Cities postpone vote on Turlock Irrigation District water purchase

A vote has been postponed to next week on an agreement to provide Tuolumne River water to a proposed treatment plant serving Turlock, Ceres and south Modesto.

The snag Thursday involved recycled wastewater that the Turlock Irrigation District would receive as part of its agreement to sell a much larger volume of river water to the cities.

Modesto’s representative, Councilman Bill Zoslocki, said the agreement needed to be refined to assure that it did not interfere with plans to sell recycled water to farmers in the Del Puerto Water District on the West Side. Modesto and Turlock have upgraded their sewage treatment plants to the point that the effluent can be used on crops.

Zoslocki is one of three members of the governing board of the Stanislaus Regional Water Authority, which is looking at building a river treatment plant to reduce reliance on wells in the three cities. The project has been discussed off and on since the 1980s but has gained traction recently.

“We’ve been working on it for 30 years now,” Zoslocki said. “What’s a week?”

The other board members – Ceres Mayor Chris Vierra and Turlock Mayor Gary Soiseth – favored approving the TID purchase agreement on the condition that further negotiations take place on the the Del Puerto matter. The board needs three votes to take action, and Zoslocki dissented.

Members then voted 3-0 to meet again next Thursday for a possible vote on a refined agreement.

The TID board approved the agreement Tuesday but would have to vote again on an amended deal.

The river treatment plant is expected to cost $150 million to $200 million and likely would require major rate increases for water users. It could be operating as early as 2020 if the environmental review, design and construction go smoothly, authority General Manager Steve Stroud said Tuesday.

Under the 50-year deal, TID would sell up to 30,000 acre-feet a year. Its farmers have topped 500,000 acre-feet in years with enough rain and snow, but the drought has cut that by nearly two-thirds this year.

The cities would pay TID at the highest rate tier for farm users, currently $20 per acre-foot. They would be subject to the same dry-year cutbacks as the irrigators.

This story was originally published July 16, 2015 at 7:24 PM with the headline "Cities postpone vote on Turlock Irrigation District water purchase."