the amount of water they will get each year, based on availability. Pierre would like to see the initial framework endorsed soon so that the hard work of hammering out the details can begin and conclude as soon as the end of 2021. She admits the devil will be in the details but the alternative is not sustainable and that is that two million acre-feet of water be used to flow through the delta and out to sea for a fish benefit that has not been scientifically vetted. She admits that how much water is needed for habitat restoration is unknown, but the voluntary agreements will call for the water agencies to deliver a specific amount of water for that purpose. In the initial framework 700,000 acre-feet in aggregate has been proposed. She said the long term goal would be to have another 15-year plan in place long before this one would expire, which would be based on the learnings over the coming years. Pierre expressed a high degree of optimism that “relatively soon,” the approach will be approved by state and federal officials and that a deal will be reached by the end of 2021. Brent Walthall, assistant general manager, Kern County Water Agency KWCA was created in 1961 to serve as the local contracting entity for the State Water Project. Walthall takes a pragmatic view of the future of water for California agriculture. He said regardless of the source of the water, regulators are in charge of what a farmer will receive. In recent years, they have tightened supplies and he does not expect that trend to be reversed. Consequently, he believes the focus should be on dealing with regulators and their rules and try to exact some certainty to future supplies so that growers can plan accordingly. “Anything we can do to add stability to our supplies is worth pursuing,” he said, adding that he knows it’s a herculean task, but if farmers are given certainty they will adapt. The Kern County water specialist is optimistic that the long-awaited 2019 biological opinions (Endangered Species Act permits) with respect to the operation of California’s federal water projects will be put into place and will be the regulations by which water providers are guided. Biological opinions are to federal
projects as incidental intake permits are to the State Water Project. In each case, the document informs how the flow of water impacts endangered species and informs the flow amount. Walthall believes the 2019 biological opinions were the result of sound science. He called them “pretty fair and down the middle,” meaning that they equally balanced the position of environmentalists versus that of water providers and users. While his opinion of the biological opinions might be fairly representative of the constituency he represents, those opinions were widely criticized by the environmental community, and the state of California sued the federal government to block their implementation. Walthall is hopeful that the biological opinions will be upheld by the Biden Administration’s water regulators and litigation can be averted. He expressed some level of confidence that the competing stakeholders can work this out administratively now that there is not such adversarial relationship between California officials and federal officials. While the biological opinions are an entity
of themselves, they would be part of any voluntary agreements reached between the water agencies and government officials. Again, Walthall said reaching an agreement is critical as it will lead to at least a 10-15 year period of water stability, which he believes is golden. With a water stable environment, he believes it is possible to move forward on some water infrastructure efforts including delta conveyance and the Sites Reservoir project. “If both of those things happen, the future will look much better for agricultural production,” he said. He did add that a very important part of the equation is the ultimate cost of any project and if it can deliver water at an economically viable rate. He did express optimism about the public’s appetite to support water bonds, noting that they have typically passed such bonds. Thomas Birmingham, general manager, Westlands Water District Westlands serves farmers and rural communities on the westside of Fresno and King counties and is the largest
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