Other Options for Addition Water Storage

Water Banking

The Madera Irrigation District has just cut the ribbon on an extensive Water Banking project that has a capacity to store up to 250 thousand acre feet of water underground by pumping excess water into wells owned by the water district in wet years. Merced Irrigation District owns 221 wells and we would hope that Merced Irrigation District would consider a similar project that would allow them to store excess water underground, replenishing the aquifer, rather than proposing to flood a section of a Wild and Scenic River.

 

Initial Surface Water Storage Screening, CALFed Bay Delta Project, August 2000

 The reservoir site would be located within the service area of Merced Irrigation District (MID), which supplies about 570,000 acre-feet of water per year for municipal and agricultural uses through its operation of New Exchequer Dam ( Lake McClure ). The primary purpose of the Montgomery Reservoir would be to develop an additional source to serve the local demands and to provide off-stream storage of spills on the Merced River and flood control on Dry Creek but could free up other water for CALFED purposes.

 

A portion of high flows from the Merced River stored in Montgomery Reservoir would be used to meet local water needs by allowing water stored in Lake McClure to supplement environmental or water supply uses on either the San Joaquin River or the Delta. The water stored in Montgomery Reservoir would not be returned to the Merced River but would be discharged to an expanded North Side Canal via a pumping plant and new discharge pipeline. Some water placed in the canal would flow west by gravity to meet the needs of MID water users downstream of the turnout.

 

Additional water placed in the canal would flow upstream from the pumping plant (east) in the North Side Canal to meet needs of MID customers located along the expanded North Side Canal between the Merced Falls Diversion Dam and Montgomery Reservoir. A portion of the water conveyed through the North Side Canal would be conveyed through the new Main Canal Pipeline to the MID Main Canal downstream of Snelling Dam. This water would be used to meet MID demands south of the Merced River.

 

Upper San Joaquin River Basin Storage Investigation, October 2003

 

Merced River Watershed - Montgomery Reservoir

 

A new reservoir was considered on Dry Creek, a northern tributary to the Merced River.  Montgomery Reservoir would be an off-stream reservoir that would store flood flows released or spilled from Lake McClure at New Exchequer Dam and diverted from the Merced River at Merced Falls. Water stored in Montgomery Reservoir would be used to meet water needs in Merced Irrigation District (MID), allowing water stored in Lake McClure to be used in exchange for other purposes.

 

Montgomery Reservoir would store up to 241 TAF of water. This option would entail construction of a 101-foot-high zoned earthfill dam and eight saddle dams, with a combined crest length of 14,300 feet. Conveyance of water to and from Montgomery Reservoir would require modifications to the North Side Canal.

 

MID expressed concern regarding the quality of the water that would be developed in Montgomery Reservoir. With a surface area of nearly 8,000 acres, the average reservoir depth would be roughly 30 feet when filled.  High water temperature, the likelihood of algal growth, and relatively high evaporative losses would make the developed water undesirable to MID and its customers. This reservoir option was dropped from further consideration. However, current law requires any feasible options such as this to be considered regardless of water quality; modern filtering methods have made water sources much more practical that were formerly considered unsuitable.

 

Introduction Page – HR869 & HR2578

MERG Current Thoughts on HR 869 & HR 2578

New Exchequer Dam and Lake McClure

FERC Project Boundary Question

The FERC Relicensing Argument

Spillways at Lake McClure

Dam Safety

Embankment Dam Studies

Is Raising the Dam Crest Elevation Unlawful?

Known Geologic Issues

The Effect on the Limestone Salamander

Other Options for Additional Water Storage

MERG Early Thoughts on HR 869