This notice regards:
Items to Note
New Mailing Address
Westlands Water District has moved the Fresno office to 286 W. Cromwell Ave, Fresno, CA 93711 and updated our P.O. Box accordingly. Landowners and water users are asked to mail correspondence (bills, payments, etc.) to the new P.O. Box: P.O. Box 5199, Fresno, CA 93755
Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA) Update
Antonio Solorio: (559) 241-6244 or sgma@wwd.ca.gov
The District recommends that water users take advantage of allocated supply by developing a recharge project for the Groundwater Credit Program. The 2023 Recharge Program Application and supporting guidance document can be found on the District’s SGMA Website. The District established its policies and procedures for private recharge in its SGMA Regulations. Groundwater recharge credits have been allocated through August 2023.
The District implemented the Zero Rate Surface Water Agreement and Private Recharge Facility Use for $100/AF Agreement on April 1, 2023. The Agreements can be found on the District’s website here. Per the Agreements, surface water used for recharge will be credited back to the water user at the ACCOUNT level and prorated to all the meters that have usage that month. Please provide meter readings at the end of the month to ensure you are re-allocated for surface water used for recharge.
In November, the District implemented the 75/25 Program to utilize Central Valley Project contract water in water users’ accounts, to promote groundwater recharge and reduce exposure to Cap Loss. The 75/25 Program allows water users to deliver, manage recharge and pay for their surface water and the District will reimburse participating Water Users $62.36/AF of surface water delivered to the recharge facility. The Water User will be allocated twenty-five percent (25%) of the groundwater credits developed by the program and seventy-five percent (75%) will be retained by the District.
The District held a Joint Advisory and Technical Advisory Committee Meeting and Special Workshop in December. If you missed the workshop, the presentation is viewable here.
Holiday Office Closures & Water Ordering Procedures
The emergency telephone number for after-hours and holidays is (559) 224-1523
District offices will be closed on Friday, December 22, and Monday, December 25, 2023, for the Christmas holiday; Monday, January 1, 2024, for New Year’s Day; and Monday, January 15, 2024, in observance of Martin Luther King Jr. Day. The affected water ordering deadlines are as follows:
| For Water Use On | Place Water Order By |
|---|---|
| Friday or Saturday – December 22 or 23 | Thursday, December 21, 9:30 a.m. |
| Sunday, Monday or Tuesday – December 24, 25 or 26 | Thursday, December 21, noon |
| Saturday or Sunday – December 30 or 31 | Friday, December 29, 9:30 a.m. |
| Monday or Tuesday – January 1 or 2 | Friday, December 29, noon |
| Saturday or Sunday – January 13 or 14 | Friday, January 12, 9:30 a.m. |
| Monday or Tuesday – January 15 or 16 | Friday, January 12, noon |
Water Users Web User Login Page – Buy and Sell Offers
Customer Service Representative: (559) 241-6250
The District offers a message board for water users who wish to buy and sell water on its Web User login page. The message board allows water users to post their name, phone number, offers to buy or sell water, and a brief description, and matches water users with excess water and those with unmet demands.
The District has the potential to return a substantial amount of water at the end of the water year to the Bureau of Reclamation. For water users that have excess water, the message board is an opportunity to move water and avoid costs of lost water. Please call your Customer Service Representative for assistance in accessing or using the message board, or to set up your Web User profile.
2024-2025 Agricultural Water Allocation Applications Due January 18, 2024
Water users will receive their 2024-2025 Agricultural Water Allocation Application packets by the end of December 2023. Landowners will not receive packets unless they are also water users or have requested them previously. Allocation Applications are due at either the Fresno or Five Points offices by 5:00 p.m. on or before January 18, 2024.
Typically, the landowners’ tenant farmers will submit the Allocation Applications. However, landowners may submit the Allocation Application themselves if more direct control of the allocation to their land is desired or tenants have not been selected. Landowners are reminded that the costs associated with water applied for and allocated must be paid, even if the water is not used.
If more than one Allocation Application is received for the same parcel of land, priority will be given to the landowner in accordance with the District’s rules and regulations. If neither entity submitting the Allocation Application owns the land, priority will be given to the water user who provides evidence of the right to occupy the land and receive the allocation.
