Today, the Bureau of Reclamation announced a 3 percent allocation increase for Westlands Water District (District) and other south-of-Delta Central Valley Project irrigation water service and repayment contractors
In response, Allison Febbo, General Manager of Westlands Water District, issued the following statement:
“We appreciate this increased allocation and want to acknowledge the hard work the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation (Reclamation) puts into managing the Central Valley Project. Balancing competing demands across a complex, aging system is not easy, and we appreciate that Reclamation is committed to finding ways to improve water availability for Central Valley growers as the season progresses.
At the same time, a 3 percent allocation increase this late in the year only underscores the need to modernize California’s water management system. Even when hydrologic conditions improve, our current system too often falls short of delivering available water to the people, farms, and communities that depend on it.
In this strained system, every drop counts and this increase is meaningful to the farmers on the west side of Fresno and Kings counties. Our growers produce food for our region, our state, and the country’s tables. Every additional acre-foot of surface water helps them maintain operations, preserve farm jobs, keep agricultural land in production, and reduce pressure on groundwater pumping. We do not take that for granted. This additional allocation will directly help avoid pumping critical groundwater reserves that are essential to the survival of our farms during periods of surface water shortages.
We look forward to continue working with Reclamation and federal and state leadership as we work together toward a more reliable and responsive water supply system that can better serve the family farmers and rural communities of the San Joaquin Valley for years to come.”
Westlands continues to work with the Bureau of Reclamation, federal leadership, and policymakers to develop new methods and tools that will secure earlier, increased allocations and improve operational flexibility in the future.