, the second year of what is now a three-year drought.
“Last year was a very bad year; this year could turn out to be worse,” said Ernest Conant, regional director for the U.S Bureau of Reclamation.
In better years, such as the very wet 2017, the bureau had little trouble supplying its 3 million or so farm acres in California.
Some districts receiving zero federal water can try to get by on wells, local river rights or purchases from districts with extra water. The Del Puerto Water District along Interstate 5 uses highly treated wastewater from Modesto, Ceres and Turlock.
The Westlands Water District, west of Fresno, is by far the largest contractor for CVP water. It will get none this year.
Westlands noted in a written statement Wednesday that the 2021 cutbacks fallowed about a third of its 600,000 acres and put many people out of work.
The district urged spending on “infrastructure to better manage the state’s water resources, which includes increased capacity to capture water when its available for transport and use in times of drought.”
The Golden Gate Salmon Association, representing anglers, said water managers failed to use the abundant 2019 runoff to aid fish.
“We’re likely looking at another year of decimated natural salmon runs due to water decisions that favor a small group of agricultural landowners over the interests of the rest of California,” the group said.
The CVP allocations do not affect suppliers on the east side of the Valley, which tap local rivers. But they, too, are dealing with drought. The Modesto Irrigation District board voted Tuesday to deliver only about 60% of the usual amount from the Tuolumne River.
The 75% allocation is for four irrigation districts totaling about 225,000 acres from the Crows Landing to Mendota areas. They agreed in 1939 to stop drawing directly from the San Joaquin River in exchange for future guarantees.
These water users are the Central California Irrigation District, the San Luis Canal Co., the Firebaugh Canal Water District and the Columbia Canal Co. They work together as the San Joaquin River Exchange Contractors Water Authority.
The Sacramento Bee contributed to this report.
