For Immediate Release
Contact: Elizabeth Jonasson
(559) 241-6233

Westlands
Water District Awarded Nearly $2M to Increase Water Management Efficiency and
Conservation throughout the District 

Grant will be used to install advanced automated metering devices. 

Fresno, CA – The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation (Reclamation) recently awarded Westlands Water District $1,808,326 in grant funding through the federal WaterSMART program in support of projects designed to increase water management efficiency and conservation. Awarded funds will be used to retrofit Westlands’ buried distribution system that delivers metered water to hundreds of family-owned farms.

“Westlands takes pride in investing in innovative distribution system methods and the best available technology to efficiently use every drop of water,” said Allison Febbo, General Manager, Westlands Water District. “This grant will allow the District to track Westlands’ water deliveries more accurately and efficiently – producing sustainable water savings to the tune of 9,600 acre-feet of water per year.”

Westlands is the only agricultural water district in the world that distributes water through an entirely enclosed system which is comprised of approximately 1,100 miles of buried pipeline and over 2,400 water meters. Westlands continually invests in and updates this sophisticated system, which measures every drop of water and minimizes losses caused by seepage and evaporation.

In 2021, Westlands began the first phase of implementing the Westlands Advanced Metering Infrastructure Project (Project), which included installing approximately 760 groundwater meters with advanced automated metering devices.

Grant funds from the WaterSMART grant program will be used to complete phase two of the Project which entails retrofitting 1,603 manually read surface water meters with advanced automated metering devices. The Project will assist the District’s water management activities by increasing data collection frequency, improving real-time data to determine if meters are experiencing inaccuracies that can contribute to overirrigation so corrections can be made more efficiently, dramatically improving the accuracy of lower flow rates often used for blending in years the District receives little allocation, and assisting in timely and reliable meter reads to better identify potential leaks. The Project is expected to conserve 9,600 acre-feet of water, avoid nearly 6,000 vehicle miles traveled, reduce 20,223 kilowatt-hours in energy consumption, and decrease associated greenhouse gas emissions reductions every year.

Febbo added, “The District is committed to implementing innovative water conservation technology tactics to help build an even more efficient water future for the hundreds of family-owned farms in the San Joaquin Valley. We thank the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation for this important funding and can’t wait to begin implementing this project in September.”

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About Westlands Water District
Westlands Water District is recognized as a world leader in agricultural water conservation and has served the farmers and rural communities on the west side of Fresno and Kings counties for more than five decades. As stewards of one of California’s most precious natural resources, Westlands continually invests in conservation, and champions farmers deploying innovative irrigation methods based on the best available technology. 

For Immediate Release
Contact: Elizabeth Jonasson
(559) 241-6233

Westlands
Water District Awarded $1,000,000 by the California Department of Water
Resources 

Grant will help implement projects to reduce flooding and facilitate groundwater recharge 

Fresno, CA – The California Department of Water Resources (DWR) awarded Westlands Water District (District), a $1,000,000 grant as part of DWR’s Flood Diversion Recharge (FDRE) Initiative. This grant will assist the State’s efforts to reduce flooding by increasing flood flow diversion volumes to recharge areas and expand local capacity to divert future flood waters. These efforts in turn reduce downstream flood impacts and facilitate groundwater recharge.

“The District is committed to building a resilient water future for the San Joaquin Valley and our family farms,” said Allison Febbo, General Manager of Westlands Water District. “This grant will greatly assist us in clearing the way for flood diversion and support our ongoing groundwater recharge efforts as we navigate through climate-driven weather extremes and continued decline in reliable surface water supplies and work towards groundwater sustainability.”

The grant will support the removal of 450 acres of orchards from land recently acquired by the District. Located in an area of the District identified as subsidence-prone, adjacent to the San Luis Canal, the cleared land will reduce demand for groundwater near critical infrastructure, improve the availability of surface water and sustainable groundwater allocation(s), provide the District with increased recharge capabilities, and provide a site to temporarily retain diverted floodwater when needed. The subject land is part of 5,340 acres acquired since 2022, including the removal of 1,930 acres of orchards and vines, at a total investment of over $58,000,000. 

