<html><body><div style="color:#000; background-color:#fff; font-family:times new roman, new york, times, serif;font-size:12pt"><div>http://www.ivpressonline.com/news/local/westlands-finds-ways-to-deal-with-leass-water/article_3d49cb8c-4dc6-11e3-8aba-0019bb30f31a.html <br></div><div style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-size: 16px; font-family: 'times new roman', 'new york', times, serif; background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; "><h1 style="font-size: 24px; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; overflow-x: visible !important; overflow-y: visible !important; position: relative !important; margin-top: 10px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; font-weight: normal; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; line-height: 34px; color: black; background-image: none; background-attachment: initial; background-origin:
initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); font: normal normal bold 24px/27px Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; ">Westlands finds ways to deal with less water</h1></div><div style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-size: 16px; font-family: 'times new roman', 'new york', times, serif; background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 17px; line-height: 24px; "><div style="font-size: 13px; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; float: none !important; overflow-x: visible !important; overflow-y: visible !important; position: relative !important; margin-top: 10px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; line-height: 16px; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; color: black; background-image: none;
background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); font: normal normal normal 17px/24px 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "><strong style="font-size: 17px; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; float: none !important; overflow-x: visible !important; overflow-y: visible !important; position: relative !important; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; font-weight: bold; ">By ANTOINE ABOU-DIWAN, Staff Writer | Posted: Thursday, November 14, 2013 11:18 pm</strong></div><div style="font-size: 13px; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; float: none !important; overflow-x: visible !important; overflow-y: visible !important; position: relative
!important; margin-top: 10px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; line-height: 16px; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; color: black; background-image: none; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); font: normal normal normal 17px/24px 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; ">If the Imperial Irrigation District’s water allocation and senior water rights place it in an enviable position, Westlands Water District’s situation is anything but.</div><div style="font-size: 13px; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; float: none !important; overflow-x: visible !important; overflow-y: visible !important; position: relative !important; margin-top: 10px; margin-right: 0px;
margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; line-height: 16px; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; color: black; background-image: none; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); font: normal normal normal 17px/24px 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; ">Unlike the IID’s 3.1 million acre-feet of water, the WWD in central California is allocated 1.15 million acre-feet every year.</div><div style="font-size: 13px; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; float: none !important; overflow-x: visible !important; overflow-y: visible !important; position: relative !important; margin-top: 10px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom:
0px; padding-left: 0px; line-height: 16px; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; color: black; background-image: none; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); font: normal normal normal 17px/24px 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; ">And, while the IID’s involvement in the nation’s largest agriculture to urban water transfer has been the cause of much alarm and litigation over the last 10 years, the WWD’s water allocation is currently a mere 20 percent of supply.</div><div style="font-size: 13px; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; float: none !important; overflow-x: visible !important; overflow-y: visible !important; position: relative !important; margin-top: 10px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right:
0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; line-height: 16px; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; color: black; background-image: none; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); font: normal normal normal 17px/24px 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; ">Deputy General Manager Jason Peltier discussed some of his agency’s challenges at Thursday’s water forum at the Barbara Worth Resort & Country Club in Holtville.</div><div style="font-size: 13px; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; float: none !important; overflow-x: visible !important; overflow-y: visible !important; position: relative !important; margin-top: 10px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px;
line-height: 16px; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; color: black; background-image: none; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); font: normal normal normal 17px/24px 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; ">“Everything was great until the early ‘90s,” Peltier said.</div><div style="font-size: 13px; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; float: none !important; overflow-x: visible !important; overflow-y: visible !important; position: relative !important; margin-top: 10px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; line-height: 16px; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; color: black; background-image: none; background-attachment: initial; background-origin:
initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); font: normal normal normal 17px/24px 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; ">But then, a host of statutes designed to protect endangered species and other environmental concerns went into effect, severing the link between hydrology and available water.</div><div style="font-size: 13px; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; float: none !important; overflow-x: visible !important; overflow-y: visible !important; position: relative !important; margin-top: 10px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; line-height: 16px; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; color: black; background-image: none; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial;
background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); font: normal normal normal 17px/24px 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; ">Nowadays, “With normal hydrology we could end up with significant shortages,” he said.</div><div style="font-size: 13px; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; float: none !important; overflow-x: visible !important; overflow-y: visible !important; position: relative !important; margin-top: 10px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; line-height: 16px; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; color: black; background-image: none; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); font: normal normal normal 17px/24px 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; background-position:
initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; ">A lot of farmland was taken out of production to cope with an unreliable water supply, he said.</div><div style="font-size: 13px; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; float: none !important; overflow-x: visible !important; overflow-y: visible !important; position: relative !important; margin-top: 10px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; line-height: 16px; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; color: black; background-image: none; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); font: normal normal normal 17px/24px 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; ">The WWD bought 100,000 acres of farmland and left it
fallow.</div><div style="font-size: 13px; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; float: none !important; overflow-x: visible !important; overflow-y: visible !important; position: relative !important; margin-top: 10px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; line-height: 16px; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; color: black; background-image: none; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); font: normal normal normal 17px/24px 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; ">The WWD instituted a water apportionment plan whereby water is divided uniformly.</div><div style="font-size: 13px; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; float: none !important;
overflow-x: visible !important; overflow-y: visible !important; position: relative !important; margin-top: 10px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; line-height: 16px; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; color: black; background-image: none; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); font: normal normal normal 17px/24px 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; ">The cheapest water that the WWD gets is from the Central Valley Project at $150 per acre-foot, Peltier said.</div><div style="font-size: 13px; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; float: none !important; overflow-x: visible !important; overflow-y: visible !important; position: relative !important; margin-top:
10px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; line-height: 16px; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; color: black; background-image: none; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); font: normal normal normal 17px/24px 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; ">A water bank was created to allow farmers to trade water between each other. The price of that water is about $400 per acre-foot, he said.</div><div style="font-size: 13px; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; float: none !important; overflow-x: visible !important; overflow-y: visible !important; position: relative !important; margin-top: 10px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px;
padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; line-height: 16px; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; color: black; background-image: none; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); font: normal normal normal 17px/24px 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; ">And, there was a tremendous investment in irrigation management.</div><div style="font-size: 13px; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; float: none !important; overflow-x: visible !important; overflow-y: visible !important; position: relative !important; margin-top: 10px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; line-height: 16px; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; color: black;
background-image: none; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); font: normal normal normal 17px/24px 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; ">Eighty percent of the WWD’s acreage uses drip or micro-irrigation, Peltier said.</div><div style="font-size: 13px; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; float: none !important; overflow-x: visible !important; overflow-y: visible !important; position: relative !important; margin-top: 10px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; line-height: 16px; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; color: black; background-image: none; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: rgb(255,
255, 255); font: normal normal normal 17px/24px 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; ">“We’re, today, producing about twice the amount of food and fiber that we did 20 years ago with the same amount of water,” he said.</div><div style="font-size: 13px; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; float: none !important; overflow-x: visible !important; overflow-y: visible !important; position: relative !important; margin-top: 10px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; line-height: 16px; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; color: black; background-image: none; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); font: normal normal normal 17px/24px 'Times New Roman', Times, serif;
background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; ">Staff Writer Antoine Abou-Diwan can be reached at 760-337-3454 or <a href="mailto:aabou-diwan@ivpressonline.com" style="font-size: 17px; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; float: none !important; overflow-x: visible !important; overflow-y: visible !important; position: relative !important; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; color: black; text-decoration: none; font-style: normal; ">aabou-diwan@ivpressonline.com</a></div></span></div></div></body></html>