Westlands Water District
Fresno, CA
Mr. Bradford Gleason, the requestor for the District Election Recount, has formally withdrawn his demand for a recount of the District Election which was held on October 24, 2017. The Westlands Water District has subsequently formally abandoned the recount process effective this date.
On October 31, 2017, the District Secretary received a request from Mr. Bradford Gleason from Turk Station Pistachio, LLC, for a recount of the ballots cast in the Westlands Water District 2017 Director election. Pursuant to the California Election Code, the recount will be held at the Westlands Water District Fresno Office located at 3130 N. Fresno Street, Fresno California, 93703, on Tuesday, November 7, 2017. The recount will commence at 9:00 a.m. and is open to the public.
On October 24, 2017, Westlands Water District conducted an all-mail election for four positions on its Board of Directors. The results of the tallying of ballots are:
| Candidate | Votes |
| Daniel Errotabere | 6,751,804 |
| Sarah Clark Woolf | 6,701,770 |
| Donald Peracchi | 6,420,228 |
| Ryan Ferguson | 6,105,871 |
| Jim Stillwell | 3,754,961 |
| Ross Franson | 3,545,480 |
| Write-In | Votes |
| Keith A. Freitas | 366 |
The top four vote candidates have been elected to the Board.
The District received 981 ballots, of which 773 ballots were counted. Any landowner can contact Bobbie Ormonde, Secretary, (559) 241-6203, or call toll-free (800) 266-6574, to determine if their ballot was received, if it was counted, and if not counted, the reason therefore.
The District’s all-mail election for the Board of Directors will take place on October 24, 2017. Ballots have been mailed to each District landowner. The District will begin the processing of ballots on October 25, 2017 and continue through October 27, 2017. A final tally of the ballots will be announced the following week. For additional information, reference Notice #519 dated September 28, 2017, or contact Deborah Tuggle (559) 241-6212, Lucinda Anderson (559) 241-6218, or call toll-free (800) 266-6574.
The CVP currently has approximately 8.36 million acre-feet (AF) of water stored in northern CVP reservoirs. This represents 145 percent of the 15-year average. Storage in Shasta Reservoir is approximately 3.26 million AF; 137 percent of the 15-year average. Federal storage in San Luis Reservoir is approximately 723,000 AF; 231 percent of the 15-year average. Jones Pumping Plant is currently operating at capacity and pumped approximately 156,000 AF thus far in October. The current Agricultural Water Rate for 2017-2018 CVP water is $160.18 per AF. There remains some unallocated 2017-2018 CVP water available.
Reclamation established a Rescheduled Water cap of 150,000 AF. The cap will limit the District’s share of Rescheduled Water into the 2018-2019 water contract year to about 100,000 AF. The District forecasts approximately 400,000 AF will be remaining in water users’ accounts at the end of the current water year. Based on the District’s current forecast, at least 300,000 AF would be lost. Losses are applied at the end of the Rescheduling Period, according to the District’s Rescheduled Water Policy.
Please Note: The District modified the application of loss method within the Rescheduling Policy from a loss proration based on volume (acre-feet) to a loss based on volume per acre (acre-feet/acre), from highest to lowest. That loss will be applied in the following order and manner:
You are encouraged to log-in to your Westlands Water User account to track supply and plan your use for the remainder of the water contract year to avoid loss of allocated water. You are strongly encouraged to consider delivering surface water in-lieu of pumping groundwater. The Rescheduling Policy provides that for lost water, Water Users shall pay for any costs the District incurs, the San Luis & Delta-Mendota Water Authority O&M rate and any applicable District rates.
Assessment bills for the 2017 Benefit Assessment will be mailed in October and will be delinquent on March 19, 2018. A five percent penalty will be added after the delinquent date, and water service will not be provided. Please contact Deborah Tuggle at (559) 241-6212 for additional information about assessments.
The District’s Groundwater Sustainability Plan (GSP) Water User’s Technical Group will meet on December 7, 2017, to discuss the technical side of the District’s GSP development. If you are interested in participating in the District’s GSP development, contact Kiti Campbell at (559) 241-6226 or sgma@westlandswater.org.
WSP Master Plan and WSP Gen-Tie Corridors Plan PEIR covers 21,000 acres of solar development in the District and two 11.5-mile gen-tie segments from WSP to Gates Substation. The Draft PEIR was released for public review on October 17, 2017 and is posted on the District’s website. Release of the Draft PEIR, requires a 45-day comment period, which will conclude on November 30, 2017. The District is acting as Lead Agency under the California Environmental Quality Act for this project.
Naval Facilities Engineering Command Southwest has provided the enclosed announcement informing interested bidders about Department of the Navy Agricultural Leases as Naval Air Station Lemoore. Please use the contact information in the announcement if you have any questions about the agricultural lease program.
| Parcel | Acres (AC) Farmable/ Rangeland | IFB Number | Lease Term |
| 4A14/4A61 Field 6 &7 | +/- 494.4 Total AC | N62473LO10660 | One (1) Five-year firm term Jan 1, 2018 – Dec 31, 2022 Option Period: One (1) Five-year option term Jan 1, 2023 – Dec 31, 2027 |
| Not to exceed Ten (10) years |
The District currently has approximately 14,000 acres of land available for lease. For a detailed list of available land, please contact Cork McIsaac of Agriculture Industries, Inc. at (916) 372- 5595 or (800) 822-1415.
