By LENORE RUTHERFORD

The Union Democrat

Sending water down a four-mile stretch of ditch that loses nearly 160,000 gallons a day to leaks is not a cost-effective way to serve a single customer, the Tuolumne Utilities District has decided.

The district will instead pay $25,000 to drill a well on an Algerine Road area ranch owned by the Litteral family.

The ranch, at the tail end of the Algerine ditch, now gets 31,000 gallons of water a day from TUD. Trouble is, the district must put 190,000 gallons in the top end of the ditch to get about a sixth that amount to the lower end.

Because there are no other customers along the four-mile stretch leading to the Litteral property, that's a daily loss of 159,000 gallons.

TUD General Manager Pete Kampa said this particular section of the Algerine is the leakiest in the district's 80-mile open ditch system. The district considered several options, he said, including sealing it with a coat of gunite, a concrete product designed to prevent leaks.

"We decided the only cost-effective solution was drilling a well," Kampa said. "It's strictly for agricultural use, and the demand is low."

That section of ditch runs parallel to Algerine Road from Twist Road, then due south to the Litteral ranch, Kampa said.

"We are obligated to provide water to that area," he said. "We can't abandon that section of ditch. We will just discontinue service until there is enough demand for water to make it cost-effective to gunite it."

Contact Reporter Lenore Rutherford at lrutherford@uniondemo-crat.com or 588-4529.