Kern County water board candidates are set for upcoming Nov. 3 election

The deadline to throw your hat in the ring for a local water board is officially closed.

These races are typically sleepy affairs but you never know when one or two will become popcorn worthy.

Two races to watch may be the Kern County Water Agency and Indian Wells Valley Water District.

The Kern County Water Agency is a very powerful board with its hands on just about every aspect of water in the county, including the Kern River, which is what has apparently attracted challengers for two of the four board seats that are up this year.

Mary Parada, a Bakersfield resident and Spanish professor at California State University, Bakersfield is challenging incumbent Tamara Johnson, Vice President of California Water Service who was appointed to the board last fall.

Daneya Williams, general manager of Whitewater Voyages, is vying to oust incumbent Laura Cattani, a longtime rancher who was appointed to the board in 2021, to represent Division 2, which covers a huge swath of eastern Kern County.

Kern County Water Agency directors Bill Wulff and Jay Kroeker are both running unopposed for their seats.

In eastern Kern County, the race for two board seats on the Indian Wells Valley Water District is already hot and bound to get hotter.

Incumbents David Saint-Amand and Stan Rajtora will face challengers Scott Hayman and Teresa Dampier for two at-large seats.

Saint-Amand has served on the water district board since 2018 and is currently board president. Rajtora is an aerospace engineer elected to the board in 2018.

Hayman is set to term out of his position as a Ridgecrest city council member. Dampier is a small business owner who states on her Facebook page that she doesn’t know the “ins and outs” of the district but hopes to be an advocate for the future of the community.

Both Saint-Amand and Hayman also serve on the board of the Indian Wells Valley Groundwater Authority where they have different takes on how best to address the region’s critical groundwater overdraft. In fact, the water district initiated an adjudication of the basin in which it is legally opposing measures enacted by the groundwater authority.

Facebook comments show residents are already highly engaged.

“This is VERY important for you to understand with the upcoming election. The water district is THE ONLY agency fighting against the fees and ridiculous pipeline idea. It is CRITICAL the water district is not taken over by city swamp candidates,” reads one post by Lindsey Stephens.

She referred to pumping fees of about $2,000 per acre foot imposed by the groundwater authority on several pumpers, including the water district, as part of its groundwater plan required under the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act. The money is intended to raise $30 million to buy water from an outside agency and have it shipped by pipeline, to be paid for through federal grants, to the basin.

Another major issue likely to come up in this race is a proposed artificial intelligence data center that residents fear will be a drain on limited water supplies.

Here’s who else is running for water board seats in Kern County that will be on the ballot this November:

• Antelope Valley-East Kern Water Agency – Incumbent Drew Mercy, challenger Lynn Robert Barnes for 1 open seat.
• North of the River Municipal Water District – Incumbent Joseph Kuntz is unopposed
• Lebec County Water District – Incumbent Kimberly Castro is unopposed. No candidate listed for a 2nd seat.
• Rand Communities Water District – Incumbents R. Greg Frazier and De Verne “De” Wallace are unopposed. No candidate listed for 3rd seat.
• West Kern Water District – Incumbents Scott Niblett and Barry Jameson, challenger Sheri Black for 2 open seats.
  

Some districts with open seats won’t appear on the ballot, according to the Elections Department.

• Buttonwillow County Water District – Incumbent Samuel Ghilarducci will retain his seat and Merced Ramos Moreno was appointed in lieu of election, with no opposition.
• Greenfield County Water District – Incumbents Jeremy Keeling and Daniel Ibarra will retain their seats with no opposition.
• Mettler County Water District – Incumbents Francisco Javier Martinez, Yolanda Christina Reynolds and Margarita Martinez will retain their seats with no opposition.
• North Edwards Water District – No candidates filed for 3 open seats.
• Shafter-Wasco Irrigation District – Incumbents Craig Fulwyler, Benjamin Wilson and David Bloemhof, III will retain their seats with no opposition.
• Tehachapi-Cummings County Water District – Incumbents John Ables and Robert Shultz will retain their seats with no opposition. No candidates filed for the 3rd open seat.