STATE WATER RESOURCES CONTROL BOARD
ITEM 10
SUBJECT:
CONSIDERATION
OF APPROVAL OF A RESOLUTION TO PROVIDE A $500,000 AGRICULTURAL DRAINAGE
MANAGEMENT PROGRAM LOAN TO THE PACHECO WATER DISTRICT FOR A CANAL LINING
PROJECT
DISCUSSION:
The
Pacheco Water District (District) submitted an application for a State
Revolving Fund (SRF) Loan for a Canal Lining Project (Project). The amount of the District’s loan request is
$500,000.
The
District’s irrigation delivery system consists of five laterals that deliver
water via gravity from the San Luis Canal to growers within the District (see
attached map). Operational spill water
collects in a tailwater ditch at the end of the laterals, and it is returned to
the District’s water supply. The
District loses approximately 1,150 acre feet per year of irrigation water to
seepage through the laterals, which are mostly earthen canals. Much of the seepage is collected by the
District’s tile drainage system, and it contributes to selenium and salinity
loading in the San Joaquin River.
Seepage studies show that the third lateral loses
the greatest amount of irrigation water at 407 acre feet per year. The SRF loan would be used to line the
entire length of the third lateral and one mile of the tailwater ditch with
concrete. The third lateral is
approximately three miles.
The
District is a member of the San Luis and Delta-Mendota Water Authority
(Authority). The Authority entered into
a Use Agreement with the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation (USBR) on November 3,
1995 for interim use of the San Luis Drain to discharge subsurface drainage
water into the San Joaquin River. A
condition of the Use Agreement is that the Authority meets specific monthly
load values for selenium in the San Joaquin River. The reduction in volume of subsurface drainage flows will help
the Authority manage selenium and salinity loading to the San Joaquin River.
The
Project will reduce more than 35 percent of the total seepage within the
laterals. It is estimated that as much
as 50 percent of the seepage is collected by the tile drainage systems within
the District. A 50 percent reduction in
seepage from the third lateral will reduce the District’s selenium loading by
approximately 52 pounds per year. The
District’s load target under the Use Agreement with the USBR for 2000 and 2001
is 436 pounds. The Project will
also reduce the amount of salt loading to the San Joaquin River by
approximately 1,009 tons per year.
The
District did not do a seepage study on the tailwater return ditch. However, since the soil profile is similar
to the laterals, an average of the seepage in the laterals is used to estimate
the seepage reduction. Assuming the
tailwater return ditch contains water for the same number of days as the
laterals, the seepage is estimated at approximately 100 acre feet per
year. Lining one mile of the tailwater
ditches will result in a reduction of almost 13 pounds of selenium and 249
tons of salt discharged to the San Joaquin River per year. A partial concrete lining will also reduce
sediment contributions to the District’s water supply.
The
Central Valley Regional Water Quality Control Board (CVRWQCB) supports the
project through a memorandum to the State Water Resources Control Board (SWRCB)
dated January 7, 2000 requesting the SRF Project Priority List for Fiscal Year
(FY) 1999-00 be updated to include the Project. The CVRWQCB memorandum states that the Project needs prompt
attention. After review of the CVRWQCB request,
SWRCB staff determined that the project should be funded through the
Agricultural Drainage Management Program (ADMP) rather than the SRF. The ADMP is a loan program created by Proposition
204 to address agricultural drainage problems.
The interest rates on ADMP loans are at one-half the rate of the last
sale of State General Obligation Bonds.
The
Project is in accordance with the CVRWQCB Resolution No. 96-147 entitled
“Amendments to the Water Quality Control Plan for the San Joaquin Valley”
(Basin Plan). The SWRCB in Resolution
No. 96-078 approved the Basin Plan amendments.
The Basin Plan makes the following recommendations:
Best
management practices, principally water conservation measures, are applicable
to the control of agricultural subsurface drainage.
The
SWRCB should consider declaring the drainage problem area in the
San Joaquin Basin a priority nonpoint source problem in order to make
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency nonpoint source control funding
available to the area.
