Commission Recommends Ag Water Measurement Regulations
The California Water Commission at its meeting June 15 recommended that the state adopt agricultural water measurement regulations.
Developed under SBX7-7 as part of the comprehensive water legislation of 2009, the proposed regulations would require accurate measurement devices on nearly all irrigation laterals and turnouts in the state, numbering more than 115,000 gates, and would require between 5% and 12% volume accuracy for delivered water. Water supplies would face a deadline of July 31, 2012, to begin measuring volumes delivered to farm and ranch customers.
At a previous water commission meeting, Department of Water Resources officials had suggested that certified volume measurement devices could cost $6,500 each and $1,200 per year for monitoring, repair and reporting.
The 2009 comprehensive legislative package requires that DWR adopt regulations that provide for a range of options that agricultural water suppliers may use to comply with the measurement requirement. It also mandates that water districts adopt a pricing structure for customers that takes into account the quantity of water delivered.
Beginning in 2013, agricultural water supplies that do not meet the water management planning requirements established by the bill will not be eligible for state water grants or loans.
DWR has proposed a three-year phase-in of the volume measuring requirements, but the timeline has not been decided.
Read more in the California Farm Bureau Federation's Ag Alert and find links to the proposed regulations and instructions for submitting comments, accepted June 27 through July 1, on DWR's website.
