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Water contractors disappointed, frustrated by small increases in allocations

• by SJV Water
Increased water allocations from systems that move water from northern to southern California were met with disappointment and frustration from contractors. Both the Department of Water Resources and Bureau of Reclamation increased allocations this week to 40% of contracted amounts, going up 10% and 5%, respectively. With nearly all the state’s reservoirs filled to above…
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MEETING NOTES: Westlands approves transfers and hears updates on water conditions

• by Jesse Vad, SJV Water
Meeting: Westlands Water District Board Meeting Date: January 18, 2023 Agenda: CLICK HERE Background: Westlands Water District is one of the largest agricultural districts in the country encompassing more than 600,000 acres in western Fresno County and Kings County. It receives surface water from the federal Central Valley Project via the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta. The…
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One Central Valley dam project gets nearly $95 million in funding; two others still in proposal phase

• by Jesse Vad, SJV Water
Three dam expansion projects could increase water storage for use in the Central Valley by a whopping 304,000 acre feet. Each of the projects would raise existing dams, not build new ones. The project that is furthest along would raise the B.F. Sisk Dam in Merced County to expand San Luis Reservoir storage by 130,000…
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California’s water contractors get full supply from the state and federal systems

• by Jesse Vad, SJV Water
Water users for both the State Water Project and Central Valley Project will get a 100% allocation, agencies announced Thursday. The string of storms that battered California over the past few months have inundated the state with water and built up a record-breaking snowpack in the Sierra Nevada Mountains. The extraordinary amount of water is…
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Westlands Water District names new leader – Allison Febbo

• by SJV Water
Westlands Water District Names New General Manager Fresno, CA — Today, the Board of Directors of Westlands Water District (District) named Allison Febbo as the next General Manager. With nearly 25 years of experience in natural resources, hydrology, and water operations, Ms. Febbo will be the first woman to serve the District as General Manager.  …
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Long-serving, controversial manager of Westlands Water District resigns

• by Lois Henry
Longtime Westlands Water District General Manager Tom Birmingham announced Nov. 23 that he will retire as of Dec. 31. “I am retiring with extreme pride in the things Westlands had accomplished over the last two decades,” he wrote in an email announcement. Birmingham had faced the likelihood that a newly-elected majority on the Westlands board…
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Change is coming to the Westlands Water District board. What will it mean for the future of the sprawling district and its controversial general manager?

• by Lois Henry
The makeup of the Westlands Water District board will change this election – shifting power to a coalition of growers with a list of new actions, at the top of which appears to be ousting longtime General Manager Tom Birmingham. “There needs to be a change of leadership, that’s a foundational issue,” said Sarah Woolf,…
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Some San Joaquin Valley towns pay hefty price to keep taps flowing

• by Jesse Vad, SJV Water
–California’s crippling three-year drought is revealing the unique water vulnerabilities of small towns across the San Joaquin Valley. And while the state has stepped in to help impoverished communities and residents whose wells have gone dry due to plummeting groundwater levels, the handful of towns on the valley’s west side that rely on surface supplies…
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Westlands growers fear groundwater power grab by district general manager

• by Jesse Vad, SJV Water
Divisions are deepening within the giant Westlands Water District as some growers fear the district’s longtime, controversial general manager is amassing too much power. In mid-February, district staff proposed new groundwater rules that would give General Manager Tom Birmingham almost total control over how groundwater is accounted for and to which grower accounts it would…
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