S.J. Supervisors adopt groundwater plan

STOCKTON — Representatives from local water districts and the agriculture industry are breathing a sigh of relief, knowing the state will not be taking over area water anytime soon.

The San Joaquin County Board of Supervisors last week unanimously approved adoption of the Eastern San Joaquin Groundwater Subbasin Groundwater Sustainability Plan, which outlines how local agencies will work to conserve groundwater over the next 20 years.

“(The county) has done its best to make lemonade out of what was a bunch of really bad lemons,” San Joaquin Farm Bureau Federation

chief executive officer Bruce Blodgett said during the Dec. 17 supervisors meeting.

“The only thing that could be worse than moving forward with this plan is not moving forward and having the state come in and tell us how to manage our groundwater,” he said.

In 2014, the state enacted the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act, which required agencies in sub-basins of critical overdraft to develop groundwater conservation plans by Jan. 31, 2020.

San Joaquin County is located in the East San Joaquin Subbasin, and was identified by the Department of Water Resources as one of 21 in a state of critical overdraft.

If groundwater management plans were not approved by the end of January, the DWR would take over management of the sub-basin’s water.

Sixteen agencies in the county, including the City of Lodi, Lockeford Community Services District, North San Joaquin Water Conservation District and Woodbridge Irrigation District, banded together to form the Eastern San Joaquin Groundwater Authority, which developed the groundwater management plan adopted last week.

The plan consists of nine projects to be developed over the next 20 years that would produce 90,000 acre-feet of water annually, or 29.3 billion gallons, in the sub-basin.

Projects include Lodi’s Surface Water Facility Expansion

and Delivery Expansion Pipeline, and the White Slough Water Pollution Control Facility Expansion, as well as the NSJWCD’s South System Modernization.

Andrew Watkins, an east county cattle rancher who served an alternate with the Stockton East Water District, thanked supervisors and all the water districts involved in developing the plan for their patience, input and contributions to keeping the DWR out of the subbasin.

“We made a lot of hard decisions, and we still have a lot more to make,” he said. “But this process has united a lot of people and I think we have a pretty good outcome to adopt today.”

Supervisor Chuck Winn, who represents Lodi and District 4 on the board, said it was a long five years taken to develop the sustainability plan.

“At that time, nobody knew anything about SGMA,” he said. “This thing was passed by the legislature with no understanding, or vision, or blueprint. But I’ve heard from fellow supervisors around the Central Valley and even in the East Bay that the DWR would point to the San Joaquin Valley as a model with regard as to how to do this.”

Supervisor Tom Patti, who represents District 3 on the board, said the plan’s development was a team effort, and that for all 16 agencies to come together was a great achievement.

“To say this was challenging and an accomplishment would be a massive understatement,” he said. “So great job on behalf of all interested parties. The competitive nature people have to protect their community for a better cause was outstanding.”