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Board Report Archive
MID
Board Meeting of Tuesday, Sept. 26, 2006
Contact: MID Public Affairs Department,
Kate Hora, 209 526-7454
The next MID Board meetings are scheduled for
Oct. 10, 17, and 24; Nov. 14 and 28, 2006.
Water Report
Walt Ward, Assistant General Manager for Water
Operations, reported that water elevation in
Don Pedro Reservoir was 802.19 feet on Sept.
22, within one foot of elevation on that date
in 2005. The operational objective during the
fall is to maximize water storage but stay under
the flood control space.
Update on Friant-San Joaquin River Settlement
Agreement
General Manager Allen Short briefed
the Board on negotiations in Washington, D.C.
in the past two weeks concerning the Friant-San
Joaquin River Settlement Agreement. This is a
negotiated settlement to 18 years of litigation
concerning environmental restoration of the San
Joaquin River downstream from Friant Dam. The
settlement, which needs federal enabling legislation,
could have major negative effects on irrigation
districts with water rights on the eastern tributaries
of the San Joaquin – Merced, Oakdale, South
San Joaquin, Turlock, and Modesto. None of the
districts took part in the negotiations or had
any input into the agreement.
Potential “side effects” of
the agreement include:
- Requiring the irrigation districts to spend
large sums on environmental mitigation when
their federal dam licenses are renewed.
- Rendering meaningless the millions of dollars
the districts have already spent to aid recovery
of fall-run Chinook salmon, and potentially
causing the fall-run salmon population to decline
so dramatically that it becomes threatened
or endangered.
Representatives of the irrigation districts
met with key senators, congressmen, and federal
agency officials to ask that relief be granted
by applying certain provisions of the Endangered
Species Act. Cautious optimism seems appropriate,
but more work lies ahead.
2007 Capital Budget
The Preliminary Five-Year Capital Improvement
Plan Workshop continued from the Sept. 19 meeting
with a review of proposed spending for Planning & Marketing,
Information Technology (IT), Finance & General
Services, and Electric Resources. All new items
not included in budget forecasts last year have
been subjected to a rigorous cost-benefit analysis.
Any items that failed the test are not being
presented to the Board. Senior management will
make some additional cuts before the Board sees
the next draft of this document. As is the case
every year, many cost increases result from new
legislative and regulatory requirements. Items
of note:
- IT will upgrade Power Scheduling software
as part of new grid reliability mandates.
- New state energy efficiency legislation will
require a new staff position and a new vehicle
for Energy Management.
- Several items are being replaced at Don Pedro
Dam in response to a federal dam safety inspection.
Electric Resources is recommending a large new
capital expenditure for a $1.9 million generation
step-up transformer. This unit will serve as
the backup for any of six transformers of various
sizes. Reliability of the District’s local
generators is always important at times of peak
electric use, but it has taken on heightened
importance due to the limited power import capacity
at the Westley-Tracy switchyard.
MID Business and Succession Plans
John Gronholt, Assistant General Manager for
Human Resources, observed that the Succession
Plan approved by the Board in 1998 enabled MID
to avoid the “train wreck” faced
by many public agencies who are having difficulty
coping with the large number of retiring baby
boomers. The Board will continue discussing these
plans at future meetings
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