Stanislaus River Basin and Calaveras River Water Use Program
Threatened and Endangered Species Report - March 1995
Bay Delta and Special Water Projects Division, CA. Dept. of Fish and Game
1.0 INTRODUCTION
1.1 HISTORY AND BACKGROUND
In September 1980, the United States Bureau of Reclamation (USBR) issued a report
entitled Stanislaus River Basin Alternatives and Water Allocation. This report compared
several water allocation alternatives for water from New Melones Reservoir and formed the
basis of the April Record of Decision by the Commissioner of Reclamation. This decision
outlined the allocation of New Melones water through the year 2020. In addition to
quantifying water needs and allocations through the year 2020 for the Stanislaus River Basin,
the report further stated that the primary source of water for the basin should come from New
Melones Reservoir before considering outside sources. Based on storage capacity of New
Melones Reservoir, it was estimated that 49,000 acre feet (TAF) of water was available for
users outside the Stanislaus River Basin. Consequently, this water was contracted to the
Central San Joaquin Water Conservation District (CSJWCD).
In December 1983, the Stockton East Water District (SEWD) and CSJWCD contracted
with the USBR for annual water deliveries of interim supplies of 75 TAF and 31 TAF
respectively. With the CSJWCD firm supply of 49 TAF and the interim 31 TAF, and the
interim 75 TAF for SEWD, the total amount of the USBR contracts for these two agencies was
155 TAF. In 1986 SEWD and CSJWCD approached the California Department of Water
Resources (DWR) and USBR with a proposal for conjunctive use of this 155 TAF of contract
water; conjunctive use is the coordinated use of ground and surface water. The proposal
stated that the agencies would use surface water in wet years; in dry and critical years they
would allow surface water to be released down the Stanislaus River and into the San Joaquin
River and southern delta channels for use by others. Both SEWD and CSJWCD would resume
pumping ground water to meet water demands in dry and critical years.
In January 1988, DWR and USBR entered into a joint planning process and contacted
parties with an interested in the water resources of these basins. These entities were invited to
take part in the study. In March 1989, the resulting Memorandum of Understanding (MOU)
for the study was signed by the following 17 agencies:
- U. S. Bureau of Reclamation
- Department of Water Resources
- Department of Fish and Game
- Calaveras County
- Calaveras County Water District
- Central San Joaquin Water Conservation District
- City of Escalon
- City of Manteca
- City of Ripon
- City of Stockton
- Lathrop County Water District
- San Joaquin County
- South Delta Water Agency
- Stanislaus County
- Stockton East Water District
- Tuolumne County
- Tuolumne Regional Water District
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