The Madera Irrigation District (MID) has received the Regional Director’s Award from the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation’s Mid-Pacific Region for its commitment to improve water management practices and promote water conservation and efficiency.   

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The Mid-Pacific Region of Reclamation, which covers a large geographic area including the northern two-thirds of California and most of western Nevada and southern Oregon, fulfills water obligations for agriculture, power generation, water conservation and water recycling.

Reclamation’s Mid-Pacific Region also manages one of the largest water storage and transport systems in the world, the Central Valley Project (CVP).

The CVP, which serves farms, homes and industry in the Central Valley, includes twenty dams and reservoirs and 11 power plants with a combined storage capacity of more than 11 million acre-feet of water.  

Madera Irrigation District is a CVP contractor with water contracts from the Friant Unit (San Joaquin River) and Hidden Unit (Fresno River).

MID was given the Regional Director’s Award on Jan. 20 at Reclamation’s Mid-Pacific Conference. The award recognizes the district for its collaboration with Reclamation’s grant programs to conserve and better manage valuable water resources by implementing supervisory control and data acquisition projects, replacing approximately 100 farm turnout meters, installing flume gates and equipping ditch tenders with real-time meter reading applications, according to Thomas Greci, MID’s general manager.

“The District has made significant progress in the realms of the water industry, including infrastructure upgrades, operating under balanced budgets during drought years, promoting public education on water related topics and fostering cooperation and partnerships with neighboring agencies,” Greci added.

“This is one of the highest honors that Reclamation can award a district and Madera Irrigation District is extremely proud to have received this recognition,” Greci said. “This award shows the dedication and commitment of the District’s board of directors and staff to improve water management practices for the benefit of our District and our growers.”