Turlock Irrigation District (TID) is one of only four irrigation districts in the state that provides irrigation water and power to residential, commercial, industrial and agricultural customers. TID relies on the Tuolumne River for much of the water it supplies to 150,000 acres of farmland and the electricity it generates and delivers to its more than 100,000 customer accounts.

 

Because the Tuolumne River is such an important resource for TID and the region, TID has worked diligently to design flow and non-flow measures in the TRVA to enhance in-river spawning, rearing and out-migrating conditions to help more juvenile salmon survive. The TRVA was designed as a more progressive, science-based alternative to a requirement set by the State Water Resources Control Board to release large volumes of water known as “unimpaired flows” in the river.

 

Under the TRVA, salmon productivity is expected to increase by 150 percent over current conditions and more than 80 percent over conditions in the State Water Quality Control Board’s Bay-Delta Plan Update flow regime. This State Water Board regime has required that 40 percent of “unimpaired flows” be released annually on the Merced, Stanislaus and Tuolumne rivers during key parts of the year as part of its update to the Water Quality Control Plan for the San Francisco Bay/Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta Estuary (Bay-Delta Plan Update).

 

In response, TID developed and invested in the science-based and peer-reviewed Tuolumne River Management Plan, a more equitable and effective way to protect natural resources for wildlife and people and provide a foundation for the TRVA and relicensing of the Don Pedro Project.

Grounded in solid science, the Tuolumne River Voluntary Agreement is a revolutionary approach to managing and balancing water supplies to support thriving communities and fisheries.”

– The TRVA Partners: Turlock Irrigation District, Modesto Irrigation District and San Francisco Public Utilities Commission

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