By Joel Hastings
An update on GSA activities was a key item on the agenda of the Chowchilla Water District Board of Directors meeting, held Wednesday, February 9, 2022, beginning at 1:30 p.m., called to order by President Kole Upton. In attendance were Directors Mike Mandala – board treasurer, Roger Schuh – vice president, and Russell Harris. The fifth member, Vince Taylor, was not present. Also participating were staff, General Manager Brandon Tomlinson, Treasurer Lela Beatty and Administrative Assistant Rina Villasenor.
Delivering the GSA report was Douglas Welch, former GM and now General Resource Manager who coordinates the GSA activities for the Board. No virtual meeting arrangements are used now, but the public can phone in and Phil Janzen of AgriLand farming did just that. Your reporter attended as well at the headquarters office on South Chowchilla Blvd. on the edge of this small community. One item was added to the agenda before it was approved… the purchase of a smaller drill, a 12-inch bit, for the new equipment that has not yet been delivered. That was discussed and approved later.
GSA Matters
The board immediately recessed and convened at the Chowchilla GSA board to hear the
report from Welch, which he handed out in written form and then discussed. He said that the Chowchilla Subbasin technical staff, Davids Engineering and Luhdorff Scalmanini were set to meet with the state DWR (Department of Water Resources) staff a third time on February 10 to discuss the initial review of the Subbasin GSP. The topic for this meeting will be subsidence. Chairman Upton asked what the first two meetings had been about, and Welch explained that the DWR had found three areas of incomplete information… the level of monitoring well measurement, the issue of “interties” or how bodies of water were connected, or not, in drought conditions and thirdly, subsidence caused by depletion of the aquifer under certain areas. Upton also asked if any of the GSPs from Valley groups had been approved and the answer was no.
Welch said approval is being sought from the participating groups for the scope of work and budget for the engineering firms to revise the Chowchilla GSP… addressing the three areas of DWR concern. Triangle T was to consider on February 10 and Madera County and Merced County at their supervisors’ meetings on March 1. Work had already begun by the engineering firms, though, because the revised GSPs must be submitted by July 30. Davids Engineering is also currently working on the Annual Report for the GSP.
Welch said a meeting of the Chowchilla Subbasin Advisory Committee has been set for March 23 at 1:30 p.m. to be held virtually. Upton said he would like a CWD director to attend along with Welch and GM Tomlinson.
Welch reported that land fallowing in the CWD is being considered as a project in the GSP in order to meet the water reduction targets. He said farmers would submit bids to take land out of production, requesting per acre payments. The GSA would made decisions
about what bids to accept based on the acreage, type of crop and length of the set aside. Upton said, “Fallowing is something we’ve got to do.” He urged that it not be a complicated a process and implied that Madera County GSA was planning a pretty intricate program.
Welch concluded his report saying that the domestic well mitigation program is being prepared, since that is a priority for DWR. Upton asked how to make recharge basins into wildlife refuges. There was a question if DWR had indicated any crop preferences… does it want more water to go to certain crops, organic, for example. A director also cited the use of flooded wild rice fields to release salmonids to give them a growth start, safe from fish predators before turning them back into rivers. Previously, the amount of water to flood rice fields had been viewed negatively. No one knew of any special emphasis from DWR.
Water District Matters
With that, the group resumed its deliberations as the CWD board, unanimously approving the financial statements from Treasurer Beatty, who reported receipts for the month of $2,082,106.29. Expenditures were at $832,016.83 with an ending balance on February 1 of $17,267,563.19. Bills were approved for payment. Minutes of the January 19 Board meeting were approved as well.
Next was GM Tomlinson’s report. On the operations side, he said preemergent weed killer continues to be applied in the canals and that all pipeline repairs should be completed by the end of the month. The verifications for pump discharges required by SBX7-7, making sure they are accurate, continues but less than half are done… it involves every turnout in the district.
Moving on to the winter weather, he said that precipitation to this point is nearly normal, in spite of the unconventional weather patterns. Snow accumulations are in the mid-50th percentile for the April 1 totals but are high 80percent to low 90percent of normal to this week in February. He didn’t surprise anyone when he noted that the National Weather Service outlook shows a 33percent – 40percent chance of above normal temperatures and a 50percent – 60percent chance of below normal precipitation in Central California. Regarding water, he said as of February 4 there was a 10percent chance for a call on Friant by the Exchange Contractors. He said that on February 18, the Bureau of Reclamation may offer a preliminary declaration of water allocations. He said there was a carry over for the new water year of some 11,000 acre / feet. He also provided a written report of the winter 2022 groundwater recharge at five locations in the District.
His final item was a recommendation that a smaller, 12-inch augur be purchased for a new power shovel that had already been ordered. The augur would make the equipment much more versatile across a range of jobs. Considering the original equipment already approved at a price of some $500,000, the price tag of $3165 on the new augur was quickly approved.
While one item of potential litigation and two existing had been identified in the agenda, there was nothing reported and no closed session.
Directors’ reports conclude the agenda. Schuh said he had attended his first Friant Water Association meeting, and along with all other board members, voted to extend the contract for Friant Manager Jason Phillips. Since Schuh was brand new, he felt he really could only listen. He said there was a bit of discussion that the substantial salary increase might impact other employees. President Kole said that Phillips is doing a great job and has unified the Association board. The CWD dues for Friant are $250,000 per year. With no further discussion, Mr. Upton adjourned the meeting at 2:35 p.m.
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Chowchilla Water District – PO Box 905 – 327 So. Chowchilla Ave., Chowchilla, CA 93610 559/665-3747 website www.cwdwater.com
Staff: General Manager – Brandon Tomlinson; General Resource Manager – Douglas Welch
Board: Kole Upton – President, Roger Schuh – Vice President, Russell Harris, Mike Mandala and Vince Taylor
PROFILE: Formed in 1949, the Chowchilla Water District serves about 85,000 acres situated in southern Merced County and northern Madera County on the eastside of the San Joaquin Valley. The District serves over 400 water users, with an average farm size of about 162 acres. Buchanan Dam was constructed in 1975 and is operated and maintained by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. The maximum capacity of the dam is 150,000 acre-feet and has a maximum conservation capacity of 140,000 acre-feet. The District also has appropriative water rights issued by the State Water Resources Control Board to divert water from the Chowchilla River. The Madera Canal supplies water from Friant Dam to the Chowchilla Water District. The District has contracted with the Bureau of Reclamation for 55,000 acre-feet of Class 1 Water and 160,000 acre-feet of Class 2 Water. With Madera ID, the District owns the Madera-Chowchilla Water & Power Authority which operates the Madera Canal and four hydroelectric power plants located on the Madera Canal.
