Now that the area has access to a 10 percent federal water
allocation, a local official explained how San Benito County has
the option of receiving all of its designated supply at once but
that the agency overseeing the pumping will request it on a monthly
basis.
HOLLISTER
Now that the area has access to a 10 percent federal water allocation, a local official explained how San Benito County has the option of receiving all of its designated supply at once but that the agency overseeing the pumping will request it on a monthly basis.
San Benito County and others statewide received a water allocation from the federal government of 10 percent this year for agricultural uses. That is because the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation at a May 1 meeting approved the boost from the zero allocation, which had prompted protests in April from farmers and farm workers concerned about an economic impact from the lacking supply.
“It has given us an extra 3,500 acre-feet of water,” said Jeff Cattaneo, executive director of the San Benito County Water District.
Along with the allocation from the San Luis Reservoir, the district also has been holding about 3,500 acre-feet in the San Justo Reservoir.
The water situation in the county is more about quality than quantity. Cattaneo said that the groundwater basin is full.
“The amount of water is not a problem. The problem with the groundwater basin is that it is salty.”
Cattaneo said that a sample from the San Justo Reservoir would show 270 to 300 parts per million of total dissolved solids or salt and a sample from the groundwater basin would show 800 to 1,000 parts per million of total dissolved solids.
The federal allocation comes from the San Luis Reservoir, and the San Benito County Water District can choose to take any amount allotment they wish at any time, according to Cattaneo.
“We can choose to take it all in one month. Normally, we wouldn’t do that,” he said. “We send a request for the amount of water we need on a monthly basis.”
The water then moves through an aqueduct system from the reservoir to the county. The plant that delivers the water, the Pacheco Pumping Plant, is operated by the Santa Clara County Water District in partnership with San Benito. The amount of water is read just once a month and if the county overused water in one month, there would be a limitation put on the amount allotted for the next month. Cattaneo said it is “pretty much on the honor system.”
“We have control of the pumping plants. We could pump as much as we wanted to but we honor the restrictions.”
