Westlands Water District Announces Recipients of the Six Westside Scholarships

For Immediate Release
Contact: Kathryn Boren
(559) 241-6238

FRESNO, CA – June 18, 2019

Westlands Water District awarded scholarships to six high school seniors in recognition of the students’ exceptional academic achievement. Each recipient, all of whom are from west side communities, will receive $1,000 towards their community college or university expenses. Applicants were judged on their academic performance, school activities, community leadership and each applicant submitted an essay on an agricultural-related topic.

The District congratulates the following 2019 scholarships winners:

Joe Cardiel III, a senior at Firebaugh High School. Cardiel plans to attend Fresno State University where he will major in Agriculture Education with plans to pursue a career as an Agricultural Educator. 

Cardiel is a varsity basketball, varsity baseball player and FFA chapter secretary. As a Firebaugh high school student, Cardiel was honored with the Eagle Baseball award, FFA State Degree and FFA Outstanding senior.

Marvin Cornejo, a senior at Mendota High School. Cornejo is an honors student who plans to attend Fresno State University to pursue a degree in Chemistry. Following college, Cornejo aspires to pursue a career as a Pharmacist. 

Cornejo is a Mendota School Board student representative, a West Side Youth volunteer, an avid athlete involved in track &field, cross country wresting and soccer and a FFA Greenhand and Chapter degree holder.

Myriam Castro, a senior at Tranquility High School. Castro will graduate in the top five of her class. Castro plans to attend Fresno State University where she will major in Criminology.

During her time at Tranquility High School, Castro was involved in the Honor Guard, the California Student Opportunity and Access Program (Cal-SOAP) and obtained the ROP Criminal Justice certificate of completion and the State Seal of Biliteracy.

Peter Hawken, a senior at Lemoore High School. Hawken was honored as the Chemistry Student of the Year. Following graduation, Hawken will attend the University of California, Santa Cruz where he will major in Environmental Science. With his degree, Hawken aims to pursue a career as an Environmental and Agricultural Irrigation Specialist.  

Hawken is the Varsity Soccer team captain, both the soccer and tennis club president and is involved Jesus Club and California Scholarship Federation life member. 

Jazmin A. Murillo, a senior at Coalinga High School. Murillo plans to attend West Hills College Coalinga where she will major in Political Science and film. Following college, Murillo plans to pursue a career as a Paralegal and as a Film Director. 

Murillo is the editor in chief of the Coalinga High School Magazine, President of the After School Program Leadership Club and VIDA club, and on the Principal’s Honor Roll from 2015 to 2019. Murillo has also been honored with the Bausch + Lomb Honorary Science Award, first place in the Chevron Robotics Challenge and as a National Hispanic Scholar.

Emma Andrade, a senior at Riverdale High School. Andrade is an honor roll student who plans to attend Fresno State where she will major in Physics and plans to pursue a career as an Experimental Physicist.

Andrade plays varsity basketball and tennis, and has been involved with Rural Route 4h since 2010 continually holding leadership positions, such as Corresponding Secretary and Camp Director.  Andrade has been honored with the Academic All League Team and Letter, County Heartbeat Artistry Award and All League First Team Varsity Tennis.

Westlands is honored to recognize and assist these outstanding students; as reiterated by Tom Birmingham, general manager of Westlands, “these scholarships represent a small gesture of thanks and support to the communities on the west side of the San Joaquin Valley that make our region productive and vibrant. Our hope is that these students will continue to contribute to their communities and make them even better for future generations.”

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Westlands Water District is the largest agricultural water district in the United States, made up of more than 1,000 square miles of prime farmland in western Fresno and Kings Counties. Westlands provides water to 700 family-owned farms that average 653 acres in size.

Statement on May 2019 allocation increase

For Immediate Release
Contact: Diana Giraldo
(559) 241-6233

Today the Bureau of Reclamation announced an increased allocation to 70 percent for south-of-Delta Central Valley Project agricultural water service contractors.

This increase is welcome, however, given continued wet hydrologic conditions and current Central Valley Project (CVP) reservoir storage, which is well above the long-term average, it is difficult to comprehend why the allocation remains below 100 percent.

