By Don A. Wright
The Westlands Water District held its board of directors meeting on Tuesday, November 19, 2024 at its swank Fresno Headquarters and on Zoom. The meeting began in closed session for an as yet unannounced reason – at least that’s what was posted on the Zoom screen. But the good, law abiding folks at Westlands CYA’d themselves with a statement on
the agenda that read, “The order of business reflected in this Agenda is subject to change.” What kind of monster would raise objections after reading such a succinct disclaimer? The brievity of it is enough to indemnify the whole situation.
The Meeting
The meeting was called to order by Chairman Jeff Fortune at 9:15am. The first item was the corrections or additions to the agenda and there were none. Two items were pulled from the consent calendar. Items C and D pulled and the calendar was approved.
The proposed motion was to change the wordings on the items and it dealt with Golden State Energy’s release rights. It had to do with an easement for White Pine Renewables across a WWD road. Both items passed.
GM Report
General Manager Allison Febbo said the big news was the Republican House & Senate as well as the President swept the general elections. There was also an election in Westlands. In the WWD election Director Kevin Assemi didn’t seek reelection and former Chair Ryan Ferguson will retake a seat on the board.
Febbo said the Biops for the Delta and a Record of Decision are expected before the end of the year. On the state side the State Board is looking at a choice between the Voluntary Agreements and increased through Delta Flows. (There will be a series of workshops held and as the lesser of two evils the VAs are the most popular.)
WWD is working to get the US Bureau of Reclamation to issue better allocations so there isn’t a repeat of this year’s embargo of 400,000 a/f in San Luis Reservoir and the increased allocations coming so late in the year as to be not particularly helpful. Someone asked about Governor Gavin Newsom’s already forming a resistance against the incoming Trump Administration and what needs to be done in light of that move. It will be discussed in closed session.
Water Report
Russ Freeman reported on water conditions within Westlands. The district gained almost 29,000 a/f but that may be closer to 20,000 a/f after all the considerations are figured into the equation. Still it looks like that water could go for about $450 an acre foot. Fortune asked how much was pumped last time there was a 50 percent allocation and that figure was much larger than what was pumped this year.
Tom Boardman said Shasta Reservoir is right at the brink of refilling. There was some minor precipitation and releases are at a minimum so the reservoir is filling. There is a big storm coming into the area later this week. He expects if this continues there could be flood control releases.
He said Folsom is at about 91 percent of the average and there is more than 200,000 a/f available in storage. The storm could bring six inches of precipitation so flood releases at Folsom are also a possibility. The Jones Plant should be operating at five units by the end of the week, maybe. But if it does run five units that should last until sometime next week and help the federal side of San Luis.
Boardman said the fish aren’t migrating at this time and that will help. But, there are situations wherein big storms this early in the year can trigger salmon migration. So, danged if you do. . . He said the Bureau had to pay back the state some water owed. Now that that is finished there should be a noticeable increase in federal Central Valley Project water in SLR.
Boardman answered some questions saying the first flush shouldn’t be a danger until December. Eric Johnson asked how much will need to be banked to prevent the district from carrying over more than 2.6 acre feet per acre. Freeman said adding 10,000 a/f to the pool would decrease prices. But the district needs about 400,000 a/f more and it’s early so he isn’t worried at this time.
Legislation
Ryan Smith and Dennis Cardoza spoke about federal affairs specifically about the election results. Both are from lobbying firms in DC. Smith spoke first and said the timing of the nominations for the new cabinet are important. In the lame duck there need to be three things done: defense spending, a continuing resolution and a disaster bill. Much of this that impacts ag will impact the southeast portion of the country due to the bad weather.
Smith said the Republicans will control the house and there races still undecided that can impact WWD. North Dakota’s Doug Burgum is likely to be the Secretary of Interior and he will be focusing on oil and energy. Once he’s in place the top slots at the USBR will soon be decided. Smith expects the Republican Senate to quickly approve most of the nominees.
Cardoza gave an analysis of Congressional members from California who will be willing to help WWD. He said first is John Garamendi who is suffering from cancer but doing well. Josh Harter in the Stockton area had a very close race and should help with canal subsidence fix funding. There are still 2,000 votes putting John Duarte ahead but it hasn’t been called yet. Jim Costa won reelection as did David Valadao. Valadao won a decisive victory despite the big target the dems put on him. His seniority on the appropriations committee is growing. First termer Vince Fong hit the ground running and should be good for the district.
On the Senate side Cardoza said having at least one home state senator is needed to move anything. He said Alex Padilla is now the senior Senator from California and he may make a play for former Senator Dianne Feinstein’s seat on the Appropriations Committee. Cardoza said he spoke with the new Senator elect Adam Schiff who he claims is interested in Central Valley issues. Cardoza said he expects folks to be surprised how well this could work out considering Schiff’s ultra partisan past. He said he didn’t want to give the impression all the Democrats will be as willing to help the Valley but the ones from the Valley should.
Cardoza said the Republican leadership in the Senate should be much better to work with. He said the Democratic leadership in the House most interesting to Westlands is the Southern Californian Caucus leader whose name I didn’t catch – he should be a much better fit than those from the Bay Area.
Staff said Westlands is looking to position itself for the very possible fight Newsom is picking.
