By late summer the Merced Irrigation District will release roughly 15,000 acre-feet of water from behind New Exchequer Dam on the Merced River as part of a mandatory habitat study.
But instead of letting that water flow to the sea unused, the district is in the process of brokering a water transfer deal in which that flow will go to Westside farmers in need. In the process MID will make a pretty profit.
With more than enough water in Lake McClure, the one-time transfer won't affect local farmers, said MID's General Manager John Sweigard. "It's a win-win for everybody who needs this transfer," he said.
But some of that water might very likely end up watering lawns in new subdivisions in Southern California instead of almond fields in Kern County, said environmental groups that have been opposing such deals.
For a district whose leaders have repeatedly promised local farmers that they'll never sell local water to Southern California cities, the end use of this water transfer may not line up with their pledges.
The estimated 15,000 acre-feet will net the district about $3 million if all goes according to plan. That water will be split between the Oak Flat Water District, the Kern County Water Agency or KCWA, the Dudley Ridge Water District, and the Tulare Lake Basin Water Storage District.
An acre-foot of water is equivalent to 326,000 gallons.
A record of selling
According to the advocacy group Environmental Working Group, two of those bodies have a track record of selling water to cities. From 1994 to 2004 KCWA sold 456,092 acre-feet of water to other water districts. Tulare Lake Basin District sold 76,941 acre-feet to other districts. In 2002, The Sacramento Bee estimated that three of KCWA's water districts made more than $128 million from sales to municipalities in recent years.
KCWA could neither confirm nor deny the accusations.
No sale to cities
MID officials have repeatedly said they won't sell water to cities and that local water will never go to Southern California.
MID Board Chairman Wil Hunter said he would never sell water to Southern California urban areas. As far as he knows, the latest water transfer is meant for farmland use. "If I could be shown where those water molecules show up on a lawn in Southern California, I would go down and cut their lawn," he said.
Director Dave Long's own campaign literature in 2009 alluded to the danger of selling water to Southern California. He said as far as he knows this water is meant for growers.
But in a recent interview Long said he'd rather see this water go to a city in Southern California rather than under the Golden Gate.
Water for farmers
Ken Robbins, MID's general counsel, said this water is definitely going to farms. "We know the water will be used in the San Joaquin Valley almost exclusively for agriculture," said Robbins. "You have a designated place of use where the water transfer is authorized for use."
But MID's Sweigard wasn't so sure. Once MID has made the sale it's out of the district's hands. "We really can't tell them where to send their water. It's our understanding that it's going to agricultural purposes with those agencies," said Sweigard. "We are transferring water to them. We can't tell them how to beneficially use the water that we are sending to them."
Curtis Creel, KCWA's water resources manager, said the transferred water will go to farmers. He said the water will be "provided to our Westside districts that are short of water supplies."
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