Thomas Birmingham, Westlands Water District’s General Manager, stated: “the 2019 water year will go down as one of the wettest years on record. Reclamation’s inability to provide south-of-Delta CVP water service contractors with full contract supplies is further evidence of the draconian impact ineffective regulations have had on water supplies for people. These regulations, theoretically intended to protect at-risk fish species, have strangled water supplies while continuously failing to provide effective protection for the species – all of which have continued to decline.

It is for this reason Reclamation has reinitiated consultation on the long-term operation of the Central Valley Project and the State Water Project. This consultation enables the development of new biological opinions based on science developed over the last decade. It is the District’s greatest hope these new biological opinions will abandon restrictions on CVP operations that are unsupported by science and lead to absurd water supply reductions. The new biological opinions must protect at-risk fish species from the risk of extinction without unreasonably tying the hands of project operators. The best science currently available has demonstrated that both of these objectives can be accomplished simultaneously.”

Birmingham added, “Decisions that affect CVP water allocations are not the product of some objective formula. Rather, these decisions reflect the exercise of discretion by agency staff, and these decisions affect people and the environment. These decisions affect how much land farmers can plant, how many people will be employed on farms, and how much consumers will pay for food produced by farmers and the people they employ. These decisions affect businesses and communities in every region of the San Joaquin Valley. These decisions affect how much groundwater will be pumped from overdrafted groundwater basins.

I know that Reclamation staff understands the consequences of the decisions they make. This understanding is demonstrated by their diligent work to revise biological opinions that have produced no tangible benefits for at-risk fish species and have decimated its ability to supply water. The District hopes its colleagues in other federal and state agencies understand and consider the effects on people caused by their exercise of discretion. Further, the District hopes that as a result of work being done by these government officials on the new biological opinions and on voluntary agreements to address the reasonable protection of beneficial uses of water for fish and wildlife in the Bay-Delta watershed, future operations of the CVP will be sufficiently flexible to meet the water supply needs of people.”

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Westlands Water District is the largest agricultural water district in the United States, made up of more than 1,000 square miles of prime farmland in western Fresno and Kings Counties. Westlands provides water to 700 family-owned farms that average 653 acres in size.

For Immediate Release
Contact: Diana Giraldo
(559) 241-6233

Westlands Water District Special Projects Manager announces retirement

Fresno, CA – Dan Pope, the Special Projects Manager for Westlands Water District, announced today that he is retiring from the District on September 6, 2019. Mr. Pope will begin an extended medical leave in mid-May, and the recovery period is expected to be approximately six weeks.

Mr. Pope became an employee of the District in March 2014, as its Chief Operating Officer. Prior to his work at Westlands, Mr. Pope served as the general manager of the Tri-Dam Project and Tri-Dam Power Authority, general manager of Merced Irrigation District, and worked for 26 years in various positions at Pacific Gas & Electric, beginning as a field engineer at the Helms Pumped Storage Project.

Upon his announcement Mr. Pope stated: “Working at Westlands has been a genuine privilege and very rewarding experience on my career path. I am grateful for the wonderful opportunities to contribute to District’s continued success given to me by Tom Birmingham and the support extended to me from the Board. There were numerous challenges, particularly in years when the District received zero or near-zero percent water allocations. But I had the privilege to supervise staff that are talented, innovative, and dedicated. They will continue to serve well farmers in Westlands. I am proud to have worked with them.”

Tom Birmingham, the Westlands’ General Manager, stated: “Dan has been an incredibly loyal employee, who was committed to farmers served by the District. Every action he took was taken with their best interests in mind. On a personal level, Dan has been a friend for more than 40 years, and I will miss his advice and support. I wish the very best for Dan, his wife Cathy, and their family.”

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Westlands Water District is the largest agricultural water district in the United States, made up of more than 1,000 square miles of prime farmland in western Fresno and Kings Counties. Westlands provides water to 700 family-owned farms that average 653 acres in size.

