Chowchilla could sell water to Madera County

The city of Chowchilla could sell as much as 2 million gallons of drinking water to Madera County after a vote last week.

The City Council approved the agreement with a 4-1 vote at the March 10 council meeting. Councilwoman Mary Gaumnitz cast the only dissenting vote.

One of the county’s wells is out of service while crews work on it, so the Chowchilla water is meant to serve as a backup in case the construction continues into the hottest part of the summer, according to Craig Locke, Chowchilla’s public works director.

“For us, it’s a good neighbor move,” he said. “We’re happy to have done it.”

He said the city pumped about 1 billion gallons of water last year, so selling 2 million gallons to the county should not put a significant strain on the city’s system.

If the county does not finish the work on its well before summer, the city could sell 36,000 gallons a day for up to 60 days, according to the contract. The county would pay Chowchilla 74 cents per hundred cubic feet of water.

Locke said that fee should cover the costs of staffing related to the water, so the effort would not be a moneymaking venture. Rather, he said, the city should break even.

The county would be responsible for trucking any water it bought.

Gaumnitz said she agreed that being a “good neighbor” is important, but the state’s drought is too serious for the city to sell water. She said the city has passed new watering rules that require residents to conserve water, so the city should be conservative with any surplus water it has.

“I don’t know how much more rain we’re going to get, but I’m sure it’s going to be dry,” she said.

The National Weather Service in Hanford is forecasting no rain in the near future. The Sierra snowpack, which typically provides water to the Valley as the snow melts through the summer, is at 5 percent of its average during March, according to the U.S. Department of Water Resources.

Councilman Richard Walker said the city is in the position of many others in the Valley, but the county needs the assist. “It is a concern of ours, but it’s a situation where we need to help (the county) out,” he said.

This story was originally published March 16, 2015 at 5:42 PM with the headline "Chowchilla could sell water to Madera County."