Planning is underway for the 2018 season of the Bollibokka Fishing Club. The early reservation period opens to landowners and water users beginning on November 1, 2017, and continues through January 31, 2018. Please see the attached flyer for further information about the Bollibokka Fishing Club and how to make reservations.
Reservations are being accepted for the Bollibokka Fishing Club for the 2018 season. The Club property was acquired by the District in 2006 to facilitate the raising of Shasta Dam. Until the Dam project is undertaken by the United States, the District is committed to operating the existing fishing club. In addition to past users of the Club, all District landowners and water users are given first opportunity to reserve a fishing date.
The Club property is very private, located along seven miles of the McCloud River immediately upstream of Shasta Lake. The McCloud River is esteemed for its beauty and has been known to have some of the best trout fishing in the world. In order to protect this unique fishery, all fishing is catch and release, fly only, barbless hooks. The fishing season begins on April 28, 2018, and ends on November 18, 2018.
If you are interested in reserving a week for a fishing trip to Bollibokka, please review the following information and contact the Club manager listed below. Remember that for reservation purposes the week begins on Wednesday morning and ends at sunset on the following Monday. The Club is closed on Tuesday for cleaning unless reserved for consecutive weeks.
This early opportunity to reserve a week at the Club ends on January 31, 2018, when reservations will be open to the general public. There are two accommodations available for rent on the property:
The District utilizes the experienced fly fishing services of The Fly Shop in Redding, California to handle Club management activities. The Fly Shop will coordinate all uses of the property. It has associations with many fly fishing guides familiar with the McCloud.
For more information, please contact Michael Caranci of The Fly Shop at (800) 669-3474 (office), (530) 222-3572 (Fax), michael@theflyshop.com (email), or visit the website.
The Fly Shop will try to accommodate all reservation requests on a first come, first serve basis. Once your reservation is accepted, The Fly Shop will provide a Confirmation Package, which contains directions to the facilities, updated policies, information on cooking and cleaning services and additional contact information. Payment for your stay should be made directly to The Fly Shop.
District offices will be closed on Friday, November 10, 2017, in observance of Veterans Day, and closed on Thursday, November 23, and Friday, November 24, in observance of the Thanksgiving holiday. The affected water ordering deadlines are as follows:
| For Water Use On | Places Water Order By |
| Friday or Saturday – November 10 or 11 | Thursday, November 9, 9:30 a.m. |
| Sunday or Monday – November 12 or 13 | Thursday, November 9, noon |
| Thursday or Friday – November 23 or 24 | Wednesday, November 22, 9:30 a.m. |
| Saturday, Sunday or Monday – November 25 or 26 and 27 | Wednesday, November 22, noon |
The emergency telephone number for after hours and holidays is (559) 224-1523.
The District will conduct an all-mail election for the Board of Directors on October 24, 2017. Ballots have been mailed to each District landowner. In order to have your vote counted, you must use the official ballot and return it by mail or deliver it to the District office in Fresno, using the identification/return envelope provided.
Generally, the election law stipulates that your ballot must be received by the District no later than the close of the polls, 8:00 p.m., Tuesday, October 24, 2017. However, a recent change in the law provides that a ballot received by the District via the US Postal Service or a private mail delivery company no later than 3 days after the election day will be considered timely cast if the ballot: (1) is postmarked or date stamped by the deliverer on or before election day, or (2) if lacking a legible postmark/date stamp, it is signed and dated by the voter on or before election day.
The District will begin the processing of ballots on October 25, 2017 and continue through October 27, 2017. However, because of the change in the law described above, a final tally of the ballots will be announced the following week.
The District encourages all landowners to vote. As a reminder, when filling out his or her ballot, adequate time may be required to ensure appropriate documents are properly signed and executed. If you are already identified as an individual trustee, you do not need to fill out any additional paperwork. But if you are the authorized voter for the entity named on the first line of the voter address on the ballot and label on the Identification/Return Envelope, you must complete the AUTHORIZATION TO VOTE/APPOINTMENT OF PROXY on the last page of the Voter’s Pamphlet and it must be mailed along with the ballot in the Identification/Return Envelope provided. Examples of entities are: a corporation, trust, partnership, association, estate, guardianship, conservatorship or proxy. Please use care when executing ballots—a full legible signature is needed to match the ballot and only the person or the trustee’s name who is listed on the first line of the ballot may sign and execute the ballot.
A landowner may check with the District to determine whether his or her ballot has been received by calling one of the telephone numbers listed below or by coming in to the District office in Fresno. After the final tally of the ballots, a landowner may also call or come in to the office to learn whether his or her ballot was counted, and if not counted, the reason.
For additional assistance or information, contact Deborah Tuggle (559) 241-6212 or Lucinda Anderson (559) 241-6218, or call toll-free (800) 266-6574.