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Eastern San Joaquin Groundwater Basin Groundwater Management Plan Northeastern San Joaquin County Section 8 Groundwater Banking Authority 110 Integrated Conjunctive Use Program the average annual yield to 72,000 af per year. In the months of July-November, other supplies available either from the American or Sacramento Rivers through exchanges, transfers, banking partnerships, federal contracts, and additional water right fillings could significantly increase the yield to San Joaquin County. A more detailed description of the Freeport Project is found in Section 8.2.1. 8.2 Surface Storage and Major Conveyance Elements The water sources described above require substantial investments in storage and conveyance in order to capture and put to beneficial use substantial amounts of water. The following elements are considered major reservoirs or new conveyance facilities. Final use is discussed in Section 8.3. 8.2.1 Freeport Regional Water Project The Freeport Regional Water Authority (FRWA) was created by exercise of a joint powers agreement between Sacramento County Water Agency (SCWA) and EBMUD. FRWA’s basic project purpose is to increase water service reliability for customers, reduce rationing during droughts, and facilitate conjunctive use of surface water and groundwater supplies in central Sacramento County. The Freeport Project will also provide EBMUD with flexibility in the event of an emergency or during Pardee System maintenance. The Freeport Project will provide up to 85 mgd of surface water to SCWA to be used conjunctively with groundwater to meet future supply needs of central Sacramento County and provide up to 100 MGD to EBMUD in dry years. In 1970, EBMUD entered into a contract with the USBR for delivery of CVP water from the American River to be taken at Nimbus through the FSC to the Mokelumne Aqueduct. Legal challenges by American River interests culminated in the 1990 ruling of Alameda Superior Court Judge Richard Hodge (Hodge Decision). The Hodge Decision conditioned EBMUD’s diversion from Nimbus on maintaining minimum in-stream flow requirements on the Lower American River necessary to protect the fishery. EBMUD continued to work with Sacramento County interests on diversion alternatives that could meet the dry year needs of EBMUD, protect and uphold the National Wild and Scenic Rivers designation of the Lower American River, and provide benefits to the region. In 1993 the Sacramento Area Water Forum (Water Forum), a diverse group of water interests from the business, agricultural, environmental, citizen, and local government communities, began a collaborative process to devise a comprehensive plan to “Provide a reliable and safe water supply for the region’s economic health and planned development to the year 2030, and Preserve the fishery, wildlife, recreational, and aesthetic values of the Lower American River.” (Water Forum Agreement, 2000) In the context of the Water Forum, EBMUD and Sacramento County successfully developed a project that would move EBMUD’s American River Diversion from Nimbus to the Sacramento River near the town of Freeport. In January 2001, EBMUD, Sacramento County interests, and the USBR executed a Memorandum of Agreement to fully explore the engineering feasibility of joint use facilities under the Freeport Project concept. On July 20, 2001, EBMUD executed an Amendatory Contract with the USBR for water from the American River. Under the terms of the Amendatory Contract, EBMUD is entitled to divert its CVP supply from the Sacramento River only if its March 1st forcast of the expected October 1st total system storage is less than 500,000 af. The Amendatory Contract entitles EBMUD to divert up to 133,000 af in any one year and no more than 165,000 af total in any three- consecutive year period. While the Amendatory Contract allows for the diversion of up to