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Eastern San Joaquin Groundwater Basin Groundwater Management Plan Northeastern San Joaquin County Section 8 Groundwater Banking Authority 109 Integrated Conjunctive Use Program The health of the Delta is also linked to the water supply of Eastern San Joaquin County. Inflow into the Delta from the San Joaquin River is of poor quality and is diluted by higher quality flows from the Sacramento River. A number of Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) actions are underway for the San Joaquin River. The Regional Board is required to establish a TMDL load allocation for high priority impaired water bodies under the Federal Clean Water Act. A low dissolved oxygen TMDL is currently being formulated for the Stockton Deepwater Ship Channel which includes effluent from the City of Stockton Regional Water Quality Control Facility (Wastewater Treatment Plant). Additionally, a TMDL for salt and Boron is being formulated to control salt drainage into the San Joaquin River to meet the Vernalis standard. Improvement in delta water quality is the highest priority for both Delta interests and the City of Stockton Diversion Project. 8.1.5 American River Eastern San Joaquin County has long been promised water from the American River by both the State and Federal Governments. The planned construction of the Auburn Dam, FSC and other smaller regulating reservoirs never came to fruition. The USBR’s inaction and the current regulatory restrictions on water resources development have forced Eastern San Joaquin County to weigh other more expensive alternative water sources. In 1990 San Joaquin County submitted an application to the SWRCB to appropriate wet-year water from either the South Fork of the American River via the completed Auburn-Folsom South Unit of the CVP or from Lake Natomas on the Lower American River. The application requests a diversion of up to 620 cfs between December 1 and June 30 subject to availability of unappropriated flow. The construction of the Auburn Dam, the Countyline and Clay Station Reservoirs, and the extension of the Folsom South Canal into San Joaquin County were never undertaken. In addition Sacramento County and environmental interests have long opposed the substantial delivery of water from Nimbus Dam to the detrimental health of the Lower American River. In August 2003, San Joaquin County amended its American River application to move and consolidate the points of diversion on the South Fork of the American River and Nimbus Dam to the Sacramento River to coincide with the point of diversion of the Freeport Regional Diversion Project (Freeport Project) at a diversion rate of 350 cfs. In order to maintain the priority filing date, San Joaquin County needed to demonstrate that the amended amount requested at Freeport on the Sacramento River would be available on the South Fork American River. To support the amendment of the water right application, the Authority co-sponsored the San Joaquin County Amended Water Right Application 29657 South Fork American River Water Availability Study (Water Availability Study). The Water Availability Study explores the hydrologic, regulatory, and water right constraints of the American River System. The Water Availability Study concluded that substantial water is available on the South Fork of the American River and would likewise be available for diversion downstream at Freeport on the Sacramento River in normal and wet years. The Water Availability Study also concluded that the 155 cfs Freeport Project capacity severely limits the amount available to San Joaquin County. By increasing the capacity of the diversion and conveyance elements of the Freeport Project to 350 cfs, the Authority could maximize its use of the American River Water Right Application. The Water Availability Study concluded that the average annual yield available to San Joaquin County is limited by the physical capacity of the Freeport Project capacity of 155 cfs or approximately 44,000 af per year. An increase in capacity to 286 cfs could potentially increase