By Don A. Wright
The Westlands Water District held its board of directors meeting at its Fresno headquarters and online with Zoom on Tuesday, December 19, 2023. This is my first in-person meeting in the new headquarters. The boardroom, where most of us who don’t work there, spend most of our time, is much bigger than the old headquarters on Fresno Street. The new location is near the River Park Shopping Center or the No River Limited Parking Center. Unlike that place’s parking stall shortage, the new boardroom had plenty of seating. The chairs were comfortable, there were four or five big screen televisions that allowed everyone in the audience to see what was being posted. Just a much more positive vibe than the cramped space. Still, it will take a little getting used to.
The Meeting
At 9:03am Chairman Jeff Fortune called the meeting to order and did some official-eze housekeeping announcements about handicapped access and such. Attorney Tomi Saghatelian wanted to shuffle the agenda items in closed session. The board approved.
A lady online asked to speak in public comment on a consent item but it turned out to be a closed session item and deals with the lawsuit concerning Westlands getting its WIIN Act contract signed. I think she’s an attorney for the NGOs suing.
We’re going to have to revisit this matter soon. There are those out there claiming a change in governmental accounting procedures will harm fish. I’ve yet to figure out how. Of the more than two dozen Central Valley Project contract conversions under the WIIN Act only Westlands has been challenged in court.
GM Report
General Manager Allison Febbo started by reporting on the State Board’s Voluntary Agreements progress, if you can call it that. There have been hearings in Sacramento on the Bay Delta Plan and Febbo reported on them. You can see part one and two of our report on the hearing.
Next Russ Freeman gave the water supply update saying 270,000 a/f was delivered since the water year began, if I understood correctly. Groundwater pumping was less than expected from 14,000 to 11,000 a/f.
Tom Boardman said Shasta has lost momentum and trending behind last year. But the latest forecast is for a wetter trend in the northern portion of the state. More than five inches of rain is expected for the next week. The storage increase is good but the key for the next little while is the inflow below the dams along the Sacramento River bumping up in Delta flows.
Boardman said if things don’t improve San Luis Reservoir could be 100,000 a/f shy of the projected end of January storage. He sees more pumping at the Jones Plant starting soon. He does see SLR filling in February or early March. Of course there’s the smelt situation impacting river flows near the pumps.
Grower Will Coit asked Boardman what allocation there might be from the US Bureau of Reclamation. Boardman said the Bureau is going to be conservative and believes an initial allocation of 20-percent.
Public Relations & O&M
Elizabeth Jonasson reported on the going on’s. Febbo has been out there talking and Director William Bourdeau asked for future meetings to include social media tracking. Febbo said there have been some good news to report concerning recharge totals.
Bill Pierce reported some good news also, saying during the Dos Amigos Pumping Plant shut down growers and staff worked together through what could have been a difficult
time. He thanked all involved for their cooperation. Construction work is going well. There are some large diameter valve replacements that have had some progress.
Director Jim Anderson asked if WWD is exempt under CEQA. Lt. General Manager Jose Gutierrez said that depends. Director Ross Franson asked if the pipeline failures this year is an uptick from the past and the answer was no. Director Justin Diener said the effort staff put into lessening the pain during the Los Amigos shutdown was much appreciated.
Outside Agency
Bourdeau said in light of losing Senator Diane Feinstein and Congressman Kevin McCarthy the Family Farm Alliance’s connection to Washington DC is more valuable than ever. A good point. There will be a February meeting of FFA in Reno. Franson reported on the recent ACWA conference in Indian Wells saying it was a good conference.
Finances
Bobbie Ormonde reported on investments and financial reports. Revenues have been tracking to budget as have expenses.
Next Steve Farmer addressed the water rates and charges for USBR capital debt repayment and the methodology used to calculate the costs. It was a bit complicated with more than one moving part – water availability, tier, what part of the district is the cost being applied to. Diener said he realizes this is complicated and he’s looking for simplicity so growers can find a more consistent cost to figure in their operating budgets.
Director Frank Coelho said this topic – water v. land based charges has been beaten to death. He said area three doesn’t have water (only two percent goes there) so what benefit do they receive from land based charges. Grower Kristi Robinson said she does want to see a less complicated methodology.
Ms. Schiferly (sp?) asked about the lawsuit against Westlands’ having a WIIN Act contract denied – has there been an evaluation of the cost impacts? Febbo said the evaluation
hasn’t been completed yet. Schiferly asked when it will be completed and the answer was basically when it’s finished. There was no date available at this time. Schiferly asked if the evaluation report will be made public and Saghatelian said that depends on the state of litigation concerning it. My impression is Schiferly is one of the attorneys suing Westlands.
Ormonde proposed new salary guides and the board approved. Next the board approved Resolution Number 121-23 to send to the Fresno County Board of Supervisors updating its amended bylaws that now include the new office location. That passed.
