OID and SSJID revive water sale to West Side farmers after rechecking conditions
Drought-stressed farmers on the West Side will get water after all from the Oakdale and South San Joaquin irrigation districts.
They had decided in April to cancel a sale of up to 100,000 acre-feet to users as far south as Kern County. Worse than expected conditions in the Stanislaus River watershed prompted that move.
Managers took another look at how the water year is playing out and announced Wednesday that the sale is back on. And the price will be higher: $400 per acre-foot, vs. $250 in the original deal.
OID and SSJID have long sold surplus water to keep rates low for their own farmers and to upgrade their canal systems. They will evenly split up to $40 million from the 2021 sale.
The deal is with the San Luis & Delta Mendota Water Authority. Most of its member districts are getting zero water this year from the federal Central Valley Project. Drought and fish protections in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta are to blame.
The sale will not mean any cutbacks for OID and SSJID farmers, a news release said. They have about 200,000 acre-feet of excess water in New Melones Reservoir.
”The water is there because we’ve planned for droughts and implemented measures to make sure that it would be there when we need it,” OID General Manager Steve Knell said.
The water could be delivered as soon as July 1 if state and federal agencies sign off. They generally support such transfers during droughts.
The water would flow down the Stanislaus to the Delta. An equal amount would be pumped south from there to authority members.
”A zero allocation leaves us little option other than to reach out to other agencies that have available water supplies,” said Federico Barajas, executive director of the authority.
This story was originally published June 19, 2021 at 7:22 AM.
