<html><head></head><body><div class="ydp17e0b506yahoo-style-wrap" style="font-family:garamond, new york, times, serif;font-size:16px;"><div dir="ltr" data-setdir="false"> <div><h2 style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 18pt; font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-style: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; text-decoration-style: solid; text-decoration-color: currentcolor; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-size: 13.5pt; color: rgb(0, 51, 102); text-transform: uppercase;">WESTERN WATER</span></h2><h1 style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 24pt; font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-style: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; text-decoration-style: solid; text-decoration-color: currentcolor; vertical-align: baseline; outline: currentcolor none 0px;"><span style="font-size: 22.5pt; color: black;">Interior may shift projects to former Bernhardt client</span></h1><p class="ydpa1d9b721MsoNormal" style="margin: 0px 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Times New Roman, serif; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; text-decoration-style: solid; text-decoration-color: currentcolor;"><span class="ydpa1d9b721m_1653007152200238796authors"><span style="font-size: 9pt; border-color: windowtext; border-style: none; border-width: 1pt; padding: 0in;"><a href="https://www.eenews.net/staff/Jeremy_P_Jacobs" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.eenews.net/staff/Jeremy_P_Jacobs&source=gmail&ust=1607458669143000&usg=AFQjCNHJvTCzmLUl1l7qVzti1R10LtxPbQ" style="color: rgb(17, 85, 204);" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><span style="color: rgb(85, 85, 85);">Jeremy P. Jacobs</span></a>, E&E News reporter</span></span>Published: Thursday, July 23, 2020<img id="ydpa1d9b721m_1653007152200238796_x0000_i1029" src="https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0?ui=2&ik=dcef81a7e0&attid=0.1&permmsgid=msg-f:1685447150395967639&th=1763e940df0bc897&view=fimg&sz=s0-l75-ft&attbid=ANGjdJ8kMPwDiCP9pcaHonj5Yp-sCY6eT_u0fUbrayN5_FMf8OdPAcLBPkInyQDHpCeBpXKhEZ6WXXzwJ6jnhXhYk23gecQW4Pc5Ei7xs2p8iO9WLZr5495vvjUVd4E&disp=emb" alt="Coalinga Canal sign in front of canal and almond orchard. Photo credit: Hasso Hering/hh-today.com" data-image-whitelisted="" class="ydpa1d9b721CToWUd ydpa1d9b721a6T" style="cursor: pointer; outline: currentcolor none 0px; width: 100%; max-width: 0px;" border="0"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"></span></p><p class="ydpa1d9b721m_1653007152200238796caption" style="margin-right: 3.75pt; margin-left: 3.75pt; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Times New Roman, serif; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; text-decoration-style: solid; text-decoration-color: currentcolor; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-size: 9pt; color: rgb(102, 102, 102); border-color: windowtext; border-style: none; border-width: 1pt; padding: 0in;">A sign marks the Coalinga Canal in California's Central Valley. An almond orchard can be seen in the background. </span><span class="ydpa1d9b721m_1653007152200238796credit"><span style="font-size: 8.5pt; color: rgb(153, 153, 153); border-color: windowtext; border-style: none; border-width: 1pt; padding: 0in;">Hasso Hering/<a href="http://hh-today.com/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=http://hh-today.com&source=gmail&ust=1607458669143000&usg=AFQjCNH6vTUSG-bl2dqWetF0Falva-DcEA" style="color: rgb(17, 85, 204);" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">hh-today.com</a></span></span><span style="font-size: 9pt; color: rgb(102, 102, 102);"></span></p><p class="ydpa1d9b721MsoNormal" style="margin: 0px 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Times New Roman, serif; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; text-decoration-style: solid; text-decoration-color: currentcolor;"><em><span style="font-size: 10.5pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; border-color: windowtext; border-style: none; border-width: 1pt; padding: 0in;">This story was updated at 10:06 a.m. EDT.</span></em><span style="font-size: 12pt;"></span></p><p style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Times New Roman, serif; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; text-decoration-style: solid; text-decoration-color: currentcolor; margin-bottom: 12pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-size: 10.5pt;">The Trump administration is working to transfer ownership of federal water infrastructure to California's Westlands Water District, the country's largest irrigation provider and a former lobbying client of Interior Secretary David Bernhardt.