District Capital Improvement Projects
McKay Point Reservoir Project
Click below for the McKay Point Reservoir Notice of Preparation:
Notice of Preparation and Scoping Meeting(s) Notice
NOP Mailing List
The Tulare Irrigation District, along with the Consolidated Peoples Ditch Co. and the Visalia & Kaweah Water Co. (Owners) own approximately 500 acres at McKay Point. The Owners intend to develop approximately 120 acres of the property into a surface water reservoir of approximately 4,500 acre-feet in storage capacity. For project details please visit: www.mckaypoint.com
USBR Part III Grant - Recharge Project
The NRDC v. Rogers Settlement and San Joaquin River Restoration Program brought with it a federal commitment to secure $50 million in grant funding, over time, to pursue local water projects to mitigate for Settlement impacts. The first $10 million of these grant funds were made available in 2013 to Friant districts, and Tulare Irrigation District was awarded a grant in the amount of $1.95 million.
With this money and matching District funds, the District has:
- Constructed a 60-acre recharge basin adjacent to the existing Enterprise Basin
- Conducted a study and prepared a plan for long-term expansion of existing recharge facilities within the District
- Proposed and implemented a long-term exchange program within the Friant Division to gain more imported water for conjunctive use recharge operations within our service area
- Utilized federal grant funds to purchase water in pursuit of the exchange program
Swall Basin (Plum) Project
The City of Tulare and the Tulare Irrigation District have been working for several years on cooperative ways to manage the expanding community of Tulare and the impacts on canals and groundwater consumption. Working together, the District and the City purchased 155 acres located approximately 5 miles northeast of the City at the southwest corner of Avenue 256 and Road 132 to be developed into a groundwater recharge site. The location of this property is ideal for groundwater recharge, as it is hydrologically "upstream" of the City and in close proximity to a District facility, the Main Canal. After the site was acquired Provost & Pritchard Consulting, from Visalia, Calf. provided a design and environmental permitting to move the project towards construction.
The District and City sought and successfully acquired several grants to assist in constructing this project. The grants that were secured include:
1. 2009 USBR WaterSMART Grant: $300,000 (Phase I)
2. 2010 USBR WaterSMART Grant: $300,000 (Phase II & III)
3. 2011 Integrated Regional Water Management Planning Grant: $1,150,000.00
Construction of the basin was completed by District staff with Phase I of the project beginning in May of 2010 and finishing in March of 2011. Phase I was put into service in the Spring of 2011 to take advantage of recharge water that was available to the District. Phases II and III began in April of 2011 and were completed in June of 2013. District staff worked diligently on the project while continuing to manage irrigation and flood operations carry out routine operations and maintenance throughout the District. District staff performed construction tasks including, but not limited to, large quantities of excavation, compaction of embankments, grading, concrete structure installation, pipeline installation and SCADA installation.
The Swall Basin represents approximately 135 acres of additional area that the District can utilize in meeting a benchmark of 10,000 acre-feet of recharge on behalf of the City. This basin represents and urban/agricultural partnership not often found here in the San Joaquin Valley. Both the District and the City are acutely aware of the importance of water to our community and region.