For Immediate Release
Contact: Diana Giraldo
(559) 241-6233

Statement from Westlands Water District on Bureau of Reclamation’s April Allocation Announcement

Fresno, CA – Today the Bureau of Reclamation announced the allocation for south-of-Delta Central Valley Project agricultural water service contractors is being increased to 65%. In light of current hydrologic and reservoir conditions, this minor increase is astonishing. 

Thomas Birmingham, Westlands Water District’s general manager, stated: “This announcement begs the question, what has to happen before south-of-Delta farmers served by the Central Valley Project can get a full supply?”

Since October 1, 2018, the beginning of the current water year, California has been blessed with abundant precipitation; the 2018-19 water year is now classified as wet. As of April 8, 2019, the snow water content in the northern and central Sierra Nevada were 160% and 163% of the long-term average, respectively. Storage in every CVP reservoir used to supply south-of-Delta CVP agricultural water service contractors was more than 100% of average for that date. Indeed, these reservoirs were and remain in flood control operations.

Birmingham added, “I know that Reclamation staff understands the consequences of the decisions they make. Reclamation staff understands reduced allocations in a year like this needlessly increases overdraft in already overdrafted groundwater basins. Reclamation staff understands delayed allocation announcements make it nearly impossible for farmers to effectively plan their operations. If Reclamation’s leadership could, they would make a 100% allocation. But Reclamation’s hands are tied by restrictions imposed by biological opinions issued under the Endangered Species Act. These restrictions have crippled the CVP and have provided no demonstrative protection for listed fish species, all of which have continued to decline despite the draconian effect the biological opinions have had on water supply for people.”

Birmingham concluded, “Notwithstanding the restrictions imposed by the biological opinions, Westlands firmly believes that there is sufficient water to allocate to south-of-Delta agricultural water services contractors 100%. Today’s announcement by Reclamation is disappointing for every south-of Delta farmer served by the CVP, and we hope Reclamation will increase the allocation quickly to enable farmers to quit pumping groundwater.”

After 2019, no one will be able to argue that water supply reductions for south-of-Delta CVP agricultural water service contractors are a result of hydrologic conditions. This year demonstrates only too well the crippling consequences of ineffective and unchecked regulations. Because of restrictions imposed on operations of the CVP under the guise of protecting fish, the CVP cannot be operated to satisfy one of the primary purposes for which it was built, supplying water to farmers.

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Westlands Water District is the largest agricultural water district in the United States, made up of more than 1,000 square miles of prime farmland in western Fresno and Kings Counties. Westlands provides water to 700 family-owned farms that average 653 acres in size.

For Immediate Release
Contact: Diana Giraldo
(559) 241-6233

Westlands Water District Announces 2019 Scholarship Application Period for College-Bound Seniors

Fresno, CA – Westlands Water District is pleased to announce it is accepting
applications for the District’s annual scholarship program. This is the thirteenth consecutive year the District will provide scholarships to recognize and reward exceptional academic achievement and leadership by graduating seniors.

Scholarships are awarded to students from the following westside high schools: Coalinga, Firebaugh, Lemoore, Mendota, Riverdale and Tranquillity.

“These scholarships represent a small gesture of thanks and support to the communities on the westside of the San Joaquin Valley that contribute to making our region productive and vibrant,” commented Tom Birmingham, Westlands’ general manager. “We hope the recipients of these scholarships will continue to contribute to their communities and make them even better for future generations.”

Each scholarship recipient will receive $1,000 to be used for college expenses. Applicants are judged on their academic performance, school activities, and community leadership.

Past scholarship recipients have enrolled into California State University, Fresno; University of California, Berkeley; California Polytechnic State University; University of California, Los Angeles; West Hills Community College; and more.

Applications and all supporting documents are due by May 10, 2019 and may be submitted by mail to P.O. Box 6056, Fresno, CA 93703 or in person to 3130 N. Fresno Street, Fresno; between 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., Monday through Friday. For an application and list of instructions, please contact the public affairs office at (559) 241-6233 or download our application.

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Westlands Water District is the largest agricultural water district in the United States, made up of more than 1,000 square miles of prime farmland in western Fresno and Kings Counties. Westlands provides water to 700 family-owned farms that average 653 acres in size.