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Merced Irrigation Officials Scramble to Fix Groundwater Plan, As Fear of Restrictions Loom

Officials with Merced-area water agencies say they’re updating a key regional groundwater plan after the California Department of Water Resources said it didn’t go far enough to reach state water sustainability targets.

 

Research Seeks Resilience for Aquifers

One day in early October, a group of University of California, Merced, students went to the campus Smart Farm, augurs in hand, to explore the soil for the best spots to locate moisture sensors. They were not looking in the root zone to monitor how much water is available but instead for areas lower in the soil to study how irrigation and stormwater can travel far enough beneath the plants to recharge the groundwater below.

`Until the Last Drop’ Flows Nimbly through California’s Water Wars

Before COVID-19, before George Floyd, before all the demonstrations and even the presidential campaign, we had water wars.

The threat of losing a substantial amount of river water that our farmers depend on was so startling in the summer of 2018 that 1,500 people from Stanislaus, San Joaquin and Merced counties flocked to a well-orchestrated rally in Sacramento. Our elected officials, farmers and regular people vented anger at the proposed “water grab” while the Atwater High marching band brought an air of protest pomp.

Opinion: State Water Board Trying to Drain Away Merced County’s Chief Supply

Less than a week before Christmas in 2016, the State Water Resources Control Board held a single public hearing in our community. The topic? Draining our community’s water supply and sending it to the Bay Delta.

Not only was the hearing deliberately held when our community’s attention was focused on the holiday — it was the only local hearing the Water Board held in Merced before adopting its ill-conceived Bay Delta Water Quality Control Plan SED.

In a Dry Year, Valley Water Sales Get an Extra Dose of Scrutiny

As California navigates a critically dry water year, many business-as-usual elements are getting a second look. One such transaction is a proposed water sale by the Merced Irrigation District.