Irrigation projects (& senior water rights) portend well-supplied future for Patterson Irrigation District

From the Patterson Irrigator:

Drought conditions and pumping restrictions for state and federal water projects have severely limited allocations for farm water districts this year. The tough times mean many irrigation districts, including Patterson Irrigation District, have turned to groundwater pumping as an important supplement. But unlike some other districts, PID representatives say an arsenal of existing and future projects should help them survive the current crunch and also prepare for the future. “Really, what we’re doing is taking it to a different level,” said John Sweigard, the district’s general manager.

Patterson Irrigation District provides agricultural water to 770 customers on about 12,800 acres. Its boundaries, which previously included land within the approved Villages of Patterson development project in eastern Patterson, are roughly Del Puerto Creek to the north, Marshall Road to the south, Highway 33 to the west and the San Joaquin River to the east.

As part of the future planning, a new backup pump system along the San Joaquin River has already been put in place, and the district plans to start using a new reservoir off Fruit Avenue by mid-August.
District officials have also kept busy over the years with other projects, ranging from a reservoir and sediment basin off Marshall Road to an automated system that allows the district to control pump operations from its office.

The Patterson Irrigation District has benefited greatly from water rights it obtained from the state by virtue of pulling water from the San Joaquin River before 1914. The 98-year-old district, which started as Patterson Ranch Co. and Patterson Water Co., gets between 70 percent and 80 percent of its water supply from the river today, with its remaining supply coming from groundwater, recirculation projects and the Delta-Mendota Canal.

This year, the district sold water via a one-year transfer of its Central Valley Project supply before it was apparent that there would be a drought season, and groundwater pumping has been necessary, Sweigard said. But, he added, the district generally tries to use groundwater as a last resort.

Many other districts are forced to rely mostly on state allocations — via the California Aqueduct — or federal water — via the Delta-Mendota. Those sources have been severely restricted as a result of dry conditions and a court decision protecting the Delta smelt, an endangered fish native to the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta.

By contrast, the Patterson Irrigation District has had an excess supply in past years, and it continues to transfer water elsewhere for a profit. That has provided a hefty chunk of change that has been used to create a slew of storage and pumping projects.

Read more from the Patterson Irrigator by clicking here.

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