Decisions by federal, state and local officials to severely cut water allocations to Anderson Cottonwood Irrigation District (A.C.I.D.) and sell off the remaining allocations, have led to widespread devastation. The small water district provides field irrigation to about 1,000 residents of Shasta County. Seepage from A.C.I.D.’s canal system usually also feeds the local water table, helping to supply the local ecosystem, and domestic wells, with water.
The Board of the Anderson Cottonwood Irrigation District voted unanimously to adopt an agreement that reduces water restrictions during critically dry years. Some constituents oppose it, in part because they believe engaging in further deals with the federal government is a losing proposition.
The Board of ACID, a local water District serving about 800 users, could sign on to a federal drought protection plan that would ostensibly increase protections for farmers during dry years while providing much-needed infrastructure funds. Details are complex.
The proposal is the result of negotiations between federal water officials and the Sacramento River Settlement Contractors, a California water users group that includes local irrigators in Anderson and Cottonwood.
A Shasta County water district with about 700 irrigators suffered through an unprecedented drought last year. After abundant rain over the winter, District irrigators were looking forward to having water again. But it hasn’t been that simple. While the District has received its full federal allocation, distributing it has been a problem, leaving some irrigators without water while others drown in too much. The Board will hold a special meeting tonight, Wednesday, June 14, to discuss possible engineering solutions.
After months of debilitating drought caused by federal water cuts and local water sales, the Anderson-Cottonwood Irrigation District may be receiving up to $3.6 million in federal drought relief funds.
Court documents and interviews with government officials indicate that the federal water cuts that have caused devastation within the Anderson-Cottonwood Irrigation District (A.C.I.D.) weren’t a breach of the water district’s senior water rights contract. Instead, A.C.I.D. and other water contractors negotiated and agreed to the reduction in water allocations as part of an interagency effort to protect endangered salmon during California’s historic drought.
James Rickert is running against long-time Anderson Cottonwood Irrigation District board president Brenda Haynes in response to what he says is mismanagement by the district's current elected leadership. After the federal government drastically cut water allocations to the district, the board made the controversial decision to sell all of the district's remaining water. Rickert says the board's recent offer of a consulting position was intended to dissuade him from running against Haynes, who has held her seat on the board since 2001. The board's closed session vote to offer the consultancy to Rickert appears to violate California transparency law.
Anderson Cottonwood Irrigation District has supplied water to irrigators in Shasta County for more than 100 years. This year, after federal cuts and local water sales, residents have been left without water. Here's how ACID responded to federal cuts, what options they considered for the district's remaining water allocations, and how they plan to use the $7.5 million gained by selling off the district's remaining water.
Federal cuts and local water sales have left farmers in Shasta County's Anderson Cottonwood Irrigation District without water this year. As fields have gone brown and dead, many small family farmers have sold off livestock they are no longer able to feed. The Community Alliance with Family Farmers says they hope their small emergency grants are enough to help some farmers survive.
As residents of the county's A.C.I.D. service area fight to survive the lack of water in their district the county has released updated eligibility guidelines for county administration of state drought relief funds. Residents with a larger range of incomes are now eligible for home water delivery services for up to two years.