Reducing groundwater demand, increasing surface water, and sustainable groundwater allocation(s) to other productive farmland, land repurposing, and groundwater recharge are all important measures identified in the Westside Subbasin Groundwater Sustainability Plan. Diverting flood flows for groundwater recharge also protects downstream communities and infrastructure. 

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About Westlands Water District
Westlands Water District is recognized as a world leader in agricultural water conservation and has served the farmers and rural communities on the west side of Fresno and Kings counties for more than five decades. As stewards of one of California’s most precious natural resources, Westlands continually invests in conservation, and champions farmers deploying innovative irrigation methods based on the best available technology. 

For Immediate Release
Contact: Elizabeth Jonasson
(559) 241-6233

Westlands Water District Responds to Water Allocation Update

Fresno, CA – Today the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation (Reclamation) provided an updated water allocation for Central Valley Project (CVP) South of Delta agricultural water contractors, increasing the allocation for this contract year by 10% from 40% to 50%. The increase is welcomed and clearly justified, but is long overdue, especially given the current favorable water conditions throughout the state Unfortunately, agricultural productivity and drought resiliency in Westlands Water District remain artificially suppressed by the low allocations announced earlier in the year when growers were planning cropping decisions. The underlying regulatory decisions that led to those unjustifiably low allocations must be remedied.

“This announcement provides much-needed- relief and is good news for our growers. Even so, the low water supply allocations announced earlier in this contract year, after a relatively wet winter that filled the reservoirs and lifted the state officially out of drought conditions, single-handedly demonstrate the critical and urgent need to improve water management transparency and accountability in the state of California, said Allison Febbo, General Manager, Westlands Water District. “We need a more collaborative and transparent approach to regulatory decisions that affect our water supply, and we urge the five agencies responsible for making these decisions to rely more effectively on sound data and information. Every drop of CVP water allocation given to Westlands Water District growers is food grown, jobs produced, and groundwater saved.”

Westlands’ farmers have done their part, responding and adapting to increasingly complex and prohibitive regulations to ensure future generations can produce food on some of the most productive land in the country, investing in sustainability through costly infrastructure and ultra-efficient irrigation practices. Following last year’s wet winter, farmers in Westlands banked more than 390,000 acre-feet of water. In fact, as an acknowledgment of that success and the importance of groundwater recharge, Reclamation dedicated $25 million of the recent $81 million Inflation Reduction Act funding to expanding Westlands Water District groundwater recharge efforts. The water returned to aquifers under these efforts is meant to be used during future extreme dry years, not a year like the current one that helped California escape drought conditions.

We are committed to working with Reclamation to rectify areas of concern that Westlands believes influenced this year’s water supply, including addressing the currently poorly informed application of the Endangered Species Act. Westlands remains vigilant in the effort to improve collaborative water supply decision-making and the transparency and accountability for those decisions. CVP water supply is the lifeblood of Westlands. This 50% allocation will help our growers provide food and fiber for our nation.

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About Westlands Water District
Westlands Water District is recognized as a world leader in agricultural water conservation and has served the farmers and rural communities on the west side of Fresno and Kings counties for more than five decades. As stewards of one of California’s most precious natural resources, Westlands continually invests in conservation, and champions farmers deploying innovative irrigation methods based on the best available technology. 

For Immediate Release
Contact: Elizabeth Jonasson
(559) 241-6233

Westlands Water District Responds to Lack of Expected May Water Allocation Update

Fresno, CA – In response to the news that there will not be an allocation update from the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation (Reclamation) for May for Central Valley Project (CVP) water users, Allison, Febbo, General Manager, Westlands Water District, issued the following statement:

“Central Valley Project water is the lifeblood of our agricultural community and meager allocations offered by Reclamation thus far simply do not make sense. This year’s low allocation after a wet year and a relatively good winter that filled the state’s reservoirs, and the state officially out of drought conditions, demonstrates the critical and urgent need to improve water management transparency and accountability. There is room for a more collaborative and transparent approach to these allocations and urge Reclamation to use sound data and science when making these critical decisions because if the future looks like this we will have to rely on other countries for our food.”

