By Joel Hastings
With all five directors in attendance, President Roger Schuh called to order the regular monthly meeting of the Chowchilla Water District board of directors at 1:30 p.m. in the District offices in that fair city. There was no comment from the public and no agenda changes so the CWD GSA meeting was immediately convened.
CWD GSA
Resource Manager Doug Welch presented some slides with highlights of the GSA annual report that had been completed by Davids Engineering. He said the report is required to show the surface water budget and groundwater conditions. He had some maps and detail about results in the eastern and western portions of the District, areas with and without a Corcoran clay layer. But, long story short, the good news is that on average the groundwater levels are 10 to 15 feet higher.
He then talked about subsidence which remains an issue. Based on satellite measurement, the rate has slowed, primarily due to a net reduction in groundwater extraction. He said the 2024 surface water system budget showed that a total of 256,000 AF had been extracted, 250,000 for ag and 5500 for urban uses. However, total recharge from applied water had amounted to 148,000 AF. When no surface water is applied in the Chowchilla Subbasin,
about 3.1 AF is the average extraction per acre but in the District, with resulting surface water, extraction amounts to half that or 1.6 AF. Recharge progress will continue since the District has ten projects planned, with seven more in the county, three in neighboring Triangle T Water District and one more by the Sierra Vista Mutual Water Company.
He went on to say that the San Joaquin River Exchange Contractors had submitted a letter regarding the report with concerns about the interim guidelines for subsidence at two feet, which they said was unacceptable. Welch said he had met with the Contractors and there was discussion about pumping above and below the Corcoran clay layer, with hard facts difficult to obtain. He pointed out that even if all pumping immediately stopped, there would still be some residual subsidence. The GSA continues to be overdrafted by as much as 40,000 AF, he said.
The Meeting
As the board was reconvening for CWD business at 2:15 p.m., there was a question about the status of the revised GSP for the Subbasin that had been submitted to the State Board. Welch said he’s hopeful there will be approval next month (May).
The board approved the financial report from Business Manager April Garay. She said receipts for the month had been $85,671.22, disbursements had amounted to $1,283,480.92 with an ending balance on April 1 of $16,718,382.31. When asked, Garay said that receivables on last year’s water bills still amounted to about $160,000 owed by water customers who are paying 18 percent interest on past due amounts. Heads were shaken at the notion of such expensive credit being used by these folks and it was noted that any outstanding water bill must be paid before any 2025 deliveries can be made.
Financials
The warrants list of bills approved totaled $1,103,566.41. Minutes of meetings held March 12 and March 21 were approved. A woman asked for forgiveness of a late fee on a water
bill since the property owner, her father, had passed away and she had not received the bill in the transition of bookkeeping. All monies owed including the fee had been paid. The board allowed the amount of $38.53 to be applied as a credit on the 2025 water bills.
The board approved the purchase of 37.62 acres of ground from Almond House, LLC for a price of $658,350. The trees will be removed, and a recharge basin will be constructed. When negotiations had begun, the owner wanted to keep access to the land to harvest this year’s nut crop. He also requested that he retain an active well in a corner of the property. This had been discussed at the March meeting with the board deciding it did not want to buy property it couldn’t immediately access to begin construction. A higher offer of $17,500 per acre was made and an easement proposed to allow access to the well for 20 years. The seller accepted and the board here approved a resolution to complete the purchase with the easement.
Next the board approved the pro-forma statement showing how the District will meet its financial obligations in 2025. This budget summary estimates total expense and total revenue at $17,512,310, in a resolution that is submitted to the county. The District as usual asks that the county board of supervisors act as the board of equalization on the District’s behalf. A property assessment of $1.50 per one hundred dollars of assessed valuation is requested which will result in total assessment revenues of $1,997,837 for the District.
Water Rates
With this as background and the detailed budget approved last month, the board then considered the water rate for 2025. Since the last meeting, over $3 million had been taken out of reserves for recharge land purchases and for the new grader, meaning those sums don’t have to come out of operations this year. The Bureau also has announced 100 percent of the District’s allocation of Class 1 water totaling 55,000 AF will be available. The board discussed various rates, wanting to strike a balance between the best price for growers while providing financial security to the District.
Vince Taylor’s motion for $120 / AF failed for lack of a second. Higher rates were considered and finally Russell Harris moved for $135 / AF. That rate was approved but on a three to two vote, with Harris, Nathan Ray and Karun Samran in favor while Schuh and Taylor were opposed.
Water deliveries will begin the first week in May, unless more water is forthcoming from the Bureau in the form of unrealized restoration flows (URF). And with no Class 2 water, at least yet, the board voted that there would be no deliveries yet to growers with subordinate rights. That vote was split too, with Harris voting against.
O&M
The operations and maintenance report was delivered by Chris Mayo, director of operations. He pointed out increases in lake water levels during March for Eastman at 13,203 AF and Millerton at just shy of 66,000 AF. He said repairs had been made to pipeline leaks, sediment removed from Ash Main Canal, a new siphon screen built for a lateral ditch and hardpan hauled and placed on the south side of Accornero Pond to help prevent
erosion. With the head mechanic back from truck driving school, a lot was accomplished in the shop. One new ditch tender pickup truck had been received from Steve’s Chevrolet.
General Manager Brandon Tomlinson reported that Friant is considering making some Class 2 water available. Inflows to Eastman have slowed a lot. He said Austin Ewell reports a pending request for funds for the Merced Intertie with Senators Padilla and Schiff. Director Harris wondered how many calls Ewell makes for the District and the consensus was that he be invited to the next meeting to give an update on the activity of his firm on their behalf.
Directors were invited to comment as the last item of business. Only Ray replied, saying he had one grower ask that some dredging be done on a canal near his property which had a propensity to flood.
With no other business and no closed session required, the meeting was adjourned at 3:30 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