SGMA
Kiti Campbell gave an update on SGMA matters saying more than 40,000 a/f was recharged in the past month. There are portions of Westlands that indicate subsidence can be elastic. In other words, add water and the land elevation will rise. How about that? It’s not carved in stone but that is an interesting development.
Campbell showed a map of the district with monitoring wells depths. Overall the recharge efforts are promising. The worst case scenario is a small area in the far northwest of the district that is within 15-percent of reaching the minimum threshold but the vast majority of the land is above 50-percent from the MT. This is tracking with the increased water
supplies. It doesn’t take a rocket surgeon to realize more surface water equals more recharge and better SGMA outcomes.
Anderson asked if the subbasins facing probation and takeover by the State Board are continuing their Groundwater Sustainability Plan project implementation. That is the indicated path for now. If probation is adopted by the State Board all wells pumping 500 a/f or more annually will have meters installed and then the State Board is going to have to determine how much it will clamp down on pumping.
Coit asked if Kings River water coming to James Irrigation District can also be made available to Westlands growers. He said his land has benefited from recharge to the east from the extra water. He suggested somehow to implement and get approval in advance to move that water to WWD during wet years.
Grower Sarah Woolf suggested recharge incentives could be increased with a higher leave behind amount and less consideration on evapotranspiration.
Grower Jon Reiter asked which microphone button at the podium to push, the red or the green? Fortune said yes. He then asked about how long will the lag time be to see how much the wet year and recharge benefits have impacted the district. Not sure there is a concise answer to that question.
Water broker Eric Johnson presented the board with a case of bottled water. He’s been doing this for years and the labels reflect the type of water year. They’re usually the small 6 oz bottle but this year the bottles are 12 oz. The label celebrated “Recharge Ready” water supplies. He said you can drink it or pour it out, but if you pour it out, you have to pour it down a furrow.
Water Transfers & Grants
Freeman said two growers have requested transferring 721 a/f of water to San Luis WD
and since SLWD is also a CVP contractor it’s legal and CEQA exempt. The board approved.
Campbell reported on grants saying since 2017 WWD has received $21 million in grants. She provided the board a list of grants in the board packet and she went down the list highlighting where the money came from. This money is a combination USBR and SGMA related grant funds. Some of the grants had matching funds requirements and some didn’t. Coelho asked if the grant applications were inhouse and Campbell said much of the aps where written inhouse but there is a grant consultant helping keep track of opportunities.
The VAs
Next Febbo updated the board on the Voluntary Agreements, also known as VAs and Healthy Rivers & Landscapes – although the latter isn’t really catching on. That was actually covered in the GM report earlier in the meeting but I’d already wrote this and liked the part about the Healthy Rivers & Landscapes. As they say you can put lipstick on a pig, try to teach it to dance and you won’t make silk purses out of its ears.
Another Approval
Freeman presented the board with an opportunity to find WWD exempt from CEQA on a
lease agreement for irrigated lands and surface water between landowners and Westlands. The board approved. Gutierrez said staff will come back with a report on future, possible policy changes.
Public Comment & Closed Session
Coit said this has been a short meeting. The meeting then went into closed session at 10:34am. It was short. The new facilities have a much bigger boardroom and while there’s still a lot unpacking and moving to deal with it has a good look.
Last month I reported on Westlands’ board meeting while out of town. There was a great deal of praise directed to an employee who was instrumental in helping get the new offices up and running. I believe I referred to him as Allen someone. His real name is Alwin Acuna, Supervisor of Procurement and Fleet Services. I got to meet Mr. Acuna today and he was very gracious regarding the misunderstanding of his name. Good for him.
May he and all of Westlands staff and growers and you have a blessed Christmas and a peaceful and prosperous New Year.
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Westlands Water District
286 W. Cromwell Ave, Fresno, CA 93711 Phone:559/224-1523
Board: Jeff Fortune -President, Jim Anderson – Vice President, Frank Coelho Jr., William Bourdeau, Kevin Assemi, Ross Franson, Jeremy Hughes, Ernie Costamagna & Justin Diener.
Staff: Allison Febbo-General Manager, Jose Gutierrez-Lt. General Manager, Russ Freeman-Deputy GM Resources, Kitty Campbell-Supervisor of Resources, Bobbie Ormonde-VP of Finance & Administrative Affairs, Bill Pierce Director O&M, Jim Carter-IT Guru, Tomi Saghatelian-Attorney and Elizabeth Jonasson- Public Affairs Representative.
About: Without irrigation, farming in the Westlands area of California would be limited and ineffectual. The history of Westlands is one of continual adaptation, careful water stewardship and advanced technology. By maintaining a fierce commitment to sustainability, the Westlands’ comprehensive water supply system continues to adapt, educate, and surpass conservation goals. Throughout its history, Westlands Water District has demonstrated a lasting dedication to water conservation and recognized that the long-term survival of its farms depends on the effective management of California’s precious water resources. From www.wwd.ca.gov
SGMA: Westland WD is in the Westside Subbasin and the Westlands WD GSA. DWR #5-022.09