For background, the last update increased the allocation for South of Delta agricultural contractors, including Westlands Water District (District), to 40 percent of the total water contract – an incredibly disappointingly and unjustifiably low allocation for District water users. 

Since the initial allocation of 15 percent at the end of February, Westlands has identified several conditions that are incongruent with a water supply allocation lower than 50 percent. California must remain steadfast in investing in a more predictable and reliable water supply system for our environment, residents, farms, and communities.

The District strongly encourages Reclamation to consider the devastating economic and human impacts of low and untimely allocations and increase our water allocation so that the District can continue to meet California’s – and the nation’s – food supply and food security needs.

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About Westlands Water District
Westlands Water District is recognized as a world leader in agricultural water conservation and has served the farmers and rural communities on the west side of Fresno and Kings counties for more than five decades. As stewards of one of California’s most precious natural resources, Westlands continually invests in conservation, and champions farmers deploying innovative irrigation methods based on the best available technology. 

For Immediate Release
Contact: Elizabeth Jonasson
(559) 241-6233

Westlands Water District Awarded $25 Million through a Federal Grant to Fund Drought Preparedness Projects

Federal funding will support groundwater recharge and storage

Fresno, CA – Today, the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation (Reclamation) awarded $81 million in grant funding through the federal Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) in support of the South-of-Delta Drought Plan. Westlands Water District (District) will be receiving $25 million to fund priority groundwater recharge and storage projects within the District. Awarded funds will be used to complete drought mitigation projects aimed at building a more reliable water supply for South-of-Delta communities, farms, and ecosystems reliant on Central Valley Project (CVP) water.

“We are grateful to the Bureau of Reclamation for recognizing the dire need for investment in drought relief infrastructure in our region,” said Allison Febbo, General Manager, Westlands Water District. “These funds will allow the District to expand our robust groundwater recharge operations and explore groundwater banking, providing a more reliable water supply to hundreds of family-owned farms and disadvantaged communities in our region during periods of drought.”

This funding comes as part of a multi-year pilot study for drought management led by Reclamation to develop a “drought pool” – where participating South-of-Delta water users contribute water to be stored for future use in dry years. These investments increase the long-term feasibility of the pilot program by providing storage outside of the San Luis Reservoir, thus reducing the impact of the drought pool on westside South-of-Delta water allocations.

The recharge infrastructure will also help Westlands’ water users adapt to the reduced surface water and groundwater supply reliability caused by increased regulations, export cutbacks, and climate change.

Febbo added,“Federal investment in our groundwater storage projects is critical to provide options for banking water outside of San Luis Reservoir, increasing the volume of water that can be available when it’s needed, and the flexibility with managing the resource amongst water users. The District is excited to move forward with these projects that will improve drought resilience and help build a sustainable water future for the San Joaquin Valley.”

Specifically, the funding will be dedicated to projects such as bermed recharge basins, aquifer storage and recovery wells, and accompanying infrastructure to convey water to these facilities. Projects will be prioritized near the Coalinga Canal and in the District’s subsidence-prone areas near the San Luis Canal to protect this critical infrastructure, building upon the District’s groundwater recharge efforts which last year put nearly 400,000 acre-feet of water back into the aquifer. 

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About Westlands Water District
Westlands Water District is recognized as a world leader in agricultural water conservation and has served the farmers and rural communities on the west side of Fresno and Kings counties for more than five decades. As stewards of one of California’s most precious natural resources, Westlands continually invests in conservation, and champions farmers deploying innovative irrigation methods based on the best available technology.