At the Sept. 15 regular meeting, the Oakdale Irrigation District Board of Directors approved the ending of the 2009 irrigation season to be on Sept. 30, on the 14th day of Rotation 16 and to start the 2010 irrigation season by having an October irrigation made available. The October irrigation will be a 10-day rotation, ending at midnight on Oct. 10. All waters delivered after Sept. 30 are charged to the 2010 season.

There was some discussion amongst the board and Water Operations Manager Kevin King about what the rains might bring; however, the board decided to go ahead with offering the October irrigation due to the uncertainty of the weather during this time.

In other business, the board approved the allocation of remaining $3.5 million in water transfer revenues to go toward the general fund to offset reduced Tri-Dam power revenues and $372,000 will go toward the South Main Canal Tunnel project reserve fund.

The water sale to West Side farming interests (San Luis and Delta-Mendota Water Authority) resulted in $5 million of one-time revenue for OID. At the Aug. 18 board meeting the board allocated part of the money by approving a one-time rebate to OID landowners in the amount equal to 100 percent of their 2010 water charges.

Also in other business, the board approved the awarding of a bid for the Cashman Dam rehabilitation project to TCB Industrial of Modesto with a total bid of $564,401. Bids were received from eight contractors. The project has also been awarded a U.S. Bureau of Reclamation (USBR) Challenge Grant of $300,000 and the USBR will still have to do a final review before it can be awarded. However, the board decided to go forward with the project with or without the Challenge Grant money. The USBR review will be on Sept. 22. General Manager Steve Knell said that since the water will be out of the OID system on Oct. 10, the project will probably start around Oct. 15.

Also in other business, the board made changes to the December board meeting dates. There will only be one board meeting in December, which will take place on Dec. 15. The Dec. 1 meeting was cancelled due to four directors attending the Association of California Water Agencies (ACWA) conference and there would not be a quorum.

The next regular meeting of the OID Board of Directors will be on Tuesday, Oct. 6 at the OID boardroom, 1205 East F.