Michelle Reimers: Equipping Turlock Irrigation District for the Challenges of an Unpredictable Future An aerial view of one of TID’s canals.
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stablished in 1887 as the first irrigation district in California and with an irrigation system built in the early 1900s, Turlock Irrigation District (TID) has spent $60 million over the past 20 years maintaining aging infrastructure while modernizing to save water and meet future needs. It is also moving forward with existing initiatives such as Project Nexus, a pilot project that will install solar panel canopies over sections of the district’s irrigation canals. In this interview, General Manager Michelle Reimers tells Irrigation Leader about the district’s efforts to build on its past while responding to the challenges of a less-predictable climate. Irrigation Leader: Please tell us about your background and how you came to be in your current position. Michelle Reimers: I started with the district in 2006 as a communications specialist. My degree is in organizational communications, and my hope was to work in an advertising agency, but there aren’t a lot of options for that in Turlock. My grandparents had an almond orchard, and when I was young, I spent my summers helping them farm. Because of that experience, I was interested in agriculture and water. That’s what led me to apply for a public information officer job at TID. Later, I was promoted to oversee government affairs. Eventually, I became the assistant general manager of external affairs, overseeing communications, government affairs, customer service, and all our public benefit programs on the energy side. In 2020, I became the general manager.
Michelle Reimers: We were the first irrigation district established in California and are currently celebrating our
16 | IRRIGATION LEADER | June 2022
Irrigation Leader: What are the main crops grown by your irrigators? Michelle Reimers: The main crop is tree nuts, including almonds and walnuts, but we also have corn, oats, and alfalfa, which support the dairies, which are a big industry here as well. Irrigation Leader: What infrastructure does TID own and operate? Michelle Reimers: We operate Don Pedro Reservoir, a 2‑million-acre-foot reservoir that we own in conjunction with Modesto Irrigation District. TID is the operator of the 203‑megawatt hydroelectric facility there. The two districts also own the La Grange Diversion Dam, which was built in 1893. That dam doesn’t hold water; it just backs it up enough to divert it into our canal systems. We have 250 miles of gravity-fed canals. We also have Turlock Lake, a 50,000 acre-foot regulating reservoir where we hold the water that starts the irrigation system. irrigationleadermagazine.com
PHOTOS COURTESY OF TID.
Irrigation Leader: Please tell us about TID’s history and its current services.
135th anniversary. Our irrigation system was built in the early 1900s, and it still serves us today. We’re one of only four utilities in California that provide both water and retail electricity. We irrigate about 150,000 acres and serve about 4,700 growers. On the energy side, we provide power to about 239,000 people in our service area. We are also a balancing authority, which means we have a diverse portfolio of power generation and have the reliability requirements to protect our service territory from any kind of statewide rolling blackout. On the water side, we receive our water from the Tuolumne River, which starts in Yosemite National Park. We supply mostly surface water, but we also use groundwater. We’ve done conjunctive use since our inception.