</span></p><p style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Times New Roman, serif; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; text-decoration-style: solid; text-decoration-color: currentcolor; margin-bottom: 12pt; vertical-align: baseline; outline: currentcolor none 0px;"><span style="font-size: 10.5pt;">Westlands, an agricultural powerhouse in the San Joaquin Valley, has requested title transfer of several facilities under new authority in a 2019 public lands law, according to documents obtained in a Freedom of Information Act request and shared with E&E News.</span></p><p style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Times New Roman, serif; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; text-decoration-style: solid; text-decoration-color: currentcolor; margin-bottom: 12pt; vertical-align: baseline; outline: currentcolor none 0px;"><span style="font-size: 10.5pt;">The Rhode Island-sized district is seeking ownership of 1,034 miles of buried pipeline, multiple pumping plants and canals, and two field offices.</span></p><p style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Times New Roman, serif; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; text-decoration-style: solid; text-decoration-color: currentcolor; margin-bottom: 12pt; vertical-align: baseline; outline: currentcolor none 0px;"><span style="font-size: 10.5pt;">The Bureau of Reclamation confirmed it is moving forward with the transfer.</span></p><p style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Times New Roman, serif; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; text-decoration-style: solid; text-decoration-color: currentcolor; margin-bottom: 12pt; vertical-align: baseline; outline: currentcolor none 0px;"><span style="font-size: 10.5pt;">"Westlands Water District has made this request, and Reclamation has begun the process to transfer title," Reclamation said in a statement.</span></p><p style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Times New Roman, serif; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; text-decoration-style: solid; text-decoration-color: currentcolor; margin-bottom: 12pt; vertical-align: baseline; outline: currentcolor none 0px;"><span style="font-size: 10.5pt;">It added that Bernhardt "has had nothing to do with this transfer. The title transfer request came into the area office and is being handled there."</span></p><p style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Times New Roman, serif; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; text-decoration-style: solid; text-decoration-color: currentcolor; margin-bottom: 12pt; vertical-align: baseline; outline: currentcolor none 0px;"><span style="font-size: 10.5pt;">A 2019 public lands law included a provision that authorizes title transfers of federal water projects if certain conditions are met, including full repayment of debts owed to the government. Previously, such transfers would have had to earn congressional approval.</span></p><p class="ydpa1d9b721MsoNormal" style="margin: 0px 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Times New Roman, serif; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; text-decoration-style: solid; text-decoration-color: currentcolor;"><img id="ydpa1d9b721m_1653007152200238796Picture_x0020_2" src="https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0?ui=2&ik=dcef81a7e0&attid=0.2&permmsgid=msg-f:1685447150395967639&th=1763e940df0bc897&view=fimg&sz=s0-l75-ft&attbid=ANGjdJ_c3LbGCRZ_VkU0q3AmqNYdAV1Pa-Th_RPfIrg_H_Gq_oKPp89u6T0KSQnZr56oZDxj5Sygc5p3knbocU1em9HnYNnolXOm8EOC9fteCNivFxpP21nkRKpRnh8&disp=emb" alt="Westlands Water District map. Credit: Westlands Water District" data-image-whitelisted="" class="ydpa1d9b721CToWUd" data-inlineimagemanipulating="true" style="width: 298px; max-width: 0px;" border="0"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"></span></p><p class="ydpa1d9b721m_1653007152200238796caption" style="margin-right: 1.5pt; margin-left: 1.5pt; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Times New Roman, serif; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; text-decoration-style: solid; text-decoration-color: currentcolor; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-size: 9pt; color: rgb(102, 102, 102);"><a href="https://www.eenews.net/stories/1063603835" title="click to enlarge" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.eenews.net/stories/1063603835&source=gmail&ust=1607458669143000&usg=AFQjCNFFnbg-o5BC9BDfqBJ8DULSeB0VkQ" style="color: rgb(17, 85, 204);" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><b><span style="color: rgb(153, 0, 0);">[+] </span></b></a><span style="border-color: windowtext; border-style: none; border-width: 1pt; padding: 0in;">The Westlands Water District occupies a 75-by-15-mile swath of the San Joaquin Valley. </span></span><span class="ydpa1d9b721m_1653007152200238796credit"><span style="font-size: 8.5pt; color: rgb(153, 153, 153); border-color: windowtext; border-style: none; border-width: 1pt; padding: 0in;">Westlands Water District</span></span><span style="font-size: 9pt; color: rgb(102, 102, 102);"></span></p><p style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Times New Roman, serif; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; text-decoration-style: solid; text-decoration-color: currentcolor; margin-bottom: 12pt; vertical-align: baseline; outline: currentcolor none 0px;"><span style="font-size: 10.5pt;">Under the Trump administration, Reclamation has embraced title transfers.