By: Larry Byrd, 10/6/20
Published in Waterford News
The Modesto Bee recently reported that the Modesto Irrigation District and the Turlock Irrigation District, our partner on the Don Pedro Reservoir, achieved a significant win in our eleven-year effort to relicense Don Pedro. Don Pedro provides green and inexpensive hydroelectric power reducing our electrical rates while providing critical surface water supplies to Modesto and hopefully in the near future to Waterford ensuring long term sustainable groundwater supplies. Don Pedro also supplies water to over 200,000 acres of farmland, supporting our farmers who drive our local economy.
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission staff supported our science-based, cost-effective habitat restoration plan and rejected the State Water Board’s devastating unimpaired flow requirements. They recognized that MID’s approach will enhance fish habitat while ensuring water supply for our families, businesses, and farmers. As stated in our recent documentary “Until the Last Drop” (available on YouTube), MID has been excellent stewards of the Tuolumne River and our approach will continue our strong environmental record while protecting our water rights.
This achievement required a dedicated and skilled team that we have assembled at MID. You will not likely see their names in press releases, but they deserve our thanks for helping us fight this battle: Our Assistant General Manager John Davids, John Devine from consulting firm HDR, and our legal team of Bill Paris and Kim Ognisty.
We started this process in 2011, the year I was first elected to the MID Board. Since then I have attended hundreds of hours of hearings and meetings before the State Water Board and the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and with numerous federal and state elected officials and staff. Hundreds of hours of work with elected officials from both parties and agency leaders from both republican and democratic administrations have forged important relationships with all the major stakeholders. We have laid the foundation as we move to the next stages of our relicensing process.
MID will continue to work towards a voluntary agreement with the State Water Board that would replace the devastating unimpaired flow requirements adopted by the State Water Board in December 2018. We will also have to address future efforts by the State Water Board to impose unimpaired flow requirements as part of the FERC relicensing process.
We need to leverage our relationships and continue to work with all of the agencies. Yet they need to understand that we will not compromise our future. This battle will continue for years, and MID must be tenacious in protecting our water for all our children and all our grandchildren.