By Don A. Wright
The Westlands Water District held its board of directors meeting on Tuesday, July 15, 2025 at its Fresno headquarters and online with Zoom. Before the meeting was the Finance & Administrative committee meeting. So there were some folks in the room. A farmer whose name wasn’t given said he had to pull almonds from 1,350 acres and his place was overrun by Norwegian Wood rats.
I’ve been hearing a great deal about the rat infestation on the Valley’s westside since the state in its wisdom banned effective rodenticides. In any event this poor fellow is dealing with a mess and on top of it he’s not going to be able to use the water in his account because the rats are tearing up his plumbing – his drip lines and such. He asked the board to allow him to sell his water back to either the district or broker or someone. The board was willing to cut him and his water account some slack. Good for them.
The Meeting
The regular board meeting began at 9:10am with Chairman Jeff Fortune calling things to order. We started with a pledge of allegiance to the flag of the greatest nation on earth. Fortune asked us all to observe a moment of silence in recognition of the passing of two longtime westside farming pioneers, John Harris and Vincent Coelho. After that the consent calendar was approved.
General Manager’s Report
GM Allison Febbo began by saying Ted Cooke has been nominated to serve as the Commissioner of the US Bureau of Reclamation. I haven’t heard anything bad about Cooke but knowing he’s from Arizona there are some concerns he may not be as familiar with the complex ecosystem of California’s water as needed. But I suspect a lot of very smart and good-looking people will educate him on the fine points. I do hope a California Water Czar can come along side in some manner.
Febbo said Westlands is keeping a close eye on the Delta Mendota Canal/California Aqueduct intertie.
Water Supply
Kitty Campbell reported on the district’s water supplies. All storage in California reservoirs are above average but for San Luis Reservoir. Shasta is at 105 percent of average for this time of year. San Luis has less than 400,000a/f Central Valley Project supplies. The good news is the Fall X2 Line has been cancelled by Executive Order.
Febbo added that the Bureau is aware of South of Delta contractors’ needs for increasing allocations and pumping. Westlands has a complicated palette of water colors, different categories and sometimes for the complete picture you might want to view the data.
Eric Johnson asked online how the Bureau has justified keeping the allocation at 55 percent. Febbo said the Bureau has been hanging onto water at San Luis Reservoir and most contractors don’t dig this. Director Jim Anderson asked Febbo who the Bureau listens to most, Delta Mendota Water Authority or Westlands. The two entities are not completely in line with each other on this topic. There is a 30,000 a/f drought pool at SLR that Fortune advocates should be sent to the district for recharge. Something similar happened last year with more carryover in SLR than many wanted.
Science
Febbo reminded the board WWD has recently hired fisheries scientist Brad Cavallo per the district’s strategic plan. Cavallo and Jeff Payne gave the board a presentation that included a graphic of a hair ball? A representation of fly specs? An etch a sketch gone off the rails? It was actually the decision making tree the government uses to organize its fishery regulations.
Payne said Cavallo is working on an accountability strategy, defining clear goals dealing for smelt, salmon, sturgeon and predators that impact water supply. Febbo responded to a question by Director Frank Coelho saying this research and planning could be used for legal purposes. Director William Bourdeau expressed his hopes this effort will bring to light the costs to society.
Cavallo said longfin smelts’ numbers are unknown. They are anadromous, unlike the Delta smelt. One of the first actions needed is to get a population estimate. They may not need to be listed as endangered.
Cavallo said tens of thousands of juvenile Chinook salmon have been tagged but the data hasn’t been analyzed enough. There are many receiver stations. Anderson asked if Westlands is working with government agencies and NGOs to ensure the analysis is accepted. Febbo said Cavallo has a very good reputation and network to go with it. What the latest data suggests is less than one percent of the salmon returning from the ocean go south to the San Joaquin River and its tributaries. This ties in with FishBio’s study showing more than 90 percent of the out-migrating juvenile salmon are eaten by non-native predators like striped bass.
Bourdeau said under one of the Wanger decision the science was ruled politically based. He urged these efforts be used to help commercial fishermen. Cavallo said the monitoring of recreational fishing isn’t very strong. There are so many anglers it is impossible to survey each of them. In Oregon they use cameras to monitor boats coming and going. There are now cameras on the Golden Gate and Half Moon Bay. Director Ryan Ferguson asked why California Fish & Wildlife doesn’t keep better tabs on the amount of fish harvested. Sometimes there aren’t answers to why the state does what it does.
I asked Cavallo if he has noticed any changes in the relationship between ocean going commercial fishermen and the rest of the world. The Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen Associations (I think it’s the ACWA of the fishery industry) hasn’t been easy for agriculture to work with. Which is strange as most everywhere else in the United States fishermen and farmers are allies. There is some change coming as the Northern California Water Association is now working the PCFFA.
Fed & State News
Febbo announced John Watts has moved to Senator Alex Padilla’s office. Watts was working at the Bureau of Reclamation and before that many years with the late Senator Dianne Feinstein. This is considered a good move as Senators Adam Schiff and Padilla aren’t known for their water knowledge. Although Schiff did recently tour SLR. So, with the addition of Watts to the senatorial team things are looking better.
Public Affairs
Elizabeth Jonasson reported someone took a photo of the board standing in front of the Five Points office sign and turned them all into Lego people. The district’s social media presence is growing. The passing of Mr. Harris and the recognition of the Lake Shasta birthday were standouts.