</span></p><p style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Times New Roman, serif; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; text-decoration-style: solid; text-decoration-color: currentcolor; vertical-align: baseline; outline: currentcolor none 0px;"><span style="font-size: 10.5pt;">In June, Reclamation announced its first transfers, two projects in Utah (<a href="https://www.eenews.net/eenewspm/stories/1063400453/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.eenews.net/eenewspm/stories/1063400453/&source=gmail&ust=1607458669143000&usg=AFQjCNGdJ0yTCRqABodxSjE3-Xcso6o9fQ" style="color: rgb(17, 85, 204);" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><em><b><span style="color: rgb(153, 0, 0); border-color: windowtext; border-style: none; border-width: 1pt; padding: 0in;">E&E News PM</span></b></em></a>, June 16). A couple of weeks later, it transferred facilities in North Dakota (<a href="https://www.eenews.net/eenewspm/stories/1063493933/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.eenews.net/eenewspm/stories/1063493933/&source=gmail&ust=1607458669143000&usg=AFQjCNEtA46PX62Gq53tgjcbU6bjuUaxFg" style="color: rgb(17, 85, 204);" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><em><b><span style="color: rgb(153, 0, 0); border-color: windowtext; border-style: none; border-width: 1pt; padding: 0in;">E&E News PM</span></b></em></a>, July 2).</span></p><p style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Times New Roman, serif; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; text-decoration-style: solid; text-decoration-color: currentcolor; margin-bottom: 12pt; vertical-align: baseline; outline: currentcolor none 0px;"><span style="font-size: 10.5pt;">Commissioner Brenda Burman has called them "good government and smart government."</span></p><p style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Times New Roman, serif; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; text-decoration-style: solid; text-decoration-color: currentcolor; margin-bottom: 12pt; vertical-align: baseline; outline: currentcolor none 0px;"><span style="font-size: 10.5pt;">The title transfers to Westlands would be significantly more controversial because the facilities are part of Reclamation's Central Valley Project, a complex system of dams, reservoirs, aqueducts and canals that shuttles water around California.</span></p><p style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Times New Roman, serif; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; text-decoration-style: solid; text-decoration-color: currentcolor; margin-bottom: 12pt; vertical-align: baseline; outline: currentcolor none 0px;"><span style="font-size: 10.5pt;">Such a move would be sure to draw significant scrutiny from Democrats.</span></p><p style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Times New Roman, serif; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; text-decoration-style: solid; text-decoration-color: currentcolor; vertical-align: baseline; outline: currentcolor none 0px;"><span style="font-size: 10.5pt;">Rep. Jared Huffman (D-Calif.), after reviewing the <a href="https://www.eenews.net/assets/2020/07/21/document_gw_01.pdf" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.eenews.net/assets/2020/07/21/document_gw_01.pdf&source=gmail&ust=1607458669143000&usg=AFQjCNF74CGYZQJ70decMBqVbpGRFpgkLw" style="color: rgb(17, 85, 204);" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><b><span style="color: rgb(153, 0, 0);">documents</span></b></a>, said Westlands is rushing to get as much as it can out of this administration.</span></p><p style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Times New Roman, serif; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; text-decoration-style: solid; text-decoration-color: currentcolor; margin-bottom: 12pt; vertical-align: baseline; outline: currentcolor none 0px;"><span style="font-size: 10.5pt;">"Westlands has figured out that its unfettered control over the Department of Interior is going to expire pretty soon," the chairman of the House Natural Resources Subcommittee on Water, Oceans and Wildlife said, speculating that presumptive Democratic nominee Joe Biden would win the presidency in November and be inaugurated next January.