Water Bank Tiff Percolates Anew
By Charles McCarthy, The Fresno Bee, Calif.
Mar. 9–MADERA — The Madera Irrigation District is in negotiations to sell parts of the land over its underground water bank, sparking renewed debate over whether local water might ultimately be sold in thirsty Southern California.
The district sought bids for 2,735 acres of the 13,600-acre Madera Ranch property late last year. Ten parcels are being offered. The land, eight miles southwest of Madera, is the site of a $90 million project that would percolate water into underground aquifers to release during dry years.
Last month, the district began negotiating with one of the bidders, who has not been identified but who is interested in all of the parcels.
The sale is expected to bring in $18 million to $20 million, said Carl Janzen, the district’s president. The money would be used to pay down debt on the project, he said.
"It’s a good business decision," Janzen said.
For years, critics have argued that the water stored there could be sold to Southern California interests, despite federal, state and county rules that prohibit such sales.
Jim Cobb, president of the Taxpayers Association of Madera County, has said those rules could be circumvented through a middle man.
The district is "allowed to sell water to districts that can sell water to Southern California," Cobb said. He believes the district shouldn’t sell the land.
Janzen said that’s not an issue, because the land above is all that’s for sale. The water below isn’t part of the deal, he said.
"It’s not land we need per se for the water bank," Janzen said.
There also are limits on how the land could be used, he said. The land is open to alfalfa growing and vineyard operations.
But livestock feedlots or dairy operations would not be allowed, because of the possibility of nitrates from livestock waste seeping into the water below, Janzen said.
Janzen testified recently before a Senate subcommittee in Washington, D.C., seeking passage of a bill by California Sen. Dianne Feinstein authorizing up to $22.5 million for the water bank.
Water from Millerton Lake released through Friant Dam would be stored in the water bank.
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.
But bureau spokesman Jeff McCracken said that the "plumbing" for Southern California water delivery exists in the 152-mile Friant-Kern Canal from Millerton Lake. Even so, to pump water from Kern County into Southern California would require both state and federal approval.
Water bank skeptics have pointed to the Metropolitan Water District in Southern California as a potential water buyer.
The district, which keeps the taps flowing for 17 million residents, announced in November that it plans to buy additional water in 2008 "through transfers with willing sellers in Yuba County and the state’s Central Valley."
Metropolitan spokesman Bob Muir said that the district is not seeking federal water from the Central Valley Project, which includes Friant Dam and Millerton Lake.
With the possible exception of flood runoff from Cottonwood Creek in wet years, 100% of the water in the Madera Ranch water bank will be Central Valley Project water, Janzen said.
The reporter can be reached at cmccarthy@fresnobee.com or(559) 675-6804.
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