By Don A. Wright
The Westlands Water District held its board of directors meeting Tuesday, October 17, 2023 at its old Fresno headquarters. Someday brothers and sisters, we will enter the promised room. It’s a room with plenty of electrical outlets. It’s a room with a view of the big screen. It’s a room with leg room. But until the satraps at the City of Fresno permitting
division give the big OK, two thumbs up get after it, we’re going to be squeezed in. But at least we’re squeezed in with highly intelligent, good looking people. You can tell they’re intelligent because they laugh at my jokes.
There wasn’t as many people as usual in the audience. Don’t know why. I did see Tomi Saghatelian was sitting in the attorney’s seat. Good for her.
The Meeting
Chairman Jeff Fortune called the meeting to order at scheduled 9:00am start time. The first item was approval of the consent calendar and Fortune announced even if Lt. General Manager Jose Gutierrez has to paint the new building on the weekends this will be the last meeting at the old headquarters.
Power to the Folks
Next Patrick Malloy of Golden State Clean Energy gave a report on the solar projects for Westlands, known as the Valley Clean Infrastructure Plan, VCIP. So far a combination of district and private landowners have amounted to more than 100,000 acres signed up to participate. Every private landowner gets the same agreement. One of the key ingredients is transmission. There has been a transmission project approved, at least in theory to allow new transmission lines to move power out of the Valley. There were some maps and other slides projected but the big screen hangs from the back wall, behind the audience.
Malloy also said there are a substantial number of reasons to believe electrical power in California is going to get really expensive, like doubled as the inflation that has so harmed us slows our nation’s economy down.
Director Kevin Assemi said everyone recognizes Cal ISO is a nightmare but what about the legislation before the feds? Patrick said he isn’t the best partner to address this but they are talking with the feds about tariffs taking place in Wyoming and New Mexico that could be applicable to VCIP. Assemi also asked if anyone from GSCE has coordinated with WWD on the physical location of facilities to make sure there aren’t lateral canals that are cut off or go to no use. Malloy said they are in the midst of developing a map to show the situation and that will soon be ready. Director Justin Diener asked if there is a first right of refusal. There is not a right of first refusal but there is a right of first offer. I didn’t fully understand that but it had something to do with easements and title. This would allow GSCE a limited opportunity to purchase land in some circumstances. Director William Bourdeau asked if there has been sufficient public outreach.
Grower Dan Errotabere asked what if the needed land won’t be sold, will it go to eminent domain? Malloy said if a gap occurs they’ll have to figure out an alternative route. He also said he thinks from permit approval to construction completion could be as soon as seven years. Fortune said WWD will form an ad hoc committee with Directors Ross Franson, Diener and himself.
Grower Tom Coleman said he knows a landowner group who are concerned about losing their water rights to the land if they go solar. There wasn’t really a strong response from the board to this.
Water Report
Tom Boardman gave the water report saying Lake Shasta is well on its way to having full exports next year as a cold water pool should be maintained. Folsom Reservoir has some flood control and fish needs balance to deal with.
The federal Jones Plant is down to three units and will drop to two units tomorrow. The
Fall X2 line has intruded upstream further than expected. The X2 line is how far saltwater from San Francisco Bay goes upstream into the Delta. It requires flows through the Delta to push it back closer to the Golden Gate. In response to this Boardman has moved his expectation to fill San Luis Reservoir from the end of this year into January. He did say he has no fear of SLR not filling. Good news. Grower Will Coit asked if Shasta can fill how much water will Westlands get. Boardman said with what he knows now a conservative number under median conditions could be 60 percent.
General Manager’s Report
General Manager Allison Febbo reported since the last meeting Senator Dianne Feinstein has died and Congressman Kevin McCarthy is no longer Speaker. The new Senator is from Maryland and has indicated she’ll retain Feinstein’s staff for now.
McCarthy’s loss of the Speakership not only harms the Valley but also has set up a mess of trying to find a new Speaker. That has shut down a lot of things California agriculture would like to move forward.