O&M Report
Kelly Vandergon reported on operations and maintenance saying the demands on the delivery and distribution system have been met at this time. Staff is winnowing down the detritus of parts and storage areas by condensing stock of the most needed parts.
There will be an August test for part of the system. I didn’t catch if it was electrical or water related or both. It shouldn’t shut down parts of the system for more than eight
hours. There will be testing for invasive bivalves such as the Golden and Zebra mussel. They have been found on the Delta Mendota Canal and on some pumps. They’ve found hot water kills them. Cavallo will participate in this.
Vandergon reported Westlands participated with the Lemoore Naval Air Station on the distribution system and water quality. There are ag chemicals and jet airplane chemicals and they don’t mix well.
Valley Clean
Jose Gutierrez reports Spanish translations are being prepared. Bourdeau added a robust public outreach program should be developed.
Outside Agencies
Bourdeau said the Family Farm Alliance is an excellent organization (I agree.) He said the leadership transition is going well.
Strategic Plan
Febbo said the recent trip to Washington DC went very good. She reported Westlands has asked the SLDMWA to have a representative attend Westlands meetings. J. Scott Petersen was rocking it online.
Russ Freeman spoke on the joint activities. Petersen said the trip to DC with Directors Jeremy Hughes, Bourdeau and Febbo with the SLDMWA contingent was successful in the efforts to trim down the costs of the SLR dam raising.
Febbo and Petersen answered Coelho’s question about narrowing down the cost duplications between WWD and SLDMWA. I wasn’t sure what they were talking about.
Director Russ Franson had no update on ACWA and none of the other spokesmodels for the outside agency reports had anything to say either. That’s just how it goes some days.
F&A Committee
The earlier finance and administration committee meeting was reported. There were no action items to be had.
SGMA
Campbell reported the groundwater levels in Westlands have improved. Funny how wet years and reasonable allocations can do that. Westlands has a good deal of Corcoran clay layers underneath it and there are increased studies on how that impacts the water levels. If too much water is removed from a clay layer it will compact upon itself and that’s how you get subsidence. So it is a good thing for the Westside Subbasin to avoid harm.
Campbell showed a slide from DWR that shows Westlands’ subsidence is somewhat elastic – adding water can reverse land elevation drops, if I understood correctly. Grower Jon Reiter asked if Campbell has a sense if recharge has found its way to the lower aquifer. She said they are studying this but it’s too soon to get the needed data. Dr. Peter Maraccini, WWD’s Chief Science Officer spoke further on the subject. He has hopes for continued improvement.
Power to the Folks
Febbo said this power plan is similar to the strategic plan. The goal is to make electricity more cost effective and efficient. Steve Farmer gave the report saying Aspen Associates are advising the district. The proposed plan is broken down into short term and long term. Under short term the idea of providing farmers with incentives is on the table. On the longer-term better transmission. Tightening up the finances is a big part of this. A sustainable and efficient energy plan is the goal. Loan opportunities, outreach and a legal clarification on some land use matters. Farmers said the plan will be brought back to the board before review.
He zipped through the presentation pretty fast but there is hope for a substantial cost savings to the district and its clients. Coelho expressed concern he shares with others about how much land will be taken out of farming. Director Justin Diener said he’d like to see a survey of landowners as part of the stakeholder buy-in.
Raising Dam
Next Freeman spoke about the cost sharing of raising the B.F. Sisk Dam on San Luis Reservoir. The Bureau of Reclamation, SLDM and Westlands are all involved in paying for the 70/30 costs split. This includes two activity agreements being approved and given to the Bureau. The good news is there is no cash call at this time. Towards the end of October the cash call kicks in. This will cost WWD about $500,000 before the end of the year.
The board was asked to vote on Westlands position as a SLDM member to authorize paying the Bureau a big bill. Anderson, Hughes and Coelho are not on board with putting more money into SLR when the Bureau won’t release more allocations. Febbo said the district doesn’t have to put up any money at this time and advised it ride things out until the actual payment deadline comes due.
Public Comment & Closed Session
Golden State Clean Energy gave an analysis of what the Big Beautiful Bill passing means to the solar energy industry and specifically the Valley Clean Energy Project. This is a 100,000 acre solar farm in Westlands. He said most of the sharp increase in energy is due to data centers. The bottom line is the BBB shouldn’t negatively impact the CVEP. The State of California on the other hand is talking big and walking very small, especially in permitting and transmission capacity.
The open portion of the meeting shut down at 11:26am so the board could retreat into closed session. Closed session is when the public is removed from the room physically and the cigars, whiskey and dancing girls come out. That or more likely the board will simply deal with the items listed in the Brown Act as suitable for confidential discussion. In today’s meeting all three of the classes covered: personnel, lawsuits and real estate transactions were on the agenda. That was that, go be good to yourself and others.
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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, Ryan Ferguson, Ross Franson, Jeremy Hughes, Ernie Costamagna & Justin Diener.
Staff: Allison Febbo-General Manager, Jose Gutierrez-Lt. General Manger, Russ Freeman-Deputy GM Resources, Kitty Campbell-Supervisor of Resources, Steve Farmer-VP of Finance & Admin Affairs, Elizabeth Esposito-In House Counsel, Kelly Vandergon-Director of O&M, Jim Carter-IT Guru, Elizabeth Jonasson-Public Affairs Officer, Brad Cavallo-Biologist and Dr. Peter Maraccini-Chief Science Officer.
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
