Fresno bought nearly 3,000 acre-feet of Millerton Lake water last week for $1 million — a deal so uncommon this year that I had to read reporter George Hostetter’s story twice.
On the open water market, the Millerton water might be worth five times that price. Plus, this was supposed to be a second heart-breaking drought year when Millerton Lake customers largely get zero.
So what happened here? Cloud burst over Millerton? Time travel? Serendipity?
Turns out, the Fresno deal was part of bigger behind-the-scenes meetings that brought together federal leaders, east- and west-side agriculture as well as Kern County interests.
The setup: Federal leaders would have been forced this summer to release Millerton Lake water to farmers with senior water rights on the San Joaquin Valley’s west side. Just like last summer, no water would have been left for Fresno and the 15,000 farmers who buy water from Millerton.
But water officials found a way to leave water in Millerton.
Some land will be left idle among the senior water-rights farmers. Water swaps between state and federal projects will take place. Delivery of some leftover water from previous years will be delayed until fall after the critical irrigation time.
The idea is to provide water for the senior water-rights farmers without releasing it from Millerton Lake. It had to be insanely complex to work because there simply is not much water available anywhere.
“Talk about a well-choreographed ballet of water exchanges,” said Fresno’s representative Georganne White, chief of staff for Mayor Ashley Swearingen. “At a time when everyone is protecting what little water they have, it’s pretty remarkable.”
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