Febbo said the US Bureau of Reclamation’s Ernest Conant and Department of Water Resources’ Karla Nemeth want to speak with Central Valley Project water contractors on October 25th. They want to talk about the single tunnel through the Delta. Febbo also said the San Luis Delta Mendota Water Authority wants to talk about special operations, maintenance and repairs on the Mendota Pool and what that will cost. In response to a question by Director Frank Coelho, Russ Freeman, Deputy GM Resources said Westlands is continuing to participate in the raising of the B.F.
Sisk Dam on San Luis Reservoir. Bourdeau said it is an important investment. Assemi asked if there is more storage available and I believe Freeman said there is still 15,000 a/f unsubscribed. Fortune said there may be many times to revisit this topic. Director Jim Anderson asked Febbo if there is any grant money available. Febbo said probably not for the dam raise but the road work could have some funding out there. Bourdeau suggested taking a look at preselling some of that water to help pay. And Assemi suggested looking at a deal with Metropolitan Water District.
Public Outreach & Other Matters
Westlands’ Public Information Officer Elizabeth Jonasson told the board, staff has hosted a group of social media influencers on a tour of the area. There was a food give away in downtown Fresno. A group of Australian almond growers toured the area. Febbo spoke at a recent Public Policy Institute of California event and at the recent ACWA Region Six & Seven gathering.
Gutierrez said this week the new headquarters will have fire, electrical and air conditioning inspections and should be passed by the city and staff can start moving in.
Bill Pierce reported as for O&M everything broken has been repaired. Tanks throughout the district and pumping plants are being repainted. He said he’s sleeping better knowing things are on schedule. There was a concrete pipe failure about 300 feet long that is being replaced. Some large, complicated valves are scheduled to be replaced before winter.
Diener asked Pierce if he heard anything about DWR shutting down. Pierce said as he understands it DWR will shut down the Dos Amigos Pumping Plant for 12-hours. This is a plant that can move water between the federal Delta Mendota Canal and the state California Aqueduct and helps with flexibility of system management.
Bourdeau asked what lessons have been learned this wet year about recharge. He wanted to know what engineering opportunities are available to allow greater capacity. Pierce said the original design of how many acre feet per acre could legally be assigned, limited the physical size of the district’s capacity.
Coelho said he’d like an O&M Committee to be reestablished. Fortune said the voters who
moved change to Westlands wanted to do away with the committee system. Coelho said there hasn’t been a good O&M meeting in months. Pierce said meeting twice a year has been good for his team. It gives them a chance to gather direction and inform the board.
Bourdeau said he went to Washington DC with the Family Farm Alliance and Febbo had a remarkable time giving presentations all over the place. He said she did good as did FFA.
Freeman reported there is $25 million available to put solar panels over canals and SLDMWA is looking into that. Franson reported on the recent ACWA meeting at Harris Ranch.
Finance & Administration
Bobbie Ormonde gave the financial report. This included investments, water rates methodologies to repay debt service to the USBR, midyear budget transfers and a revised salary code. I realize I often give very little information about financial matters. These are public record matters and I write with confidence you’ll receive a much more accurate look at the figures if I don’t type them. I did hear WWD has $54 million investment in short term, easy to withdraw yet earning interest account.
The USBR changes were addressed by staff at the request of Diener. WWD converted its contract to pay of its Central Valley Project construction obligation. Prior to 2020 the Bureau was charging this obligation through water rates and it wasn’t keeping up with interest if I understood. The conversions allowed contractors to pay off their debts sooner. Diener noticed this method caused some disruption in certain water years and asked staff to figure out a more stable method. Remember the canals and pumps and reservoirs were not gifts from the taxpayer to the farmer. You’ll hear this now and then and it just isn’t true.
