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.
###
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.