Merced Irrigation District sues state regulators over stiff water cutbacks amid drought
The Merced Irrigation District’s attorney on Tuesday announced he has filed a lawsuit to fight the drastic curtailments set out earlier this year by state water regulators.
The State Water Resources Control Board cut off Merced and central San Joaquin Valley farmers Aug. 4 from their main irrigation supplies — which are California’s rivers and streams — as the drought worsens.
MID’s lawsuit is meant to protect water rights and disadvantaged communities on the eastern side of Merced County, according to a MID news release.
The lawsuit alleges the board has failed to prove there is an emergency.
The suit also says the board also has not developed clear guidelines for curtailment, addressed the drought during wet years, maintained due process or met with local agencies, among several other allegations.
The lawsuit was filed Thursday, Sept. 2 at the same time as others around the state, according to the news release.
Gov. Gavin Newsom asked the local water agencies to work with the State Water Board in order to avoid disputes, according to MID General Counsel Phillip McMurray.
“Unfortunately, the Water Board still hasn’t agreed to meet or even discuss our proposals,” McMurray said.
The state water board unanimously voted to impose an “emergency curtailment” order covering the rivers of the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta watershed — essentially the entire Central Valley.
The move was the most extreme step taken to date by state regulators since the drought was officially declared in most of California’s counties, and it goes further than any measures during the previous drought.
MID General Manager John Sweigard said state regulators have taken questionable actions and not acted in good faith.
“In the last drought, we were able to develop some significant compromises with the State Water Board that allowed us to take tangible actions for the benefit of MID, the environment and other water users in California,” he said, in the news release.
MID owns and operates Lake McClure on the Merced River, and delivers water to about 2,200 growers farming on approximately 132,000 acres in eastern Merced County, according to the district. Just about every city and community serviced by MID has been deemed disadvantaged by the state.
Beyond the communities financially hurt by the curtailment, district officials argue, the board’s actions could substantially harm hydroelectric production from New Exchequer Dam, which benefits the statewide grid.
The water board said in August it needed to curtail farmers’ usage to preserve river flows for drinking water as well as endangered fish species. “Adoption of an emergency regulation is necessary to address the immediate and dire water shortages in the Delta watershed,” the order says.
The state board imposed emergency curtailment orders on limited groups of farmers in 2014 and 2015, but never on such a broad scale as it did on Aug. 4.
This story was originally published September 7, 2021 at 5:49 PM.
