Lodi News-Sentinel, 5/31/2001

An ambitious project to deliver water to the East Bay — but which could also help San Joaquin County replenish its diminishing groundwater supply — is one step closer to completion.

In a meeting Wednesday, San Joaquin County officials approved an agreement that could bring the county up to 93,000 acre-feet of water during years the East Bay Municipal Utility District is not experiencing droughts.

“Currently the existing project does not benefit San Joaquin County,” said Manuel Lopez, director of San Joaquin County public works. “We are tying to become part of the project so there is a benefit.”

The $350 million Freeport Regional Diversion project is intended to help the East Bay Municipal Utility District during drought years. Water from the Sacramento River at Freeport will be piped across southern Sacramento County and northern San Joaquin County in what could be a 20-mile long pipeline. The water will be moved to the utility’s main line moving water from Pardee Reservoir to the East Bay.

“This is a drought project,” said Charles Hardy, spokesman for EBMUD. “We have enough water to serve our customers now.”

During wet years, San Joaquin County officials hope they can use some of the excess water.

“During wet years we could bank water like the money we put in a bank,” Lopez said.

The excess water would be pumped into what the county is calling the diminishing ground water supply.

“It would replenish the overdraft and stop salinity intrusion,” Lopez said.

Some farmers in the county can no longer water crops because the salinity content in their wells is so high, Lopez said. As more and more water is pumped out, a wall of salt water from below the Delta creeps in to fill the void.

Banking water from the Freeport project is one way to stop the intrusion.

San Joaquin County officials hope to finalize the agreement that would allow the county to partner with Sacramento County, Sacramento County Water Agency and East Bay MUD.

Some areas in the agreement still have to be worked out, such as what will happen during years that fall between the wet or drought years.

“It will have to be spelled out very clearly in the agreement,” Hardy said.

East Bay MUD officials hope the project will prevent rationing during drought years, similar to the rationing in 1987 and 1988.

“For some people the drought was pretty devastating,” Hardy said.

The Freeport project will be complete in 2005.

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