MID Board Report Archive

MID Board Meeting of Tuesday, Feb.28, 2006
Contact: MID Public Affairs Department, Maree Hawkins, 209 526-7390
The next MID Board meetings are scheduled for Mar. 14 & Mar. 28.

Water report

MID will probably not begin irrigation season until mid-March if this week proves as rainy as expected. The April-July runoff forecast for the Tuolumne River is now 95 percent of average, compared to the 116 percent of average of a month ago. (The current storm is not included in the forecast).

Customer Billing System update

Customer Billing System Project Manager Lou Hampel said staff (IT, Customer Service and Mail Room) continues to work diligently on fixing CBS problems and getting out customer bills. Between Feb. 17 and 24, 40,000 bills were sent out. There are still coding and data issues, some of which haven't been identified. He is unable to guarantee when all problems will be fixed.

Legislative update

Jack Gualco (Gualco & Associates of Sacramento), who has looked out for MID interests in Sacramento for about 15 years, said the Governor's water bond could include fees for all water users (residential, commercial and agricultural). There are many objections to the fees, so he's not sure the bond will clear the Legislature by March 10, last date for June ballot. He thinks it's more likely the bonds will appear on the November ballot.

Economic outlook

Jerry Gold, senior vice president at First Southwest Company, provided a financial/economic update for the Board. MID expects to visit to the rating agencies in June with a financial refunding in July. He expressed concern that:

• The cash reserves projection for year-end 2010 is just 67 days of expense coverage, a very low number. Rating agencies typically want to see 200 days of expense coverage and
• MID's adjusted debt service coverage for year-end 2008 is 0.96 percent, and is a violation of bond covenants.

Joint funding agreement with United States Geological Survey

The Board unanimously approved a joint funding agreement between MID and United States Geological Survey (USGS) for 2006. The USGS California Water Science Center is partnering financially with the Stanislaus and Tuolumne Rivers Groundwater Basin Association (cities of Modesto, Oakdale, Riverbank, MID, Oakdale Irrigation District, and Stanislaus County). The goal is to determine how to efficiently manage the water resources of the basin (groundwater and surface water), ensuring an adequate water supply during drought years and in anticipation of increased urbanization.

In other action

In other action the Board unanimously approved:

• Revisions to MID's Employee Transfer Policy and Unlawful Harassment Policy.
• A continuation of extension of salary for MID employees called to active military duty.

The salary extension provides the difference between military and MID pay during the time the employee is on active duty. The Air Force National Guard called an MID employee to active duty this week.