Eastside farmers will receive more water than expected next month from already depleted New Hogan Lake, even though not everyone wants that water.
The Stockton East Water District Board of Directors voted Tuesday to send water to all agricultural customers for 10 days at the start of July.
That’s a significant change. Earlier this spring, the district told many growers that they would receive no water at all.
The district’s most senior growers, however, have slurped up less than expected so far this spring, freeing up water that the board decided could take pressure off the region’s overtaxed groundwater supply.
“Our mission is to protect groundwater,” said farmer Andrew Watkins, a Stockton East board member and president of the San Joaquin Farm Bureau Federation. “If we have growers who can irrigate with surface water, we need to deliver it.”
Every drop of water delivered to farmers this year, however, is one less drop that can be stored in New Hogan for next year, should the drought persist. The reservoir was 17 percent of capacity on Tuesday.
A city of Stockton representative suggested Tuesday that the extra water could be saved for possible urban use next year. The board rejected that notion.
Some farmers have indicated they don’t want any river water now, midway through the growing season. They have fallowed fields or made other arrangements to put water on their crops.
Former state Sen. Mike Machado, who farms in the Linden area, warned Stockton East earlier this month that the release of additional water in July might not meet the state’s standard that water be put to a “reasonable and beneficial use.” And he warned how it might look if Stockton East farmers take more water while farmers in the Delta are voluntarily reducing their consumption.
But Paul Sanguinetti, president of Stockton East’s board, said it wasn’t much water in the big picture — probably less than 5,000 or 6,000 acre-feet. There were almost 55,000 acre-feet of water in New Hogan on Tuesday, though most of that water is already committed for other purposes.
Sanguinetti said actions by the State Water Resources Control Board to cut off even senior water-right holders last week point to a need to use water when it’s there.
“Anything’s up for grabs, the way I look at it,” he said.