Farmers’ drought-year water cap could be raised, Oakdale Irrigation says
Irrigation customers already enjoying the region’s most generous water allotments in the ongoing drought could get even more this season.
Because farmers have conserved more than initially anticipated, Oakdale Irrigation District leaders on Tuesday will consider boosting shares from 40 to 44 inches of water per parcel – more than double the expected caps of 16 and 18-20 inches being delivered by the Modesto and Turlock irrigation districts, respectively. The Merced Irrigation District will provide zero.
Staff is comfortable that OID is on target to meet and likely exceed its state and federal target commitments (for fish flows later this year).
OID staff report
Also Tuesday morning, the OID board could get the ball rolling again to sell Stanislaus River water to out-of-county buyers next year.
While increasing deliveries should be welcome news to longtime OID customers, a staff recommendation to raise water shares this year from 10 to 14 inches per parcel for so-called tier 2 farmers could be less popular.
Some established customers several weeks ago circulated petitions protesting 10-inch deliveries to tier 2 customers, principally Trinitas Farming, whose 7,234 acres east of Oakdale were annexed to OID boundaries two years ago. Petitioners complained to the agency approving the annexation, saying OID lied to the panel and to OID customers by promising that longtime farmers would get all the water they need in dry years before Trinitas would receive any.
The OID board brushed aside the complaint in setting Trinitas’ allotment at 10 inches in April, and declined to change that level when upping tier 1 caps from 30 to 36 inches and later to 40 inches. But the latest bump to be weighed Tuesday would give Trinitas an extra four inches per parcel – the same increase suggested for longtime customers.
Giving tier 2 customers some water shifts the burden of pumping extra groundwater to meet crops’ needs from Trinitas to other OID customers, critics said. OID staff characterized those complaining as water wasters, and supporters said it’s better to sell water to neighbors than to outsiders.
Also, because Trinitas pays a water premium and an annual annexation fee, the company was expected to pay 52 percent of OID’s water income this year; the ratio could increase after Tuesday’s vote.
The historic change from bottomless water deliveries to capped allotments, approved in April, has resulted in “a significant change in OID water use patterns,” a staff report reads. The district has about 94,200 acre-feet of water left in foothill reservoirs – far more than the 58,900 acre-feet used by OID farmers in August and September last year. Increasing caps for both customer tiers by four inches would consume about 22,700 acre-feet of the estimated 35,300 acre-foot excess, the report says.
The OID board stands apart from other water agencies in its willingness and ability to shop surface water to wealthy buyers. The district collected more than $35 million in a decade by selling 382,000 acre-feet.
OID had hoped to reap $4 million this year in its latest water-selling plan before it fell apart in February, with staff blaming drought and a legal challenge brought by grower and former board member Louis Brichetto.
That money will eventually need to be recouped from water rates, special assessments, water transfers or all three when (the) drought is over.
OID staff report
OID had named the plan its “On-Farm Conservation Funding Program” because most of the proceeds from water not used on idled land would help pay for efficiency upgrades. Owners of more than 140 parcels had indicated interest in receiving 95 percent of the money – 20 percent in cash and 75 percent on upgrades. Critics say it’s unwise to enrich a few while exporting a precious resource.
Postponing the plan “was met with great disappointment by (farmers) who saw great value and potential in the program’s benefits,” a report says. Staff recommends preparing 2016 sales by starting now on state-required environmental studies.
Tuesday’s agenda will allow the board to go behind closed doors to discuss prices and terms of undisclosed water negotiations involving Fresno-area water users, San Francisco, the Stockton East Water District, the Del Puerto Irrigation District and the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation.
The OID board meeting begins at 9 a.m. in the chamber at 1205 E. F St. in Oakdale. For details, go to www.oakdaleirrigation.com/files/Agenda%2008-04-15.pdf.
Garth Stapley: 209-578-2390
This story was originally published August 3, 2015 at 4:06 PM with the headline "Farmers’ drought-year water cap could be raised, Oakdale Irrigation says."