BOARD OF
DIRECTORS
 
JAMES G. CRECELIUS
   Chairman
   (209) 874-1866
 
HOWARD M. BARNETT
    (209) 883-4026
 
WARD BURROUGHS
   (209) 874-9633
 
DAVID LONG
   (209) 874-1875
 
AL ROSSINI
   (209) 874-3739
 
W. L. (LARRY) CARTER
    Secretary
   (209) 874-2210  
 
 
 
Contact Information
 
Address:
P.O. Box 280
Denair, CA 95316
 
E-mail:
ewd@jbmj.com
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

    EASTSIDE

    WATER DISTRICT

 

 

WHERE WE HAVE BEEN – WHERE WE ARE GOING

(FROM THE PAST TO THE FUTURE) 

An interview with Chairman of the Board Jim Crecelius 

Jim Crecelius was first elected as a charter member of the Board of Directors when the Eastside Water District was formed in 1985.  He has served on the board continuously since that time.  Jim’s family was one of the early developers of irrigated agriculture in the Eastside area. 

Editor – Jim, I want to thank you for spending some time with us to enlighten us about some of the history of the District and to share your views of what the future holds for irrigated agriculture in the area.  Can you tell us something about what it was like out here before the District was formed? 

Crecelius – The area that is now within the District was largely dry farmed until the late 1960’s.  With the advent of modern irrigation with sprinklers, deep wells were dug and were used to irrigate higher value crops such as almonds, grapes, and beans.  The water table at the time was about 70-100’ from the surface. 

Editor – What changes have you noticed over the years? 

Crecelius – Currently the District is planted in mostly permanent crops and has actually been replanted over the years with second generation permanent plantings.  The irrigation systems on these new and redeveloped properties has changed from sprinklers to drip and micron irrigation.  There is now little or no summer runoff from any irrigation in the District.  The District is quite renowned for almond production and is considered on e of the best regions in the state. 

Editor – When did people begin to notice that groundwater levels were declining? 

Crecelius – People began to be concerned and talk about the issue around the drought of 1975-77.  The water tables dropped dramatically and many pumps had to be lowered. 

Editor – What do you remember about formation of the Eastside Water District?  Were you involved?  Was it a popular idea?

Crecelius – Iver Brand and Larry Hooker, who were prominent growers in the area, lead the effort in forming the District.  They petitioned the growers in the area and collected from the signers a refundable deposit upon formation of the District.  The signatures were taken to LAFCO that implemented the formation process.  The process included an election that was held and passed to form the Eastside Water District.   

Editor – What activities has the District undertaken?   

Crecelius – Our focus has been on finding ways to reduce the groundwater decline.  We have conducted studies to explore acquiring water from other agencies and delivering it to replace or reduce groundwater pumping.  In 1997 the District constructed a Pilot Recharge Basin to explore the viability of artificial recharge of the groundwater aquifer.  While that particular installation was very successful, it is recognized that due to the high variability of soils in the area extensive investigation would be necessary to locate other suitable sites.  Finding a reliable water supply is also a challenge.  Probably water would be available only in wet years.  No single strategy stands out as being economically viable.   

Editor – Has the District worked with other groundwater users in the Basin? 

Crecelius – The District has joined with other Agencies in the basin to form the Turlock Groundwater Basin Association to better manage the groundwater in the Basin.  In 1997 the Agencies developed a basin-wide groundwater management plan to provide guidelines to preserve the quality and quantity of the groundwater.  The Agencies are currently preparing an update to that plan.  In 2003 the Association conducted a study that concluded that groundwater levels in the basin have stabilized.  The Association is compiling a groundwater level data base as each of the agencies monitor groundwater levels in their area and forward that data to the association. 

Editor – How did the groundwater levels stabilize?  Does that mean that the groundwater will not drop again? 

Crecelius – The consultant who performed the studies advised that additional water flowed into the aquifer from the Tuolumne and Merced rivers and from the irrigation water applied in the Turlock Irrigation District (TID).  He further advised that so long as the existing conditions of groundwater pumping and water levels in the rivers and irrigation within TID remain unchanged the levels would remain at generally the existing levels with some minor fluctuation on a year-to-year basis as a result of varying precipitation. 

Editor – Given all the studies and working with other agencies has been learned? 

Crecelius – We’ve learned a great deal about the physical characteristics of the basin and the aquifer and politics of water in California.  Some of it we intuitively knew.  We’ve confirmed that the source of the water that replenishes the aquifer comes primarily from the Tuolumne and Merced Rivers and from irrigation in the Turlock Irrigation District with a minor amount coming from the Sierra foothills to the East.  We know more about the physical characteristics of land in the District and the complexities of delivering surface water.  We know more about the geology underlying the district and dynamics of artificial recharge given that hardpan and other highly impermeable materials underlie much of the District.  We’ve learned much about the complexities of finding water in a state where demands for water clearly exceed the supply. 

Editor – Now that water levels have stabilized what do you see in the future for the District? 

Crecelius – I believe that agriculture irrigated with groundwater will continue to be viable in the future.  The fact that groundwater levels have stabilized has clearly taken some of the pressure off.  Some would say we don’t need to do any more.  On the other hand we all know there are continuing growth pressures in California and likely that growth will impact water supplies.  As the consultants point out, additional urban development in Hughson, Denair and Turlock will bring more houses, taking land out of irrigation and putting more demand on groundwater all which would upset the balance that exists today.  Additionally, as the State Legislature continues to grapple with how to meet water needs throughout the State we need to be vigilant that legislation that may benefit another area does not unreasonably adversely impact us.  We need to continue to work with other agencies to manage the groundwater to protect the quantity and quality for the benefit of all users.  We need to continue to study methods of relieving pressure on the aquifer should the current stabilized water levels be upset.  I’m confident that with the cooperation of water users in the District and with other agencies in the Basin we can manage the ground water to be a reliable supply indefinitely. 

Editor – Jim, thank you again for taking your time to share thoughts and ideas. 

Crecelius – Let me make one final comment.  The Eastside Board of Directors welcomes input from members of the District and we encourage you to attend board meetings and/or call Board members with your thoughts, ideas or gripes. 

Editor – Thank you.