[Water_news] 1. DWR'S CALIFORNIA WATER NEWS - Top Item for 10/29/07

Department of Water Resources

California Water News

A daily compilation for DWR personnel of significant news articles and comment

 

October 29, 2007

 

1.  Top Item

 

Protecting water key to Madera district vote

Fresno Bee – 10/27/07

By Charles McCarthy, staff writer

 

MADERA -- Fears that the Madera Irrigation District might sell water from its proposed water bank to thirsty Los Angeles interests haunt next month's board of directors election.

 

Five of the seven candidates mention the yet-unfilled Madera Ranch water bank in their ballot statements filed at the Madera County Elections Office. At least two of them have posted campaign signs assuring the district's mostly rural voters that they won't let Madera Ranch water be sold to L.A. users.

 

Along Avenue 12 not far from district headquarters, Division 4 candidate Bruce Kinabrew, 46, a farmer and businessman, has posted a sign that reads: "It's our water, not L.A.'s."

 

Nearby, Division 2 candidate Joe Galleano, 76, also a farmer and businessman, has a sign that identifies him as "the man L.A. water buyers fear the most."

 

All of this comes despite assurances from the district management -- and other candidates -- that there are are no plans to sell water to buyers in Southern California.

 

The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, which operates Friant Dam and sells water to irrigation districts, does not allow Millerton Lake water to be sold outside its San Joaquin Valley service area. The water bank would be filled in part with water from Millerton.

 

"We're not taking our entitlement water out of the bank to transfer it someplace else," said Alan Turner, the district's general manager.

 

Kinabrew said he is not convinced. He said there would be a financial incentive to sell water out of county -- and he wants to be on the board to make sure that doesn't happen.

 

"I think the temptation's always going to be there," Kinabrew said.

 

Valley farmers have long worried about water districts arranging deals with Kern County water districts that are State Water Project contractors. In that scenario, the Kern districts could keep the Millerton water in the Valley and simply sell a portion of their state allotment to Los Angeles, thus circumventing federal rules.

 

Seats representing three of the district's five divisions will be filled for four-year terms in a Nov. 6 special election. With ballots going out to 16,470 eligible voters, it's the county's only election this November.

 

The election comes on the heels of a vote in the U.S. House to put the $90 million underground storage plan on an unusual fast track. On Monday, the House declared the Madera Ranch proposal to be "feasible" and authorized its construction. The legislation authorizes up to $22.5 million in federal funds for Madera Ranch. State and local agencies will provide the rest of the money.

 

An identical bill awaits final action in the Senate.

 

For years, a water bank has been discussed as a possible way to meet Madera County's growing water needs. Plans call for Friant Dam water from the San Joaquin River to be put into the ground at Madera Ranch, almost 14,000 acres of grasslands southwest of Madera.

 

The underground basin would hold about half as much water as Millerton Lake, irrigation district officials have said.

 

But since the late 1990s, Madera County farmers concerned about out-of-county water sales have helped to kill two other plans.

 

One plan was presented by H.D. Perrett, a Northern California private owner, and the other was from Azurix, the international water spinoff of former Texas-based corporate giant Enron.

 

The irrigation district also was a staunch opponent of the past water-bank proposals at Madera Ranch -- also because of concerns about out-of-county water sales. So the district's 2005 purchase of the Madera Ranch for a reported $38 million caught many Madera County residents by surprise.

 

The district's decision that same year to sign a $27,000-a-month consulting contract with a Los Angeles-based firm raises red flags, some critics say. The Western Development and Storage Co. contract is up for review in December. The firm provides technical expertise and works with lawmakers, Turner said.

 

But a member of that firm -- Cole Frates -- was the front man of the failed water-bank proposal from Azurix.

 

"That's why some people are suspicious, no doubt," said Division 5 incumbent and current board president Carl Janzen, who is seeking re-election.

 

Like Turner, Janzen cites Bureau of Reclamation regulations as the reason fears about water sales to Southern California are unfounded.

 

The Taxpayers Association of Madera County also is involved in the debate. It filed an environmental lawsuit against the district amid concerns about possible out-of-county water sales. The Madera County lawsuit was dismissed in 2006, but the association has appealed that ruling. The two sides are talking, said Jim Cobb, the association's president.

 

According to reports filed at the Madera County Elections Division, that association has given $1,793 in nonmonetary contributions for printing costs and campaign literature to Galleano's campaign and $1,281 in similar nonmonetary contributions to Kinabrew.

 

Turner said that water could be sold to buyers out of the county during years of surplus. The district has sought Bureau of Reclamation permission to sell water to Valley farmers outside of the county in wet years, he said.

 

The district is waiting for federal environmental clearance of a pilot project to store 11,000 acre-feet of water yearly for three years under Madera Ranch. One acre-foot is about 326,000 gallons, or a one-year supply for an average San Joaquin Valley family. Turner said clearance is expected by next autumn.  #

http://www.fresnobee.com/263/story/176332-p2.html

####