Canal capacity constraints often place farmers on waiting lists during peak irrigation months. To minimize waiting lists significant canal and flume enlargements could improve canal capacity. However a conjunctive use program, where wells pump into the canal downstream of capacity constraints, could also help increase capacity. Expensive infrastructure improvements, estimated at $25 million, can be avoided by utilizing groundwater resources to supplement surface water resources in times of upstream canal capacity constraints. A future expanded program could also help supplement surface water during drought.
Implementing an incentive-based conjunctive use program, pumping well water into canals, will improve water delivery flexibility and minimize the District's waiting list period that often lasts up to six weeks between mid-May and mid-July. Individual farmers can wait up to a week for water during the peak demand months.
Enroll Your Well
Incentives for well-owners to participate in this program include a first priority for water deliveries and a standard District rate for all water delivered, including your groundwater. Instead of paying expensive PG&E costs to utilize groundwater for irrigation on your land, participants could use the same water at lower District rates. This benefit, however, would require that participants relinquish control of their well to the District. Although participants would have delivery priority, the groundwater delivered to their fields would be limited to less than 20 days per month - in order to serve additional District farmers by routing the additional groundwater through District canals for delivery to other District farmers. An additional benefit to participating well-owners is that the District would pay the full cost of their existing pump, including operation and maintenance and PG&E standby and meter charges, for the duration of the program.
The District will be conducting a pilot program for the 2008 irrigation season. To begin, we are soliciting all interested well-owners and conducting well interviews with interested tenant farmers and/or well-owners. The program's well selection process will assess what wells will be most useful for this program. The District would like your participation whether you are interested in only a one-year or long-term commitment to the program. Any well-owner or tenant farmer within the District will be eligible to apply for participation in this program. Well interviews will be conducted in-person at the District office during November and December of 2007. Following interviews, District staff will field inspect the wells and conduct pump tests. The results of the interview, field evaluation, pump test will be used to determine what wells will be selected for the 2008 pilot program. Well characteristics that will be evaluated include location, depth, flow rate, electricity costs, efficiency, water quality, age, power source, and environmental sensitivity.
Contact Info
If you are interested in participating, please schedule a well interview by calling or emailing the District's conjunctive-use program consultant, Monique de Barruel at 530-792-3221 (mdebarruel@westyost.com). You will be asked to bring the following items, if available, to the interview: PG&E bill, pump test results, pictures of well/pump, well construction logs, water quality test results, and a map of the property in which the well is located. If you have additional questions, please contact:
Monique de Barruel (530) 792-3221
Max Stevenson (530) 662-0265 or
Tim O'Halloran (530) 662-0265
