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Work On Tunnels Starts This Month
SSJID 11-8-23
SSJID CANAL PIX
Water is no longer flowing through SSJID canals after the irrigation season came to an end Oct. 29. File Photo

South San Joaquin Irrigation District is expected to be well positioned for the 2024 irrigation season regardless of what Mother Nature does this winter.

That’s thanks to last year’s wet winter that left New Melones Reservoir storage at 1.9 million acre feet when SSJID ended its irrigation season on Oct. 29.

That is within 700,000 acre feet of the highest flood storage level it can be at for this time of year which is 78 percent of the reservoir’s 2.4 million acre foot capacity or 1.97 million acre feet.

SSJID will likely have a relatively full conservation account heading into the new water year. That’s due to reduced deliveries in this past year, the wet spring, and late start to the irrigation season.

“We certainly appreciate our customers and operations team for making this a relatively smooth season, especially as it got off to an interesting start with the wet spring,” noted SSJID General Manager Peter Reitkerk.

SSJID crews are now starting repair and maintenance work related to its 30 miles of canals.

There is one major project that will be undertaken this year.

It is outside SSJID’s service district footprint and involves the joint supply canal near Goodwin Dam that conveys water from the Stanislaus River to SSJID and the Oakdale Irrigation District.

There are a number of tunnels along the supply canal that are necessary to carry water by gravity through hills and mountains.

The district is rehabilitating the upstream portal of one such tunnel.

It will require rock scaling, bolting, and placing of concrete to reinforce the portal structure and prevent rock slides into the canal.

A contract for the work was awarded in October in the amount of $1,184,850 to Drill Tech Drilling and Shoring.

“These facilities are important for us to maintain so that we can keep water flowing to the region, and require maintenance and construction in varying degrees annually to assure their integrity,” Reitkerk said.