Gearing up for surface water sales to the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, agricultural irrigation districts have been meeting with farmers this week to explain how the water sales would work.

The deal involves farm land not being planted - fallowed - so the water that would irrigate it can be used elsewhere.

Growers at the meetings have been told how to sign up for participation, rules to avoid endangered garter snake habitat and strict rules on avoiding water seepage.

Glenn-Colusa Irrigation District is negotiating a sale of 60,000 acre-feet and met with growers Monday. Western Canal Water District and Richvale Irrigation District growers met in Richvale Wednesday.

On Wednesday, Ted Trimble, manager of Western Canal, told a group of about 75 growers that the options contract for the proposed water sale was signed Friday. This means that if no water changes hands, the district and growers will split the $10 per acre-foot option payment.

But it is likely Metropolitan will indeed decide to buy approximately 205,000 acre-feet of water is has been seeking from Sacramento Valley water users, Trimble said.

The date for Metropolitan to decide is Feb. 15.

Part of the equation will be whether there will be enough capacity in the San Francisco Bay Delta, through which the water would need to travel on its way to Southern California.

If the sale goes through, an additional $90 per an acre-foot would be paid, with an additional $5 per acre going into funds for yet-to-be determined third-party impacts.

The majority of the farmers in the irrigation districts are rice growers. As per the negotiations, rice growers are credited with using 3.3 acre-feet of water per acre. Thus each acre of rice fallowed would garner $330. Some of that payment would be retained by the water districts to help pay for the administration of the program and/or maintain water delivery systems.

If the water is not purchased, the growers and the districts would split the $10 option payment and could plant crops.

Western Canal will make up 20,000 acre-feet of the Sacramento Valley deals, and Richvale will sell 17,275 acre-feet. That equates to fallowing 6,060 acres at Western and 5,235 acres at Richvale, Trimble explained.

Copies of fill-in-the-blank-style contracts were handed out to growers, who were urged to make their decisions as soon as possible. Trimble said the districts really need to know who wants to take part by Feb. 12 as they will be meeting with Metropolitan Feb. 14.

If there is interest in fallowing more acres than the deal calls for, the district will divide the land to be fallowed among those who signed up.

Trimble said those who take part will need to be very careful that no water from any source, including drainwater, is placed on the fallowed fields. The Department of Water Resources keeps a vigilant eye on land fallowed, including making aerial inspections.

Rice is grown in what are called checks. Water enters one part of a field and is contained by an earthen berm. As the first check is filled, water is released into the adjacent check, and so on. Most farmers can't just fill one check and not expect some water to seep into adjacent areas.

The seepage issue is very important to the Department of Water Resources, Trimble said.

The negotiations do, however, allow farmers to flood their fields once during the water year to help cut back on weeds.

Other concerns include the giant garter snake. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service asked that each landowner not fallow large blocks of land, because the snake's habitat could be affected.

For Glenn-Colusa Irrigation District, that means one landowner may not fallow more than 160 acres in one location.

If two landowners fallow land next to each other, the block needs to be less than 320 acres.

Trimble of Western Canal said Fish and Wildlife doesn't have jurisdiction over the one-year water sale, but it was easier not to fight the agency. He said Western growers should aim to keep contiguous blocks of idled land to 160-200 acres. Land should also not be fallowed along the irrigation canals to keep habitat for the snake, Trimble said.

One of the farmers in the audience asked Trimble whether this year's transfer was part of a longer-term arrangement with Metropolitan.

Trimble said the Southern California water district is very interested in a 20-year option deal. But he said the board of directors for Western is more comfortable with a 5-year plan, or perhaps 10 years.

Another grower asked why Northern California water districts were being offered $100 an acre-foot while the Imperial Irrigation District was offered - and turned down - $258 an acre-foot.

Trimble said the Imperial deal was for 75 years, and the permanence of that deal made it worth more. Plus, that deal would have left Imperial Irrigation District with the environmental liability of the Salton Seas.

The good thing about this deal compared to previous water sales is that growers will know by February whether they will plant or not, he said. In the 2001 water transfer to the Department of Water Resources, the negotiations dragged on and growers didn't know whether or not to gear up for planting, Trimble said.

Metropolitan Water District is still working on getting all of the water it wants for this year. With a goal of 205,000 acre-feet, Metropolitan had deals for about 170,000 acre-feet as of Wednesday, Bob Muir, spokesman for Metropolitan, said.

Other districts involved in the deal include Sacramento River Contractors Reclamation District 108, Sutter-Mutual Water Co., Natomas Water Co., River Garden Farms, Meridian Water Co., Pelger Mutual Water Co. and Pleasant Grove-Verona Mutual Water Co.; and Placer County Water Agency.

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