A Word from the GM   

At its June 20, 2007 meeting the Oakdale Irrigation District (OID) Board of Directors certified the completion of the CEQA process for its Water Resources Plan and adopted the Preferred Program for implementation.  By water industry standards, this was a monumental decision.  

The Preferred Program is a roadmap outlining how OID is to meet the long-term rebuilding and modernization needs of the district.  Those needs and costs include; Main Canal and Tunnel rehabilitation projects totaling ($44,553,000); canal and lateral rehabilitation ($34,418,000); flow control and measurement structures ($3,856,000); new and replacement groundwater wells ($10,460,000); pipeline replacements ($45,366,000); North Side Regulating Reservoir ($6,264,000); delivery turnout replacements ($4,680,000); outflow management projects ($10,947,000); reclamation projects ($5,813,000); and miscellaneous in-system improvements ($2,386,000).  All totaled, in today’s dollars, these improvements represent nearly $169 million.

A curse and a blessing of implementing these rehabilitation and modernization programs is that roughly 67,000 acre-feet of existing water supplies will become surplus and available for other uses.  Right now, 41,000 acre feet is available and in water transfers that are up for renewal in 2010/2011.  We need to find a home for that water. 

If OID cannot raise the $169 million from water transfers, it must look to other revenue-generating sources.  Since OID’s Tri-Dam power revenues are indexed and float with the market, there’s no long-term assurance that prices will be stable enough over the 20-year planning horizon to generate sufficient revenues.  Raising property taxes is a no-win option, and bonding for this amount is not possible.  Therefore, OID must choose between water rate increases to its customers or water transfers to make up this dollar shortfall.  The choice seems simple.

Today, OID has 41,000 acre-feet in three transfer contracts: two to the federal government and one to the Stockton East Water District.  At most, OID needs an additional 9,000 acre-feet to meet all the identified costs.  If OID is fortunate enough to get a greater economic return on this surplus water, then less water would need to be transferred.  OID is optimistic that when all is said and done, that it can have less water in transfers than it has today.  By all standards, the WRP represents a conservative approach to our future and it should be, the stakes are high and futures are not built on “what ifs”.  OID believes the WRP strategy protects our water rights, affords us the opportunity to rebuild and modernizes our delivery system while keeping water rates affordable to promote and grow a strong agricultural economy; that’s what OID is doing.

If you have comments, suggestions or feedback on the WRP, we would enjoy hearing from you.  After all, it is your water and your future.

Clink on the link to the left for additional information on the Oakdale Irrigation District's Water Resources Plan.