Diverters of Tuolumne River water suddenly see hope for state agreement on fish flows
The main diverters of Tuolumne River water could be closing in, finally, on an agreement with the state on fish protections.
The boards of the Modesto and Turlock irrigation districts voted separately Tuesday to direct their staffs to finalize the deal.
Details have not yet been disclosed on how much more water would be released from Don Pedro Reservoir to support salmon and other fish in the lower river.
Only about 20% of natural flows are left in an average year after MID, TID and San Francisco take their shares. The volume would roughly double under a plan approved in 2018 by the State Water Resources Control Board but not yet carried out. That idea has support from environmental and fishing groups but raised a furor from local agencies.
The districts and San Francisco have offered to boost reservoir releases somewhat while also enhancing fish habitat with non-flow measures such as restoring spawning gravel.
The state board has reached these “voluntary agreements” with some of the other users of Central Valley rivers. Exactly what led to the recent progress on a Tuolumne pact is not public, but the state is expected to release the details at some point.
The Tuolumne River Trust has opposed the diverters’ proposal in the past and remains skeptical, Policy Director Peter Drekmeier said in an email Tuesday.
“Of course, we don’t have any details about a new (agreement), but we assume it will be more of the same and will again delay implementation of the desperately needed Bay Delta Plan,” he said.
That larger plan involves numerous rivers that run into the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta and San Francisco Bay.
Districts get half the water
MID and TID have rights to about half of the Tuolumne. San Francisco sends an eighth to the Bay Area and has signed on to the pending agreement. The rest of the water is taken by riverside rights holders or makes it out to the Delta and Bay.
Tuesday’s votes were unanimous in boardrooms about 14 miles apart.
“To me, today is a huge win for our community,” TID Chairman Michael Frantz said. “It’s a win for the Tuolumne River.”
State Assemblyman Adam Gray, D-Merced, attended the TID meeting and praised the vote in an interview afterward.
“Credit to the board here in Turlock for pushing back on the state and making sure to get an agreement in place that benefits both our local communities with respect to drinking water as well as our agricultural economy,” he said.
The final agreement will need votes from the five-member state board and the governing bodies for the diverters. TID General Manager Michelle Reimers said she hopes it will take effect by 2024.
The 2018 state board decision also involved the Stanislaus and Merced rivers.
The largest voluntary agreement by far was announced in March by Gov. Gavin Newsom. It includes the districts supplying the Sacramento Valley’s rice belt, the city of Sacramento and its suburbs, most of urban Southern California and the Westlands Water District, the largest farm-water agency in the San Joaquin Valley.
These diverters agreed to leave more water for fish while investing in habitat projects. The Tuolumne plan would be merged into it.
“We don’t have to choose between healthy ecosystems or a healthy economy,” Newsom said in March. “We can choose a path that provides for both. This is a meaningful, hard-earned step in the right direction.”
River arises in Yosemite
The Tuolumne winds for 149 miles from its headwaters in and near Yosemite National Park. The state board action involved only the 52 miles from La Grange to the confluence with the San Joaquin River.
MID and TID secured rights to irrigate from the Tuolumne soon after both were founded in 1887. The Modesto district started treating water for city residents in the mid-1990s. A plant now under construction will treat TID water for residents of Turlock and Ceres.
San Francisco got rights in 1913 to build its Hetch Hetchy Water and Power System. It provides part of the water supply in four Bay Area counties.
SFPUC General Manager Dennis Herrera noted in an emailed statement that the agreement would invest $64 million for fish over eight years.
“We’ve always been willing to do our part to further protect natural habitats, including in times of drought,” he said. “Now we have a framework agreement that strikes the right balance. It safeguards the water supply for 2.7 million Bay Area residents and businesses while continuing the SFPUC’s track record of strong environmental stewardship.”
The Tuolumne River Trust has advocated for four decades for increased fish flows, watershed health and conservation by water users. It questions the idea that salmon would benefit from non-flow habitat measures, including floodplain restoration and control of nonnative bass that prey on the natives.
“Flows need to be sufficient to keep the river from getting too warm, activate floodplains ... and flush (fish) into the Bay-Delta,” Drekmeier said.
This story was originally published September 6, 2022 at 2:00 PM.
