MID Board Report Archive

Modesto Irrigation District (MID) Board Meeting of Tuesday, January 23, 2007
Contact: MID Public Affairs Department, Maree Hawkins, (209) 526-7390
The next MID Board meetings will be February 13 & 27, and March 13 & 27.

Water report

Assistant General Manager Walter Ward, Water Operations, said the dry weather has affected both mountains and the valley. The central Sierra snow pack is only 49 percent of normal, while MID has recorded only 0.24” of rain for January.  January 2007 is shaping up to be the fifth driest January on record (MID began recording rainfall in 1888).  Weather models are predicting a change in the weather patterns in February.

2007 irrigation water rates proposal

The Board unanimously directed staff to begin the process that could lead to establishing new irrigation water rates and allocations for 2007.  Letters will be sent to all irrigation water users, detailing the proposed 10 percent rate increase and 36” allocation. A public hearing will be held March 13.  The base charge would increase from $20.50 per acre to $22.50 per acre. The proposed rate increase is based on achieving irrigation cost-of-service over time, as previously directed by the board and implemented over the last 10 years.

Westley-Rosemore Transmission Project

By majority vote the Board approved scheduling a March 13 hearing regarding the proposed adoption of resolutions of necessity to acquire property associated with the Westley-Rosemore Transmission Line Project. Easements have been acquired from 21 property owners, but 22 easements remain.  The transmission line is a 16-mile path from Westley to Modesto.

Assistant General Manager Tom Kimball, Transmission & Distribution, said staff is in the process of sending the remaining property owners letters that summarize the last offer and the current appraisal. MID will be encouraging the remaining landowners to come back to the negotiating table.  In the event the negotiations for the remaining easements are not successful, the properties will need to be acquired through condemnation actions. Prior to initiating such actions, the MID Board must adopt a resolution of necessity for each affected parcel.  Throughout the process MID will continue to negotiate on easements.

MID hopes to have the transmission projected completed by the summer of 2008.  To accomplish this construction has to begin June 2007.  In addition to acquiring the remaining easements, MID must also update permits and order long lead-time material.  Construction could begin where easements have been acquired.  If court action is needed, the construction on the remaining parcels could be done at a later time.  “It is aggressive, but we think it is doable,” said Kimball.

Ripon General Station Water Treatment Facility

The Board unanimously approved an agreement with Aquatech International Corporation for operation support of the Ripon Generation Station water treatment facility. Electric Resource Planning & Development Manager Greg Sayler said the Ripon power plant has operated reliably since mid-June 2006 except that a few ongoing issues have been identified with the water treatment plant.  The California Energy Commission imposed several water-related requirements on the plant, including zero waste discharge and making use of non-potable water from the City of Ripon for input to the gas turbine. These requirements make managing the input water filtration and wastewater elimination more complex than that of MID’s other generating stations.  All power plants with similarly imposed requirements are finding it takes several years to work through all of the water system challenges and fine tune the operating procedures.

In other action

The Board unanimously approved

The MID Investment Policy Guidelines for 2007,

• A contract with DMC Foundation for Splasher visits to schools and special events as part of MID’s canal safety program, and
• An agreement between MID and Western Area Power Administration (Western) for extension of existing long-term firm transmission service between two Western substations, Obanion and Tracy.  This agreement allows MID to take delivery of power from Calpine’s Sutter Plant at Western’s Tracy Substation, then bring it into MID on MID’s Tracy-Westley transmission line.

By majority vote the Board approved agreements for the construction of masonry wall and rolling gate, a control building and site grading at Claribel Substation. The substation could be completed by the end of the year.