Reclamation and El Dorado Irrigation District Sign Warren Act Contract for Project 184 Water
Media Contacts:
Reclamation: Shane Hunt, 916-978-5100,shunt@usbr.gov
El Dorado Irrigation District: Jesse Saich, Public Information Officer, (530) 642-4127, jsaich@eid.org
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Placerville, Calif. — On Aug. 2, 2016, the Bureau of Reclamation and the El Dorado Irrigation District (EID) entered into a Warren Act contract for 17,000 acre-feet per year of EID’s Project 184 supplies (Water Rights Permit 21112) from Folsom Reservoir. The contract will be in effect through February 2030 and is the result of EID’s 25-year effort to secure this new water supply for its customers.
“This long-sought contract is the culmination of years of dedicated work by both parties,” said Acting EID General Manager Tom Cumpston. “Access to this supply from Folsom bolsters EID’s robust water portfolio and enhances dry-year water reliability for EID’s customers and the wider community. At the same time, Reclamation has negotiated contract terms that protect both its Folsom Reservoir customers and the aquatic environment downstream of the dam.”
Drew Lessard, Area Manager for Reclamation’s Central California Area Office, which manages Folsom Reservoir, stated, “Reclamation is pleased to enter into this contract with EID, which will help ensure critical supplies for their water users through 2030.”
EID’s operation of its federally licensed Project 184 hydroelectric project makes the Permit 21112 supplies available; however, permit conditions required that the water be diverted at Folsom Reservoir and that EID enter into a Warren Act contract with Reclamation for the diversion.
Deliveries under the long-term Warren Act contract will be limited to 8,500 acre-feet per year until EID completes the installation of a Reclamation-approved fully operational temperature control device at EID’s raw water pump station, at which time the contract will allow diversion of the full 17,000 acre-feet per year of non-Central Valley Project (CVP) water. The long-term Warren Act contract would allow EID to utilize Project 184 water for consumptive use purposes within their CVP service area through February 2030.
Reclamation developed an Environmental Assessment (EA) to consider potential impacts of entering into the contract. The Final EA, dated July 2016, supports the Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI), signed on August 2. The Final EA/FONSI were prepared in accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act and are available at http://www.usbr.gov/mp/nepa/documentShow.cfm?Doc_ID=26545. If you have problems accessing the documents, please call 916-978-5100 (TTY 800-877-8339) or email mppublicaffairs@usbr.gov.
The Warren Act authorizes the United States to execute contracts for the conveyance and storage of non-CVP water in federal facilities when excess capacity exists. Warren Act contracts are undertaken under the authority of the Act of June 17, 1902, (32 Stat. 388) and acts amendatory thereof or supplementary thereto, including the Act of February 21, 1911, (36 Stat. 925) and Section 305 of the Reclamation States Emergency Drought Relief Act of 1991, enacted March 5, 1992 (106 Stat. 59).
