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<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:11.25pt'><span style='font-size:18.0pt;
font-family:"Georgia","serif";color:#333333'>Officials worried that Fresno
water district may want to shift Shasta County water rights south<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=byline1><span style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:#333333'>By
<a href="http://www.redding.com/staff/kimberly-ross/">Kimberly Ross</a> (<a
href="http://www.redding.com/staff/kimberly-ross/contact/">Contact</a>)<br>
Thursday, April 2, 2009 <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style='line-height:16.8pt'><b><span style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";
color:#333333'>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.<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p style='line-height:16.8pt'><b><span style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";
color:#333333'>The issue will be discussed this morning at the Shasta Local
Agency Formation Commission (LAFCO) meeting.<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p style='line-height:16.8pt'><b><span style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";
color:#333333'>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.<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p style='line-height:16.8pt'><b><span style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";
color:#333333'>But both she and LAFCO Commissioner Irwin Fust said they and
others wonder if annexation would enable Westlands to claim area-of-origin
water rights for its farmers hundreds of miles away.<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p style='line-height:16.8pt'><b><span style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";
color:#333333'>"That is what some folks around here have put forth as a
possible scenario," Fust said. "Why else would you spend $35 million
for 3,000 acres of land if you didn't want to get something substantial in return?"<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p style='line-height:16.8pt'><b><span style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";
color:#333333'>Westlands spokeswoman Sarah Woolf said the district bought the
Bollibokka Land Co. property bordering 13 miles of the McCloud River in
northern Shasta County about two years ago.<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p style='line-height:16.8pt'><b><span style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";
color:#333333'>By purchasing it, the district can ensure the land won't be
developed, Woolf said. If houses were built on it, they would drastically
hinder a proposal to raise Shasta Dam and increase California's water storage
capacity - a move the water district strongly supports, she said. The McCloud
River property would likely be under water if the dam is raised.<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p style='line-height:16.8pt'><b><span style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";
color:#333333'>"So we've kept it in its natural state and intend to do so
until there's a decision on the dam," she said.<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p style='line-height:16.8pt'><b><span style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";
color:#333333'>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.<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p style='line-height:16.8pt'><b><span style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";
color:#333333'>"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.<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p style='line-height:16.8pt'><b><span style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";
color:#333333'>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.<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p style='line-height:16.8pt'><b><span style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";
color:#333333'>"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."<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p style='line-height:16.8pt'><b><span style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";
color:#333333'>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.<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p style='line-height:16.8pt'><b><span style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";
color:#333333'>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.<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p style='line-height:16.8pt'><b><span style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";
color:#333333'>Woolf said Westlands' board hasn't discussed which LAFCO agency
should handle the annexation request, if it is ever brought, and said she
wasn't aware of calls made to either Shasta or Fresno LAFCOs.<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p style='line-height:16.8pt'><b><span style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";
color:#333333'>Although the issue isn't settled, the law appears to indicate
that if Westlands sought annexation, the LAFCO board in which the district is
based would handle its request, Shasta LAFCO legal counsel Liz Johnson said. In
this case, that would be Fresno LAFCO.<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p style='line-height:16.8pt'><b><span style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";
color:#333333'>"I think it's a long shot" for Shasta LAFCO to have
jurisdiction, she said.<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p style='line-height:16.8pt'><b><span style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";
color:#333333'>However, the Fresno agency could honor Shasta LAFCO's request to
let it decide the matter, she said.<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p style='line-height:16.8pt'><b><span style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";
color:#333333'>Regardless of which agency would handle the land's potential
annexation, LAFCO agencies try to avoid creating "islands" of annexed
land, Johnson said. Granting such non-contiguous requests are rare, but not
unheard of, Johnson said. The Metropolitan Water District of Los Angeles has
annexed land in Inyo County, and a Tahoe basin district had a similar
annexation in Truckee, she said.<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p style='line-height:16.8pt'><b><span style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";
color:#333333'>Meanwhile, with no real action taken by Westlands, there's
little else to do unless an annexation proposal is filed, Mickelson said.<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p style='line-height:16.8pt'><b><span style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";
color:#333333'>"The first question we (would) ask is what is the purpose
of this annexation, and because there isn't anything filed, I don't have an
answer to that," she said.<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p style='line-height:16.8pt'><b><span style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";
color:#333333'>Fust disagrees, and requested the item be placed on today's
Shasta LAFCO agenda. He thinks the commission might decide to send a letter to
Westlands and Fresno LAFCO stating its position.<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p style='line-height:16.8pt'><b><span style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";
color:#333333'>"Even though nothing has happened yet ... it would probably
behoove us to get a little proactive on this and decide whether we in Shasta
County feel that this is an ethical way to go, and what we can do at this stage
to telegraph our feelings to Westlands Water District and Fresno LAFCO,"
he said.<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'><o:p> </o:p></span></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'><o:p> </o:p></span></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><i><span style='font-size:12.0pt;color:gray'>Byron
Leydecker, JcT</span></i><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><i><span style='font-size:12.0pt;color:gray'>Chair, Friends
of Trinity River</span></i><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><i><span style='font-size:12.0pt;color:gray'>PO Box 2327</span></i><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><i><span style='font-size:12.0pt;color:gray'>Mill Valley, CA
94942-2327</span></i><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><i><span style='font-size:12.0pt;color:gray'>415 383 4810
land</span></i><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><i><span style='font-size:12.0pt;color:gray'>415 519 4810
cell</span></i><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'><o:p></o:p></span></p>
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href="mailto:bleydecker@stanfordalumni.org"><span style='color:blue'>bleydecker@stanfordalumni.org</span></a>
</span></i></b><i><span style='font-size:12.0pt;color:gray'>(secondary)</span></i><b><span
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