By Joel Hastings
The Chowchilla Water District board of directors meeting was called to order at 1:30 p.m. on November 12, 2025 at the District offices in Chowchilla. President Roger Schuh had the gavel and invited public comment, with none forthcoming from the only two guests in attendance, Zach Griffin of Land & Water Solutions from Los Banos and this reporter.
There were no agenda additions, so Schuh convened the meeting of the GSA board. Resource Director Doug Welch reported there had been a meeting of the staff of the four entities that comprise the Chowchilla Subbasin. The topic was subsidence. He presented several pages to the board showing that no triggers had been set off either annually or cumulatively for the years 2020 – 2024 as measured at 12 sites. “Things look good,” he said. Without much discussion, the WD board meeting was reconvened at 1:40 p.m.
First up was Office Manager April Ellison delivering the treasurer’s report. She said the beginning balance of all funds on October 3 had been $21,033,968.51. Receipts for the month amounted to $482,736.47 and disbursements $746,961.35, resulting in an ending balance on November 1 of $20,720,141.43. With these figures accepted, the board then approved the warrants lists of bills to be paid totaling $508,608.42. At this point, President Schuh asked about outstanding water bills from the current season and Ellison replied the total is $445,000, including several large bills but with none sufficiently past due to require action. The budget report was next with GM Brandon Tomlinson saying only two areas had any significant differences from planned expenditures, both resulting from the significantly higher amount of water sold this year… a good problem to have. Minutes from the October 8 monthly meeting were approved as presented.
Next, the board heard Welch explain that every five years, the Bureau of Reclamation requires the District to file an updated water management plan. The plan includes an inventory of meters, irrigation methods, types of water infrastructure and any spills that leave the District and aren’t recovered. He said water losses amounted to only one and a half percent of total water used in the District and that amount goes into the ground or is used for irrigation in any event. He called attention to the executive summary of the plan and explained that a public hearing to consider the plan will be held at the next regular meeting on December 10. He said notice of that meeting is being publicized as required throughout the District and that the plan will be available on the District’s website.
There was a brief discussion about acquiring land for unpaid bills or assessments. Welch explained that a water district can keep such lands whereas an irrigation district must sell the land and keep only the monies owed for the outstanding balance. There are a number of examples in Chowchilla where such lands had been acquired. This is only possible in the case where unpaid bills were many years old, not just for one season. The board then approved the hearing date.
Director of Operations Chris Mayo gave his O & M report as handed out. He referenced reservoir water levels at Eastman and Millerton which had changed very little in the past month. Maintenance work included burning, mowing and clearing vegetation from dams and Vera Pond. Work in the shop included repairs on the F450 spray truck among other routine items on trucks and the track loader. He said he had received a bid of $30,000 for a new, larger tandem axel trailer, needed for hauling three new, larger implements. The board approved the purchase and noted that the old trailer would be declared excess at the next meeting and then sold.
Mayo said that the cost for a new 21-inch pipeline for installation off Ash Main along Rt. 9 would be about $32,000 for the pipe from Western Ag. An excavator will be rented but the District crews will do all the work. The board agreed the whole line should be installed but since it’s a maintenance item, no formal motion was needed.
GM Tomlinson in his report asked if the board wanted to start punching holes in two basins in order to increase recharge efficiencies. Fifty 50-foot deep holes on 80 acres would be drilled as much as 49 inches wide, then filled with rock. The cost would be about $2000 per hole. The dirt removed would be sold to the contractors working on High Speed Rail as it crosses the District. After discussion about costs, the board directed that the dirt removed simply put back into the same holes.
Tomlinson then reported that he and Mayo had attended a drainage meeting in Reno. He said he would be attending the off-site Friant Board meeting and the ACWA meeting in San Diego in December. There will be an employee appreciation dinner to be held at the Madera Municipal Golf Course restaurant.
He said the District had been notified that its website was not compliant with the ADA (American with Disabilities Act) since it was not set up to be interactive using only voice commands. An outside service will be retained to add this capability. The website will also be adjusted to meet GSA requirements that each director’s bio be linked to his state 700 form that documents financial information.
Tomlinson said he was close to having several agreements with High Speed Rail that would be brought to the board, providing compensation where the right of way crosses District canals and facilities. He said Directors Schuh and Nathan Ray, the District’s High Speed Rail Committee, would be included in a meeting scheduled for November 25.
The last item, he said, was that he had one bid for building two new ponds and that when he gets at least one more there might be a special meeting to take action. There was a brief discussion about a neighboring property owner who wants to put in a line of trees along the common border of the pond bank.
There were no reports from directors and no closed session, so the meeting was adjourned at 2:50 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: Roger Schuh – President, Karun Samran – Vice President, Russell Harris, Nathan Ray 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 about 85,000 acres in southern Merced and northern Madera Counties. It’s over 400 water users have 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.
The Chowchilla Subbasin’s DWR # is 5-022.06
