Hollister
– County water administrators said local growers
”
dodged a bullet
”
and a possible supply shortage when normal pumping resumed
Sunday in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta.
Hollister – County water administrators said local growers “dodged a bullet” and a possible supply shortage when normal pumping resumed Sunday in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta.
The pumps send water to the San Luis Reservoir, which in turn feeds the local San Felipe imported water system.
The state halted pumping May 31 to protect a threatened 2-inch fish called the delta smelt. Environmental groups and state agencies have said smelt are a key indicator of the ecosystem’s overall health.
Pumping resumed Sunday because of a high demand for the water, according to a press release from the state’s Department of Water Resources. In addition, department spokesman Ted Thomas said rising water temperatures should push the fish away from the pumps into the cooler delta regions.
Around 400 San Benito County farms of 10 acres or more use San Felipe water, Water District Manager John Gregg said.
If normal pumping had not resumed, the district’s allocation of San Felipe water could have been cut by 20 percent to 35 percent, Gregg said Friday. Those cuts were averted, but Gregg warned that some rationing may be required later this summer.
“We’re still at risk because we drew down the San Luis Reservoir as much as we did,” he said.
Limited pumping resumed June 10, but Gregg said the reservoir’s water level has been dropping by around two feet per day. Rationing could be required to prevent the water from getting too low, he said.
“Between suspended sediment and algae, water becomes difficult to use,” Gregg said.
Thomas said his department and the state Bureau of Reclamation will continue to increase pumping throughout the week. The state will be monitoring the smelt and could reduce pumping again if the fish are in danger, he said.
“Anything is possible, but I would say it’s unlikely,” Thomas said.
San Benito County Farm Bureau President George Bonacich, an apricot grower, has said the coming months will be a crucial time time for irrigating orchards and row crops.
“There has to be a way to take care of the fish and to take care of farmers, too,” Bonacich said Monday. “The fish are part of our ecology, but we’ve got to keep our farmers in business.”
Gregg said the San Felipe water system has always been officially described as a supplement to the county’s groundwater. But many have shifted completely to San Felipe water, Gregg said, allowing their groundwater systems to deteriorate.
“Basically, if you’ve got a good thing, people are going to use it,” Gregg said.
He added that there are ways to improve the San Felipe system, but they’re going to take time and money. The City of Hollister’s plans to reduce the salt content of treated wastewater and sell the water for agricultural use could be one step toward a more reliable water supply, Gregg said.
