As state wrestles with scarcity, Westlands seeks sweetheart water deal

At the same time as the governor is proposing to spend billions of taxpayer dollars on dams, and as water agencies are seeking options for bolstering shaky water supplies, Central Valley agribusiness representatives are angling to receive a long-term water contract for over one million acre feet annually of Delta water at rock-bottom prices. Shockingly the federal government is working to make sure that these interests get what they are demanding.

The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, the agency in charge of water contracts for the federal Central Valley Project that takes water from Northern California to the Central Valley, is negotiating the contract to settle a long-standing lawsuit by Westlands Water District. Westlands claims in its suit that the federal government must pay billions to help clean up the contamination generated when toxic soils in Westlands are irrigated with Northern California water. Westlands is using the suit to leverage favorable conditions for renewal of its long-term water contract, scheduled to expire in 2010, and to avoid providing water for fish and wildlife habitat as required by federal law.

Westlands is one of the largest irrigation districts in the world. It supplies water to 600,000 acres, owned by about 600 people. The District has a history of evading the law in order to get low-cost water from the government. For instance, when the Central Valley Project was constructed, federal law restricted water deliveries to landowners who owned more than 160 acres. Westlands, however, managed to avoid complying, largely because the Bureau of Reclamation and other federal agencies decided to look the other way when it came to the well-connected district.

Today the District thrives off of large-scale agribusiness and relies on subsidies to provide profits to the select few landowners. Although Westlands is moving toward higher-value crops, most of its land is still used for cotton, wheat, and sorghum. These crops demand massive amounts of water, enough for several thousand California families.

Westlands is completely dependent on water exports from Northern California and the Bay/Delta estuary. Westlands, already one of the most heavily subsidized irrigation districts in the country is seeking an entitlement for over one million acre-feet of Northern California water, even as the rest of the state is being asked to live with less water from the Delta. The precious water would then be used to irrigate low-value, over-produced crops like cotton, which accounts for 25% of Westlands' total acres.

In addition, agriculture in Westlands creates another, very toxic problem. The soils underlying Westlands contain selenium, which in high concentrations will cause severe birth defects. In 1982 wildlife rangers discovered that drainage water from Westlands had caused the death and deformation of countless birds in the Kesterson Wildlife Reserve. The Kesterson bird kill remains one of the worst environmental disasters in California history. While Westlands is no longer allowed to dump its drainage in Kesterson, the drainage is still contaminating groundwater and drainage ponds throughout the district. Should Westlands prevail, this toxic drainage would continue.

Environmental organizations, including the Sierra Club and the Planning and Conservation League, have been pushing the federal government to choose a more sensible option. Westlands' current water contract expires in two years. The federal government has the option to reduce the contract amount and to stop irrigating the 300,000 acres of drainage-impaired lands in Westlands when it reviews the contract renewal. This water could be reserved instead for the fish and wildlife of the Delta.

WhatYouCanDo

Will the government do what is right for California, or will it choose to compound our water problems for several more decades? California cannot afford to allow the federal government to make the wrong choice.

Contact Sens. Dianne Feinstein and Barbara Boxer at:

U.S. Senate
Washington, DC 20510
Feinstein: (202) 224-3841
Boxer: (202) 224-3553.

Urge them to stop the water give-away. Ask them to make sure the federal government does not extend the full Westlands water contract and strap taxpayers with subsidizing Westlands for 40 more years.

Mindy McIntyre, water-program manager, Planning and Conservation League