Whether Modesto-area farmers are willing to cover the cost of fancy water delivery meters – about $4.5 million – will be seen next year in a vote of Modesto Irrigation District growers.
Particulars, including how much farmers might expect to see water bills rise, are unknown. They are bracing for a separate rate hike, probably in January.

State laws enacted before and during the drought require higher-tech measuring. MID this year tested several models at various spots on its canals, and the district is developing a strategy to make sure the district doesn’t get in trouble with California water enforcers.

The strategy, including a voting procedure asking customers to weigh in, is expected out in three or four months. Its framework became public when MID released a draft update of the district’s Agricultural Water Management Plan, with a public hearing scheduled for Dec. 15.

MID relies on ditchtenders’ estimates for measuring water being delivered from district canals to private canals or pipelines and on to fields or orchards. It’s an imperfect science, partly because calculations have a manually noted time component and no instrument verifies ditchtenders’ records.

The Water Conservation Act of 2009 allows a margin of error of up to 12 percent for existing meters and 5 percent for new, and “the current measurement methods may not comply with regulated accuracy requirements in all circumstances,” MID’s ag-water management plan says.
The district this year tested various devices made by different companies at eight locations to get a sense for which work best. Upgrades are needed at 300 points, and staff came up with a strategy for installing about 60 a year over five years.

If most MID growers agree, the district could float bonds and use money collected from higher water rates to repay that debt, the ag-water management plan says. If not, “the district may not have sufficient funding” for new devices, the document says.

Board member Nick Blom said growers won’t be surprised because most are aware of similar upgrades introduced a year or two ago by the neighboring Turlock Irrigation District, costing about $11 million. TID is roughly twice the size of MID.

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