The San Joaquin
Valley Drainage Program final report also recommends: (1) source control to
reduce deep percolation by the use of on-farm improvements of irrigation
systems and (2) that the SWRCB provide funding for source control projects.
The
District has previously received assistance twice from the SRF loan program to
implement source control and water conservation practices to reduce subsurface
drainage. The projects are as follows:
The
San Luis Canal Water Conveyance and Drainage Facilities Project for $1,500,000. This project enabled the District to
increase the volume of drainage water recycled from 800 acre feet to 2,700 acre
feet annually, thereby reducing potential selenium and salinity loading to the
San Joaquin River.
The Irrigation System Improvement Project for
$1,000,000. This project purchased drip irrigation, gated
pipe, sprinkler, and tailwater return systems that were leased to growers to
implement on-farm water conservation practices.
Approval of the Project will enable the District to further
conserve water and reduce selenium and salinity loading to the San Joaquin
River.
The District completed a
Categorical Exemption under sections 15301 and 15302(c) of the California
Environmental Quality Act.
POLICY ISSUE:
Should the SWRCB approve a $500,000 ADMP loan to the
District for the Project?
FISCAL IMPACT:
Water Code section 78642(a) continuously appropriates the sum of $27,500,000 without regard to fiscal years from the Drainage Management Subaccount to the SWRCB for the ADMP. Section 78645.5 provides for the SWRCB to use up to three percent ($825,000) to administer to ADMP leaving $26,675,000 available for loans to local agencies. The status of the fund is as follows:
Less statutory 3 percent Administrative
Overhead ($825,000)
Subtotal $26,675,000
Previously Committed
Merced County $5,000,000
Santa Ana River Watershed
Group’s requested $3,100,000
Subtotal $18,575,000
Pacheco Water District for a Canal Lining Project $500,000
(Balance) $18,075,000
RWQCB IMPACT:
Yes.
CVRWQCB.
STAFF RECOMMENDATION:
That the SWRCB approves a
$500,000 ADMP loan to the District for the Project.
Note: The map is not electronically available. For copies, contact:
Paul Roggensack/Division of Water Quality/SWRCB/P.O. Box 944213/Sacramento, CA 95814/(916) 657-0673 or FAX (916) 657-2127
____________________________________________________________________________________________
May
22, 2000 DRAFT
STATE WATER RESOURCES
CONTROL BOARD
RESOLUTION NO. 2000-___
APPROVAL
OF A $500,000 AGRICULTURAL
DRAINAGE
MANAGEMENT PROGRAM LOAN
TO THE PACHECO WATER DISTRICT FOR
A CANAL
LINING PROJECT
WHEREAS:
1. The Pacheco Water District (District) submitted an application for a $500,000 loan from the Agricultural Drainage Management Program (ADMP) for the Canal Lining Project.
2. The Project will conserve up to 507 acre feet of irrigation water annually and reduce selenium and salinity loading to the San Joaquin River.
3. The Central Valley Regional Water Quality
Control Board supports the project in accordance with its Resolution No. 96-147
entitled “Amendments to the Water Quality Control Plan for the San Joaquin
Valley”.
4. The State Water Resources Control Board
(SWRCB) in Resolution 96-078 approved the “Amendments to the Water Quality
Control Plan for the San Joaquin Valley.”
5. The District completed a Categorical
Exemption under sections 15301 and 15302(c) of the California Environmental
Quality Act.
6. The San Joaquin Valley Drainage Program
final report recommends: (1) source control to reduce deep percolation by the
use of on-farm improvements of irrigation systems and (2) that the SWRCB
provide funding for source control projects.
7. The SWRCB has provided State Revolving Fund loans twice before to
the District to fund similar activities.
THEREFORE
BE IT RESOLVED THAT:
The SWRCB approves a $500,000 ADMP loan to the District for the Project.
The
undersigned, Administrative Assistant to the Board, does hereby certify that
the foregoing is a full, true, and correct copy of a resolution duly and
regularly adopted at a meeting of the State Water Resources Control Board held
on June 15, 2000.
_____________________________________
Maureen
Marché