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April showers bring … irrigation water; Late storms, more snowpack may mean districts get full allocation

Posted by: Maven on April 9, 2009 at 7:10 am

From the Lodi Sentinel:

After thinking that the Lodi area may have to cope with less irrigation water this year, it appears that local water districts may get their full allocations of water. “We’re on the edge of whether we’re going to get water at all,” said Ed Steffani, general manager of the North San Joaquin Water Conservation District.

The recent showers, expected to persist through Friday, have nudged the state closer toward getting out of a drought, but this year’s rain and snow levels are still below normal.

Steffani said he thought for most of the winter that his district, which serves farmers north and east of Lodi, wouldn’t be entitled to any water from the Mokelumne River. But this week’s storms and the recent snowpack reading in the Sierra Nevada are more encouraging.

North San Joaquin is entitled to 20,000 acre-feet from the Mokelumne River during wet and normal winters, but the district lacks the infrastructure to pump more than 4,000 acre-feet at this time. The district has gone without Mokelumne River water the past two years.

EBMUD officials say they still consider the area to be in drought conditions, according to spokesman Charles Hardy. Its customers in Alameda and Contra Costa counties will continue to be on mandatory water rationing. East Bay customers must use 19 percent less water for homes, 30 percent less for irrigation and 12 percent less for commercial uses.

Read more from the Lodi Sentinel by clicking here.

April 9, 2009 · Filed Under Agriculture

Comments

One Response to “April showers bring … irrigation water; Late storms, more snowpack may mean districts get full allocation”

  1. kkevatt on April 10th, 2009 7:35 am

    It is misleading to write about the Mokelumne watershed as if it’s seeing “drought” conditions due to lack of precipitation. As of April 1, the snowpack was 96 percent of normal for the date. This month’s additional rain and snow may push it up to normal.

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