The District is also requesting an estimate of the number of acres you expect to fallow in the 2024-2025 water contract year. Providing this information will not affect your request for a water supply allocation. The information will only be used to educate the public on how the continued lack of water supply is impacting water users.
2024-2025 Groundwater Allocation Applications Due January 18, 2024
On December 19, 2023, staff mailed the Groundwater Allocation Applications to landowners throughout the District. The Applications must be received by the District at or before 5:00 p.m., January 18, 2024, to be considered timely. Applications can be faxed to the District at 559-241-6277 or mailed to or dropped off at the District’s main Fresno office, 286 W. Cromwell Ave, Fresno, CA 93711, or Five Points office, 23050 W. Mt Whitney, Five Points, CA 93624.
All Groundwater Users are subject to the District’s Regulations. The groundwater allocation is made at the parcel level to all eligible gross acres (also referred to as assessed acres).
If more than one application is received for the same parcel of land, priority will be given to the Landowner in accordance with the District’s Regulations. If none of the applications are from the Landowner, priority will be given to the water user who provides evidence of the right to occupy the land and receive the allocation.
WATER SUPPLY
2023-2024 CVP Contract Allocation
The Bureau of Reclamation’s 2023-24 Central Valley Project (CVP) allocation to south of Delta agricultural water contractors is 100%. The District has made allocations to water users and met all requests for 2023-2024 CVP contract allocation from pre-merged, merged, and annexed lands. Water Users are encouraged to use surface water and refrain from pumping groundwater.
Projected 2024-2025 CVP Contract Allocation
The District expects that Reclamation will announce an initial allocation in February. The hydrology to date has been below normal. Fortunately, storage in CVP reservoirs is above normal. However, it is likely that the initial allocation to South Delta agricultural repayment contractors, which is typically conservative, will be 15-20%, especially if below normal conditions persist between now and the time of the announcement. The final allocation, typically made in April or May, will depend on the actual hydrology, especially in the watersheds that produce runoff in the upper Sacramento River basin.
2023-2024 Water Supply Update
The CVP currently has approximately 7,447,000 acre-feet (AF) of water stored in northern CVP reservoirs; this represents 129% of the 15-year average. Shasta Reservoir storage is approximately 3,045,000 AF; 128% of the 15-year average. Federal storage in San Luis Reservoir is 745,000 AF; 129% of the 15-year average. Jones Pumping Plant operated at 65% of capacity for the first half of the month and has been maintaining four units (77% of capacity) since December 8th.
2023-2024 Turn Back Pool Update
Customer Service Representative: (559) 241-6250
The District is operating a Water Turn Back Pool for up to 30,000 acre-feet to further the District’s recharge activities and to enable water users to reduce their risk of losing water under the District’s Rescheduling Policy and avoid some of the associated costs. The District received timely requests to turn back 19,963 AF 2023-2024 CVP Contract Water.
When the District accepts Turn Back Water, the quantity withdrawn from a water user’s account is a proration based upon the water required by the District at that time and the number of irrigable acres associated with accounts that have outstanding requests to turn back water. When an account’s request has been fulfilled, it will no longer participate, and the irrigable acres associated with that account will not be factored into subsequent turn backs. Accordingly, water users with relatively high per acre requests will turn back the bulk (increment above the pro-rata amount) of their request later, if water continues to be required.
Payment of $46.01 per acre foot is required at the time Turn Back Water is withdrawn by the District. The District will bill water users consistent with the Terms and Conditions of Agricultural Water Service. If payment is delinquent for 30 days or more, the District may return the Turn Back Water to the water user and reverse the charges. The water user would continue to be responsible for costs, in accordance with their 2023-2024 Agricultural Water Allocation Application and Purchase Agreement and the District’s Rescheduling Policy if the water is lost.
If you would like to participate in the 2023-2024 Turn Back Pool, please complete the agreement and return it to the Fresno Office by one of the following means:
- Mail to: Westlands Water District, P.O. Box 5199, Fresno, CA 93755. You may also hand deliver the agreement to the District’s Fresno Office, at 286 W Cromwell Ave.
