North San Joaquin Water Conservation District

The North San Joaquin Water Conservation District serves irrigation water in the Lodi area. It has a water rights permit for up to 20,000 acre-feet of water from the Mokelumne River. NSJWCD is governed by a 5-member Board of Directors. Mr. Masuda advised NSJWCD in forming its first improvement district to finance a new surface water irrigation and groundwater recharge project, known as the Tracy Lake Groundwater Recharge Project. The project will help the District better utilize its water right. The project will divert water from the Mokelumne River into South Tracy Lake and will divert up to 4,000 acre-feet per year when river water is available. The surface water will be used by the landowners to irrigate vineyards thereby conserving groundwater. The project will also result in surface water recharge to the groundwater basin. The District has secured 100% of the funding for the project via a $300,000 U.S. Bureau of Reclamation grant with the balance of approximately $1,300,000 being financed through the issuance and sale of improvement district warrants. Payments of the principal and interest on the warrants are secured by an annual capital assessment levied on all 1,310 acres of land within the improvement district. NSJWCD is working with San Joaquin County and East Bay Municipal Utilities District to implement a pilot groundwater recharge project within NSJWCD. Our firm served as the District's general counsel from July 2011 to December 2015. In December 2015, the firm switched places with a local Lodi attorney who was serving as the District's special legal counsel. The firm now serves as the District's special legal counsel

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