Diener said he believes if the cost allocation to CVP construction pay offs is based on a fixed cost based on land assessments as opposed to the variable costs of water delivered budgeting for farmers would improve and it would be fairer for other landowners and
incentivize more recharge. Coelho said basing the repayment half on water and half on land assessments would be the best way. Director Jeremy Hughes felt Diener’s suggestion was best. Some prominent farmers I spoke with also felt the fixed cost of construction should have a fixed cost to pay off. Coelho reiterated his opinion that since everyone is using water there should be a payment associated with it. Assemi said he wants the situation to incentivize bringing in surface water. However, this change will require a Prop 218 election if I understood. Fortune asked staff to come back with some comparisons for a 50/50 or 100/0. The board agreed to this direction for staff. The board also approved a mid-year budget change and a change to the salary code to stay in compliance with Cal Pers.
SGMA
Next engineer Kiti Campbell* reported on SGMA matters. It was difficult to follow the report because all the figures and charts and such were posted on the back wall. Campbell resights the numbers pretty fast. There has been some controversy in the district over
recharge. Has WWD done enough? There are a lot more growers participating now that harvest is mostly over. Like more than a quarter of a million acre feet in the ground. There are also a couple of large recharge projects coming operational before spring. Bourdeau asked if the district is ready for another wet year and Campbell said she believes so. Previous to September the recharge was about 50-50 between the district and private lands. That has tilted significantly in favor of growers. Diener asked staff to work to conduct a survey of growers so they have an idea of how much is being recharged. Bourdeau said he believes WWD is further ahead and can improve from the lessons learned. The bi-annual well survey will be conducted, I believe in time for next month’s meeting and it will be interesting to see how groundwater levels have been impacted. Febbo commented on how efforts to recharge have grown tremendously since she began in the spring.
Somewhere during Campbell’s report I realized if I wanted to see what was on the back screen without breaking my neck I could join the meeting on Zoom. I’ll have to remember that in similar situations. The board also gave direction on groundwater transfers. Eric
Johnson asked by Zoom if it would be possible for someone to recharge surface water upslope of the subsidence impacted areas and receive credit. Grower Will Coit added his support for this and suggested allowing partnerships to go together on some recharge. Assemi liked that idea.
Next
Febbo asked the board to pass a resolution commending Marcie Lewis’ 18-years of service to Westlands, mostly in personnel. Passed unanimously.
Water Management
Freeman presented the board with an update on water management. He said there is more than 200,000 a/f that could be passed over if it isn’t recharged soon. I believe that’s what he said. The two district recharge programs; the 50/50 split or $100 per a/f is still on going and popular.
Johnson also had a suggestion to ask the Bureau to rethink how cap loss is figured, the amount of carryover lost to refilling a reservoir before a district can move it out. He believed that would provide more water for recharge.
Coelho stepped out of the room while the board considered a water transfer of 14,000 a/f out of the district. Freeman said part of the water would go to Panoche WD, San Luis WD and some to the Coelho Family Trust. That’s why Coelho recused himself from the room. By the way the water going to Coelho was part of an historic agreement with the Bureau and
not a special gift to a director. Not that anyone would jump to that conclusion. Coleman spoke saying the water is also the difference between what amount is needed for young trees in the district that can’t be applied going to older trees out of the district. Grower Lindsay Cederquist said the folks banking water are paying similar charges as this plan. The board approved. There was no public comment.
Closed Session
The open portion of the meeting was called at 12:02pm and things when into closed session for the hat trick of Brown Act exemptions from public discourse: employee, real estate and law suits. I loosely counted 21 items listed under closed session. So, that’s that. Go be good to each other and yourselves. 
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*I can never seem to remember if Mrs. Campbell spells her name Kiti or Kitty. The WWD website lists her first name as Katarina.
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https://wwd.ca.gov/wwd-agenda/board-meeting-10-17-2023/
Westlands Water District
3130 N. Fresno Street, Fresno CA 93703 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, Tomi Saghatelian-Attorney, 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 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