- Scan and email: customeraccounting@wwd.ca.gov
- Facsimile to: (559) 241-6276
Late Requests to turn back water will be considered on a first-come, first-served basis, after timely requests are accommodated.
2023-2024 Water Rescheduling
Russ Freeman: (559) 241-6241
The District will be limited to rescheduling approximately 120,000 acre-feet into the 2024-25 water contract year. The water remaining at contract year-end in excess of the rescheduling limit will be lost according to the District’s Rescheduling Policy.
Water users are reminded that according to the District’s Rescheduling Policy, loss (whether cap or rescheduling) is prorated based on volume per acre, from highest to lowest, and is applied in the following order and manner:
- Any remaining Rescheduled Water in excess of the Acreage Based Cap (0.5 acre-feet per irrigable acre)
- Water rescheduled by the District
- Remaining Rescheduled Water
- Delivered Rescheduled Water in excess of the Acreage Based Cap
- Delivered Rescheduled Water within the Acreage Based Cap
Although the District’s Rescheduling Policy permits rescheduling in excess of the Acreage Based Cap, staff expects that after Cap Loss is applied, there will be 0.26 – 0.35 acre-feet per acre remaining, assuming all eligible acres participate in rescheduling water. If the San Luis Reservoir fills, and there is a loss due to foregone pumping (Rescheduling Loss), then that loss will be applied in addition to the Cap Loss.
As a reminder, if a water user loses water, the District will bill the water user for all costs associated with the lost water.
FINANCE & ADMINISTRATION
Water Ordering and Meter Turn Off
Customer Service Representative: (559) 241-6250
To set up a Westlands online account, please contact your Customer Service Representative.
| For Water Use On | Place Water Order By | Method |
|---|---|---|
| Tuesday-Saturday | Day before | 7:30-9:30 a.m., by telephone or fax, or 10:00 a.m. by website |
| Sunday-Monday | Friday before | 12:00 p.m. by telephone, fax, or website |
Phone (559) 241-6250 or (800) 266-6574; fax (559) 241-6276; water user account at wwd.ca.gov
Water users should comply with the District’s water ordering procedures. Conveyance capacity through many laterals is constrained. District staff determines lateral demand based on water orders. When demand exceeds the capacity of the lateral, the entire lateral is adversely affected, and water service can be lost for all users on the lateral. To properly operate and maintain the District’s water distribution system and, to a larger extent, the Central Valley Project, water users are required to place proper water orders in accordance with the District’s Terms and Conditions for Agricultural Water Service.
Water users who are found to be running without an order will have their meter(s) turned off pursuant to Article 2, Section 2.6.H of the District’s Rules and Regulations. In addition, meters found running without a valid water order may be subject to a lateral monitoring fee of up to $734.01. Accurate water orders are also critical for reference if a meter malfunctions or varies from a standard calibration range. Your monthly billing can be directly affected by the accuracy of your water orders.
OPERATIONS & MAINTENANCE
Groundwater Well Maintenance
Quinn Manning: 559-884-2523 ext. 131
The District would like to remind water users that the meters installed on groundwater wells for compliance with the approved Groundwater Sustainability Plan are owned by the District and should not be removed, relocated, or adjusted by water users, their staff, or contractors. If a meter needs to be removed during regular maintenance or emergency repairs of the well and/or its discharge piping, please contact District staff so the meter can be removed during the work to avoid any damage to the meter.
To connect privately owned AMI or monitoring systems to a District-owned meter, please contact Water Measurement Specialist, Quinn Manning.
Farming Operations Adjacent to the San Luis Canal
Kelly Vandergon: (559) 884-2523 ext. 107
District staff have received numerous calls from the Department of Water Resources (DWR) related to encroachments on the San Luis Canal (SLC) right-of-way. As a reminder, lands owned by the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation (USBR) and maintained by DWR should not be used as part of farming or groundwater recharge operations. Issues arise when this ground is used for vehicle or material storage, installation of permanent piping and above-ground structures, and planting of seasonal and/or permanent crops. Water users who are planning permanent plantings, installation of irrigation piping, or construction of groundwater recharge facilities in the immediate vicinity of the SLC, should consult with a licensed land surveyor, DWR, or the Field Engineering and Planning Department prior to finalizing their plans. Operations installed on USBR right-of-way will be relocated at the landowner’s expense. If there is a legitimate need to cross or use USBR right of way, please contact the Field Engineering and Planning Department to discuss the requirements.
