TUD secures 6,000 AF New Melones contract with in-basin priority
Tuolumne Utilities District, California · Meeting date: November 4, 2026 · Published: November 5, 2026
Tuolumne Utilities District has unanimously authorized a long-term Bureau of Reclamation contract for municipal, industrial and irrigation water from New Melones Reservoir. The agreement runs through 2051, although annual deliveries will remain subject to hydrology, operational constraints and shortage rules.
Key points
- The board approved Contract No. 25-WC-20-6370 unanimously, 5-0, authorizing up to 6,000 acre-feet/year of Central Valley Project water.
- The entitlement comprises 4,900 AF for irrigation and 1,100 AF for municipal and industrial use; staff said TUD's demonstrated requirement was 2,500 AF, including 2,000 AF of agricultural water and 500 AF of M&I supply.
- As an in-basin Stanislaus River Basin contractor, TUD has priority over Stockton East Water District and Central San Joaquin Water Conservation District when its New Melones allocation is needed.
- The contract is effective through December 31, 2051 and provides for a further 25-year renewal subject to mutually agreeable terms and compliance conditions.
- TUD must develop and implement a federally compliant water-conservation programme before deliveries, and measure surface-water deliveries at agricultural turnouts and M&I connections within five years unless an alternative programme is approved.
Full report
Tuolumne Utilities District has taken a long-planned step to diversify its supply portfolio, unanimously approving a 25-year contract with the US Bureau of Reclamation for up to 6,000 acre-feet a year from the New Melones Unit of the Central Valley Project.
The board voted 5-0 on 4 November to authorize its president to execute Municipal & Industrial and Irrigation Contract No. 25-WC-20-6370. The agreement runs through 31 December 2051 and covers 4,900 AF/year of irrigation water and 1,100 AF/year for municipal and industrial use.
The contract is significant because TUD is an in-basin Stanislaus River Basin user. The agreement states that as TUD’s need for project water develops, its allocation will reduce allocations held by out-of-basin contractors Stockton East Water District and Central San Joaquin Water Conservation District. In a shortage year, remaining water after application of the applicable M&I shortage policy is to be allocated first to meet up to the full needs of in-basin contractors, before supplies are shared among other users able to receive New Melones water.
A staff member described the agreement as the outcome of a right secured when TUD, or its predecessor, protested construction of New Melones Dam. The resulting settlement term required an allocation for the district as an in-basin user once the reservoir was built. TUD requested a long-term contract in 2019.
The 6,000 AF contract total is not a legislated cap on future TUD requests. However, the district must demonstrate an actual or reasonable projected need for any additional supply. Staff said a prior water-needs assessment allocated 2,500 AF to TUD itself—2,000 AF for agricultural uses and 500 AF for municipal and industrial uses—with a portion of the wider contract intended for the Chicken Ranch Rancheria Me-Wuk Indians of California.
The agreement permits TUD to enter a Reclamation-approved subcontract to resell and distribute project water to the Rancheria within TUD’s service area. It also permits transfers or exchanges with other project customers with advance written approval. Project water cannot be sold, exchanged or otherwise disposed of outside TUD’s service area without Reclamation consent.
Board discussion also addressed commingling the federal supply with TUD’s other water sources. The district may account for project water against eligible irrigation demand after water is blended in its distribution system, rather than maintaining physically separate supplies. The contract states that non-federal water may be transported through the same distribution facilities, subject to federal reclamation-law requirements.
Actual deliveries are not guaranteed at the contract total. Reclamation will announce an expected annual supply on or around 20 February and update it according to operational and hydrological conditions. The contract expressly says the full 6,000 AF will not be available in many years.
TUD must submit annual delivery schedules by 1 November, pay applicable federal rates and charges, and prepare a water-conservation plan before receiving water delivered from or conveyed through federally constructed or financed facilities. Continued delivery is contingent on implementation of an effective conservation and efficiency programme. The district also has five years from the contract’s effective date to ensure metering of irrigation deliveries at agricultural turnouts and M&I deliveries at service connections, unless Reclamation accepts an alternative measurement programme.
This summary was generated by AI based on the source document and may contain errors.
Source: Special Board Meeting, Tuolumne Utilities District