Westlands Water District

Fresno, CA

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Environmental Docs

Environmental documents are available during specific comment periods as described by the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) and the National Environmental Protection Act (NEPA).

Westlands Water District Groundwater Pumping and Conveyance Project Draft IS/ND

NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that a Negative Declaration has been prepared for the Westlands Water District (District) Groundwater Pumping and Conveyance Project (Project) and is available for public review and comment. The document can be reviewed at the District, located at 3130 N. Fresno Street, Fresno, California, or online at the District’s website.

PUBLIC REVIEW AND COMMENT PERIOD: September 2, 2020 through October 1, 2020. Please send all comments to David Vang, District, P.O. Box 6056 or 3130 N. Fresno Street, Fresno, California 93703-6056, or on the District website.

PROJECT LOCATION AND DESCRIPTION: The Project would be implemented within the District’s service area which includes 1,000 square miles of prime farmland on the west side of the San Joaquin Valley within Fresno County and the northern portion of Kings County. Under the Project, the United States Bureau of Reclamation (USBR) would enter into a five-year Warren Act Contract with the District to allow the District to introduce up to 30,000 AFY of local acceptable quality groundwater into the SLC for the period 2020-2025, in years which the District’s Central Valley Project (CVP) allocation is 20 percent or less. The source of the non-CVP water would be pumped groundwater from groundwater wells within the District. The groundwater would be pumped into the San Luis Canal via licensed water integration (discharge) facilities located on either side of the SLC. The amount of water from each source would vary, but the total quantity introduced under the proposed Project would not exceed a combined volume of 30,000 AF in a given year. Prior to introduction into the SLC, all wells would be tested to demonstrate compliance with the USBR’s 2020 Water Quality Monitoring Plan SLC Water Quality Monitoring Program standards (based off Title 22 water quality standards). Only groundwater wells that meet these water quality standards would be used for integration into the SLC. Water sourced from the Mendota Pool Inlet Canal would be tested at laterals discharging to the SLC. Water pumped and exchanged under the Project would be subject to ground subsidence and water quality monitoring and protection measures consistent with USBR standards and the District’s Groundwater Sustainability Plan for the Westside Subbasin.

INITIAL STUDY: An Initial Study was prepared to determine if the proposed Project would result in significant adverse impacts on the environment. That document concluded that the Project would not result in any significant impacts. Accordingly, it has been determined that a Negative Declaration is appropriate for the Project.

TO REVIEW DOCUMENT: Copies of the Initial Study and proposed Negative Declaration can be reviewed at the District, located at 3130 N. Fresno Street, Fresno, California, or online at the District’s website. All written comments on the proposed Negative Declaration must be submitted no later than the October 1, 2020 deadline.

PUBLIC HEARING: The District’s Water Policy Committee will conduct a public hearing to receive oral comments on October 20, 2020, beginning at 11:00 am. The Board of Directors will consider adoption of the Negative Declaration following the public hearing, beginning at 1:00 pm.

SLC Pump in Program Public Draft

The comment period of the documents below have passed.
Mendota Pool Group 20-Year Exchange Program Final EIS/R

Notice is hereby given that the U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Reclamation, as the National Environmental Policy Act Federal lead agency, and Westlands Water District, as the California Environmental Quality Act State lead agency, have made the Mendota Pool Group (MPG) 20-Year Exchange Program Final Environmental Impact Statement/Environmental Impact Report (EIS/EIR) available to the public.

Please note that the comment period has passed.

The proposed water exchange program incorporates design constraints, management actions, monitoring, and reporting requirements as well as groundwater recharge components intended to replenish the local groundwater basin through use of existing recharge facilities. The program would allow MPG farmers to deliver groundwater of suitable quality to Mendota Pool in exchange for Central Valley Project water delivered via the San Luis Canal for use on approximately 42,316 acres of historically irrigated MPG lands in Westlands Water District.

The EIS/EIR analyzes the No Action and two action alternatives. Under the Proposed Action (Alternative 1), Reclamation would issue a series of exchange agreements over a period of 20 years. The MPG may pump a not-to-exceed total of 38,316 acre-feet of water per year (AFY), which includes up to 26,316 AFY for exchange (less 5 percent required to remain in the Mendota Pool) and the remainder for adjacent use on MPG owned farmlands in the Mendota Pool area. Over the 20-year period, pumping for exchange would be capped at 421,053 acre-feet (AF). Also, the Proposed Action includes a Warren Act contract with Reclamation to provide MPG with storage capacity in San Luis Reservoir and a new groundwater recharge component with up to 23,169 AF of recharge over the 20-year life of the Proposed Action. Alternative 2 includes all actions of the Proposed Action, but also develops an additional groundwater recharge facility that combined with the other recharge facilities would achieve over 43,000 AF of recharge over the 20-year period.

For more information, copies of the Final EIS/EIR are available to the public at: Westlands Water District, 3130 N. Fresno Street, Fresno, CA 93703 or online at USBR’s Website.

Westlands Solar Park Draft Program EIR

Not Accepting comments.

Agricultural Aquifer Storage and Recovery Program

NOTICE OF INTENT TO ADOPT A MIGATED NEGATIVE DECLARATION BASED ON AN INITIAL STUDY

NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that Westlands Water District solicits public comment on the proposed adoption of a mitigated negative declaration for the Agricultural Aquifer Storage and Recovery Program proposed within Westlands Water District Boundary located in Fresno and Kings counties.

The WWD Board of Directors will conduct a public hearing to receive oral comments at a special Board meeting on October 3, 2019, beginning at 3:00 p.m. The Board will consider adoption of the Mitigated Negative Declaration immediately following the hearing.

The analysis of the regulatory basis for this proposed action is available for public inspection at the District’s office located at the address below or online.

Written comments on this project must be submitted within 30 days of the publication date of this notice to RUSS FREEMAN, DEPUTY GENERAL MANAGER-RESOURCES, WESTLANDS WATER DISTRICT, by mail to P.O. Box 6056 Fresno, CA 93703, or by courier to the District Office at 3130 N Fresno St, Fresno, CA 93703.