Two of the five seats on the South Joaquin Irrigation District governing board are up for grabs in the Nov. 6 election.
They are District 1 currently represented by Bob Holmes and District 2 represented by Ralph Roos. All five districts include segments of the City of Manteca.
District 1 includes Escalon and the rural area on the west to Carrolton Road and Murphy Road and south to Mello Road between those two roads as well as the rural area north of Highway 120 between Highway 99 and Murphy Road. It also includes the City of Manteca east of Highway 99 and north of East Yosemite Avenue.
District 2 includes all of the City of Ripon and the rural area to the west bounded on the north by West Ripon Road, the west by Austin Road, and the south by the Stanislaus River. It also encompasses the rural area north of Ripon up to a boundary created by Graves Road, Jack Tone Road, Clinton South Road, North Ripon Road, Mello Avenue and Carrolton Road. The portion of the City of Manteca in the district is bounded by Main Street on the west, the 120 Bypass on the north and then Van Ryn Avenue on the east switching to Woodward Avenue on the north to Moffat Boulevard.
Founded in 1909 the district covers 72,000 acres that encompasses the cities of Manteca, Ripon, Escalon and surrounding farmland. They provide irrigation water for more than 33,000 acres of almonds within the SSJID boundaries. Almonds are followed by alfalfa at 6,000 acres, grapes at 6,000 acres, pasture at 5,200 acres, walnuts at 2,400 acres and peaches at 1,800 acres. The rest is split between a diversity of crops ranging from corn to melons.
SSJID also delivers treated drinking water to the cities of Manteca, Lathrop, and Tracy and plays a key role in storm drainage for Manteca, Ripon, and Escalon.
In partnership with Oakdale Irrigation District, they operate the Tri Dam Project on the Stanislaus River that has been generating wholesale hydroelectric power since 1957. Reservoirs include Donnells, Beardsley, and Tulloch.
SSJID is in the middle of court cases aimed at being able to be a provider of retail electricity in a bid to lower rates across the board by 15 percent compared to what PG&E charges.
The filing for the board seats close Aug. 10.
To contact Dennis Wyatt, email dwyatt@mantecabulltin.com
