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McCloud River Could be "Annexed" By Westlands Irrigation District??

By Tom Chandler 4/3/2009

Longtime Undergrounders will know of my love for the Westlands Irrigation District - that wacky, never-should-have-been-formed water entity that pretty much bled the Trinity dry, and now - in the face of the collapse of the California Delta - is looking for new water sources.

Their purchase of the exclusive, private Bollibokka Club on the lower McCloud was first cast in terms of removing barriers to raising Shasta Dam (another bad idea).

Now another possibility has surfaced (courtesy of Westlands itself): They'd attempt to annex the 3000 acres of the Bollibokka Club into their irrigation district, then claim water rights for their hundreds-of-miles south irrigation district. This from the Redding Record Searchlight:


Some Shasta County officials are worried that a Fresno-area water district may ask to annex almost 3,000 acres it owns along the McCloud River "” a possible move to shift the water rights hundreds of miles south.

The issue will be discussed this morning at the Shasta Local Agency Formation Commission (LAFCO) meeting.

So far, no annexation proposal has been filed by the Westlands Water District, Shasta LAFCO Executive Officer Amy Mickelson said. Westlands, the largest water district in the nation, includes farmland in western Fresno County and Kings County.


While it appears nothing is imminent, Westlands did make a pair of phone calls - one to the Shasta LAFCO cited above, and one to the Fresno LAFCO, which feels suspiciously like they're shopping for the most agreeable entity.


Shasta LAFCO's Mickelson said she took a brief call in January from a Westlands representative about possible annexation of the land, but like hundreds of calls the district takes each year, nothing has come of it since, nor does she think anything ever will develop.

"I truly think this was just a stab in the dark, (to ask) how easy would it be?" she said of Westland's inquiry. "I think we're quite a ways from seeing anything formally filed, if and when they opt to do that."

Mickelson mentioned the call in a staff report to Shasta's commissioners to keep them informed, and she's watching Westland's agendas to see if the water district takes further action, she said.

After its call to Shasta LAFCO, the water district called Fresno LAFCO to see if it could decide an annexation request of the Shasta County land, Mickelson said. Shasta's commission opposes that move and Mickelson has sent an e-mail to the Fresno agency saying so, she said.

When asked directly by the Record-Searchlight reporter, the Westlands spokesperson delivered what we'd call a weasly non-denial:


Woolf sidestepped a question about why Westlands might also be interested in annexing that land into its water district, hundreds of miles to the south, however. She stressed that no decision had been made.

"I honestly don't know if we would be pursuing that or not. It hasn't been done at this point in time," she said of annexation.

None of this means anything's going to happen. None of means something won't happen. It does, however, offer up visions of Owens Valley North.

What it does mean is that the Westlands Irrigation District is pretty much running at normal speed, which is to say looking for any angle that profits them - regardless of the economic and envionmental harm done to others.

It's hard not to feel sympathy for some members of the district, who are facing severe cutbacks in water deliveries. Westlands is an irrigation project that should never have been built in the first place (the salt-and-selenium tainted soil creates huge problems), but at this point, I'd suggest the best route isn't to let them environmentally (and economically) devastate yet another river.

In our third year of drought (I saw a statewide survey figure suggesting about 81% of normal snowpack), the California Water Wars are in full bloom, and if you don't believe me, spend a few minutes on the unbelievably complete (and neutral) Aquafornia.com blog.

Everyone's going at everyone else hammer and tongs, with seemingly the only winners being attorneys.




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AuthorPicture

Tom Chandler

As the author of the decade leading fly fishing blog Trout Underground, Tom believes that fishing is not about measuring the experience but instead of about having fun. As a staunch environmentalist, he brings to the Yobi Community thought leadership on environmental and access issues facing us today.

Thank you. Thank you. You da best. Lovely evening fishing at Dog Creek/McCardle Flat a couple of days ago. Caught the most gorgeous trout (on a golden stone).
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It's in great shape. Read my just-posted McCloud River report here (you ask, we deliver).
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What's the lower McCloud like now? Has there been a release over damn recently?
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I really can't think of anyone or anything I hate right now more than Westlands. From this, I have to imagine that Dick Cheney is involved somehow.
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