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Cawelo Water Di~~trict- Texaco Oil Company Water Conservation Project \ STEVE CO\VDIN is a:research prbgram specials II (economics) in DWR's Statewide Planning Bra rlch. , , In this era of diminishing water S!lP- plies, the search fGr new-and affordab1e- sources often .requires innovative ap- proaches in water IJlanagement planning. One such approach is beginnihg to payoff for the Cawelo Water' District. with imple- mentation of the Cawe10 Water District- Texaco Oil Coprpany Water Conser:vation , Project. This project. funded in 1995 by a $5 million DWR-administered Prop. 82 Ground ~ater Recharge Loan, l1as been in' operation since mid-1996. and is an. excel- lent example of a',public/privatepartner" ship. ,The CWD encompasses approximately 45.000 acres in northern Kern County and has a water service area of about 33.000 acres. The city of Bakersfield is approxi- mately. six miles from the southern-most \ - boundary of the di~trict. Agricultural land use accounts for about 87 percent of the total water service area land use: most,of the irrigated lands 'lie planted with trees and vines (principally grapes. citrus,de- ciduous fruit. and nuts). The CWD is a mem~er agency of :{ern County Water Agency.' CWD's surface water supply is obtained primarily from two long-term contracts: (1) a contract willi the KCWA for an anllual (firm) entitlement c.f 38.200 acre-feet of , , State Water Project supplies. and (2) an annual contract with the city'of Bakers- field f9r 27.000 af of Kern River supplies. These two contracts account for about 90 percent _of CWD's total surface water sup- plies: the remaining water supply comes - " i ~ , , - , .) from a variety of other sources under short-term agreements. Surface water supplies satisfy about 60 percent of irriga- tion demand-:, within CWD (based upon 1990 cropping patterns). Grouridwater , ' I;>umped from individual landowner wells provides the remaining water requirecl for crop irrigation. ,The Kern River .oilfield. one of the larg- est producing fields in the nation. is lo- cated along the southern bo"undary of CWO. Texaco E~loration and Production. Inc. produces oil in this field. Due to the viscosity of the oil. injected steam is used to heat the oil, The oil-be~ng strata con- tain large amounts of relatively low salinity wat~r-about nine parts water .to one part . oil. ,For t);re past 40'years. Texaco E&P has been reinjecting this water back'irito the / " groundwater basin. CWD recognized that an opporturiity existed to use this high quality water for agricultural activities. To make the water available to cwb, ' Texaco E&P installed a $1.9,rnillion pump- ing plant. Texaco' E&P also improved its water treatment processes and installed a' water clarification system. CWD purchases 'the water for $11 an acre-foot , . CWD us~d Proposition 82 loan proceeds to build a seven-mile pipeline from the Te)(aco E&P oilfield to the district's Reser- voir B. where the' water is stored. (Before entering the reservoir, the Texaco E&P wa- ter is blended with surface water to further improve water quality.), From Reservoir B. ' the water is.,either delivered directly for agricultural use or for dkect groundwater recharge. ' " Although CWD originally anticipated re- ceiving about l5.000'af annually' from this project. it now believes it can-receive al- most 25.000 af anriually. The estimated 12