Planned Maintenance Shutdown Schedule 2023
Alex Garcia: (559) 884-2523 ext. 108
The District issues a monthly listing of the maintenance schedule for the next 45 to 60 days. Shutdown notices for scheduled work are sent to affected water users in advance of each shutdown. If water users are not receiving these notices, please contact your Customer Service Representative to update your contact information.
| Lateral(s) Impacted | Date(s) | Scheduled Work | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 20L | January 8 – 12 | Quinquennial | |
| PVPP | January 22 – 26 | Quinquennial | |
| 17L | Jan. 29 – Feb. 2 | Quinquennial | |
| 35L | February 5 – 9 | Quinquennial | |
| 16L | February 5 – 9 | Quinquennial | |
| 37L | February 19 – 23 | Quinquennial | |
| 2L | Feb. 26 – March 1 | Quinquennial | |
| 15L | Feb. 28 – March 1 | Deferred Elect. Maint. | P-Line Only |
| 38L | March 4 – 6 | Deferred Elect. Maint. | P-Line Only |
2024-2025 Quinquennial Inspection and Repair Shutdown Schedule
Alex Garcia: (559) 884-2523 ext. 108
The following table lists the District’s general order and initial dates planned for the pumping plant system inspection and repair shutdown schedule for the fiscal year 2024-2025.
| Week | Division Valves to be inspected | Pumping Plant |
|---|---|---|
| 9/30/2024 | 26-1.7 | 26L |
| 10/7/2024 | 25R | |
| 10/14/2024 | 5-6.0 | 5L |
| 10/21/2024 | 14RA, 14RB, 14RC | |
| 10/28/2024 | 29-0.1 | 29RA, 29RB |
| 11/4/2024 | 8-5.0 | 8L |
| 11/18/2024 | 14-3.5, 14-5.5, 14-7.5, 14-10.5 | 14L |
| 12/2/2024 | 28R-1.0 | 28RA, 28RB, 28R-1.0W |
| 12/9/2024 | 9L | |
| 12/16/2024 | 11-2.0 | 11L |
| 1/6/2025 | 18R | |
| 1/13/2025 | 23L |
RESOURCES MANAGEMENT
Westlands Water Quality Coalition Members
Kori Peterson: (559) 241-6231 or wwqc@wwd.ca.gov
The Coalition prohibits agricultural discharges into the westside creeks, including discharges due to filtration system backflushing, irrigation leaks, and tailwater runoff. These discharges are also considered a waste of water and are violations of the District’s “Article 2 – Regulations for the Allocation and use of Agricultural Water Within Westlands Water District”. Members are required to implement Best Management Practices to ensure there are no discharges to the westside creeks.
The Coalition will be hosting its annual member workshop in early 2024 to help members submit their Irrigation and Nitrogen Management Plans (INMP) by the March 1, 2024, deadline. Details regarding the workshop will be announced next month.
Land Available for Lease
Cork McIsaac of Agriculture Industries, Inc.: (916) 372-5595 or (800) 822-1415
The District has several parcels for lease in Fresno and Kings counties. For a list of available land, please contact Cork McIsaac.
Low-Interest Irrigation or Recharge Equipment Lease Program
Kori Peterson: (559) 241-6231 or kpeterson@wwd.ca.gov
The District increased the loan amount for the Expanded Irrigation System Improvement or Recharge Program (EISIRP). The District’s EISIRP now offers low-interest loans of up to $200,000, to water users for the lease-purchase of irrigation systems and recharge project equipment. Water users who plan to install an irrigation system on land that is served by a pump enrolled in a District power program may also be eligible for a 35% cost share, up to $70,000, from the District’s EISIP/Public Purpose Program (P3) Grant. Additional information is available on the EISIRP and P3 pages on the District’s website.
No. 726