Supervisors to ask feds for help with Tulloch Reservoir

Article from Calaveras Enterprise.

http://www.calaverasenterprise.com/news/article_6e27544e-be14-11e4-a0bc-ff0e2adb0bb5.html

Posted on Feb 27, 2015
by Dana Nichols

Calaveras County supervisors are sufficiently worried that federal rules could lead to the draining of Tulloch Reservoir this summer that they’ve called a special meeting Tuesday to consider drafting a letter to Congressman Tom McClintock, R-Granite Bay.

Although various federal agencies including the Bureau of Reclamation have a hand in managing the river, the water that passes through Tulloch is also used by Oakdale Irrigation District and South San Joaquin Irrigation District to serve farms.

Both Tulloch and New Melones Reservoir are impoundments built on the Stanislaus River, which has historically provided drinking and irrigation water to a region that includes parts of four counties.

Irrigation district officials say that it is federal regulations designed to protect fish that are forcing them to contemplate draining the lake. At the same time, an Oakdale Irrigation District release dated Feb. 17 said that draining Tulloch would yield 40,000 to 50,000 acre feet of water that would be divided equally between the two irrigation districts.

An acre foot is enough water to cover an acre of land one foot deep. It is also about enough water to serve two typical family homes for a year.

Although farmers in the immediate region were the original customers for the two districts, OID and SSJID water now finds its way elsewhere as well. Customers buying district water at times include Stockton East Water District, which has purchased water from New Melones to serve customers in the city of Stockton.

Calaveras County supervisors will meet at 9 a.m. March 3 to consider sending a letter to McClintock and possibly other federal officials asking them to ease regulations that require the release of water to benefit fish.

Not everyone believes that fish are the primary factor behind a possible draining of Tulloch Reservoir. Bill Jennings, executive director of the California Sportfishing Protection Alliance, said that drought and water sales, including sales to customers outside the districts, are the main reasons that Tulloch may be drained.

Officials with Tri-Dam Project will offer their perspective on how regulations affect water levels during a public meeting at 10 a.m. March 7 at Black Creek Center, 920 Black Creek Drive, Copperopolis. Tri-Dam Project is an agency formed jointly by OID and SSJID to operate Tulloch Reservoir (information: tridamproject.com).

If the reservoir is drained, it would leave million-dollar homes on the lakeshore with their docks resting on mud flats. Calaveras County Water District, which takes water from the lake to serve 2,500 customers, might have to spend $100,000 to extend its water intake a mile, said Joel Metzger, community relations manager for the district.

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