Public Outreach
Elizabeth Jonasson showed the board a video of workers inspecting the inside of the Pleasant Valley Pipeline. It was interesting and looked a lot like cave explorers – also known as spelunkers. Looking up the 95 foot high vertical surge protection pipe was a unique viewpoint.
WWD received good media placement and had some positive social media response. They’re pushing video much more and that has been successful. The pipe video was the most viewed in Westlands’ history. Jonasson also showed the board how many events Westlands has participated in over the past month. Tours for government officials and students were conducted.
Director Frank Coelho suggested producing videos of the growers and what they are growing. Showing how water is important at each step. Everyone liked that idea. Assemi asked about videos regarding solar and how allocations work. Jonasson said there are discussions planned with the state and federal Delta operators and would like to bring some farmers along to join in.
Febbo said during a recent trip to Washington DC there was a signing of the agreement to raise the BF Sisk Dam at the San Luis Reservoir. She said it was a good event and even Newsom showed up. Director Elect Rebecca Kaiser thanked Jonasson and her team for helping to improve Westlands public image.
O&M
Kelly Vandergon gave his report saying staff is wasting no time on Pleasant Valley Pumping Plant repairs and the shut down schedule has been refined by getting as much maintenance completed as possible. He updated the board on well communication and meter damage. He said there are 865 nodes installed and reporting. The estimated time for this project to be finished should be in January.
Jose Gutierrez reported on the Valley Clean Energy Plan saying all the chapters and comments should be completed before the end of the year. On Tuesday, December 10th there will be a live workshop about the solar projects that will also be available on Zoom. Fortune asked for the energy consultants to attend the January meeting. Febbo reminded everyone there are monthly grower meetings held at the district headquarters.
The Plan
Febbo updated the board on the district’s strategic plan. She said Steve Farmer is shepherding the deadline compliance.
Outside Agency
Febbo said Director William Bourdeau wasn’t able to attend but he did write an update on the progress at the Family Farm Alliance as they search for a new Executive Director. Freeman gave an update on the San Luis Delta Mendota Water Authority activities. He said the O&M draft budget for SLDM is now out for review. There will be an activity agreement workshop next month.
Coelho commented on the need for Westlands to once again take a leadership role on contracting and reestablish the relationships with policy makers. He said costs are going up because of the overreach. Febbo said she recognizes this and staff are increasing the district’s input.
Febbo also said many from Westlands are attending the Fall ACWA conference. There will also be a CVP Water Authority conference coming up soon. She said this is an opportunity to interact with the Bureau and the board is welcome to join in.
Finance
Staff gave a stimulating and dynamic financial report under the watchful eye of Director Justin Diener. I believe he’s the Vice Chair taking over for Bourdeau. The board approved.
SGMA
Next Kitty Campbell reported on SGMA matters giving the board updates of recharge and pumping amounts. Campbell spoke at a recent event marking the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act’s 10 year birthday. There will be a technical advisory committee meeting later this month to go over the district’s response to refining the Groundwater
Sustainability Plan and a draft GSP should be available later this week.
Election Results
Farmer presented the board with the district’s election results. There are five board seats terming out in 2028 to be filled at this cycle. There were 943 ballots returned and all were counted. That shows an improvement in how many eligible ballots were returned due to an improved ballot. The last internal election at Westlands garnered a good deal of criticism from some very vocal growers about how easy it was to invalidate a ballot. Still turnout, if I understood, was barely above 50 percent. The board accepted the results with a unanimous vote.
Crop Reports & Other Matters
Freeman presented the board with the 2024 Crop Report that includes water usage and demand. Fallowing is also kept track of. The mandatory participation by growers was almost 100 percent. I don’t think Freeman will come to your home and break your
kneecaps for not completing the questionnaire but it is good to get this data to the Westlands staff. There are many reasons why this is helpful – planning and budgeting, public outreach and negotiations with the powers that be.
Vandergon presented the board with Resolution Number 123-24, Adopting the Mitigated Negative Declaration, SCH#2024100182, for the Lateral 7R Pipeline Replacement Project, Resolution Number 124-24, Approving the Lateral 7R Pipeline Replacement Project, and Resolution Number 122-24, commending longtime employee Jesus Barbosa.
Closed Session
During public comment Director Jeremy Hughes asked who is the solar consultant. He’d never heard of them. Will Coit said this is the time of year growers are meeting with buyers for contracts. He reminded the board smaller growers have to make livelihood decisions now and that might require dipping into groundwater credits or more supplemental water. He thanked the board and staff for their hard work. The meeting went into closed session at 10:56am for 28 items. That leads me to believe the closed session notice on the Zoom screen before the meeting had to do with either a committee or it was just a place holder. Go be good to each other and yourselves.
DISCLAIMER OF RESPONSIBILITY; Waterwrights strives to provide clients with the most complete, up-to-date, and accurate information available. Nevertheless, Waterwrights does not serve as a guarantor of the accuracy or completeness of the information provided, and specifically disclaims any and all responsibility for information that is not accurate, up-to-date, or complete. Waterwrights’ clients therefore rely on the accuracy, completeness and timeliness of information from Waterwrights entirely at their own risk. The opinions expressed in this report are those of the author and do not represent any advertisers or third parties.
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. Copyright 2024 by WaterWrights.net/DAW
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 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 and Elizabeth Jonasson-Public Affairs 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