</span></p><p style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Times New Roman, serif; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; text-decoration-style: solid; text-decoration-color: currentcolor; margin-bottom: 12pt; vertical-align: baseline; outline: currentcolor none 0px;"><span style="font-size: 10.5pt;">"If David Bernhardt was a gallon of milk, he would have a special label for Westlands that says, 'Use by Jan. 18, 2021.'"</span></p><p style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Times New Roman, serif; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; text-decoration-style: solid; text-decoration-color: currentcolor; margin-bottom: 12pt; vertical-align: baseline; outline: currentcolor none 0px;"><span style="font-size: 10.5pt;">Huffman and others also raised concerns that Westlands requested several facilities it would have received under a complicated 2015 deal with Reclamation to resolve an irrigation drainage problem that has bedeviled the area for years. That deal was never finalized because it required congressional ratification, and critics, including Huffman, said it was too good a deal for Westlands.</span></p><p style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Times New Roman, serif; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; text-decoration-style: solid; text-decoration-color: currentcolor; vertical-align: baseline; outline: currentcolor none 0px;"><span style="font-size: 10.5pt;">Westlands farmers also sued the government to provide drainage. The lawsuit had been put on hold pending the settlement, but Monday a judge allowed the case to resume due to inaction in Congress (<em><span style="border-color: windowtext; border-style: none; border-width: 1pt; padding: 0in;"><a href="https://www.eenews.net/greenwire/2020/07/21/stories/1063604171" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.eenews.net/greenwire/2020/07/21/stories/1063604171&source=gmail&ust=1607458669143000&usg=AFQjCNF7K7y4Chkv8eBFnO5uGnEAYuJrWA" style="color: rgb(17, 85, 204);" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><b><span style="color: rgb(153, 0, 0);">Greenwire</span></b></a></span></em>, July 21).</span></p><p style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Times New Roman, serif; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; text-decoration-style: solid; text-decoration-color: currentcolor; margin-bottom: 12pt; vertical-align: baseline; outline: currentcolor none 0px;"><span style="font-size: 10.5pt;">In essence, critics said that if Westlands gets these facilities now through a title transfer, it would be getting part of what it wanted in that deal — without the government getting anything in return.</span></p><p style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Times New Roman, serif; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; text-decoration-style: solid; text-decoration-color: currentcolor; margin-bottom: 12pt; vertical-align: baseline; outline: currentcolor none 0px;"><span style="font-size: 10.5pt;">"We have seen over and over how industry groups that came into the Trump administration with a lengthy wish list can now check off just about everything they desired," said Alan Zibel, research director of Public Citizen's Corporate Presidency Project, who submitted the FOIA request and obtained the documents shared with E&E News.</span></p><p style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Times New Roman, serif; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; text-decoration-style: solid; text-decoration-color: currentcolor; margin-bottom: 12pt; vertical-align: baseline; outline: currentcolor none 0px;"><span style="font-size: 10.5pt;">Westlands General Manager Tom Birmingham strongly pushed back on that argument. He said that almost all of the facilities the district has requested are part of its internal distribution system and that the district finished repaying the government for that infrastructure in July 2018.</span></p><p style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Times New Roman, serif; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; text-decoration-style: solid; text-decoration-color: currentcolor; margin-bottom: 12pt; vertical-align: baseline; outline: currentcolor none 0px;"><span style="font-size: 10.5pt;">Responding to Huffman's comments, the district also noted that the congressman voted for the large public lands bill that contained the title transfer provision.</span></p><p style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Times New Roman, serif; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; text-decoration-style: solid; text-decoration-color: currentcolor; margin-bottom: 12pt; vertical-align: baseline; outline: currentcolor none 0px;"><span style="font-size: 10.5pt;">"Generally speaking," he said in an email, "these facilities serve only lands in Westlands and are operated and maintained by the District at its own cost."</span></p><p class="ydpa1d9b721MsoNormal" style="margin: 0px 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Times New Roman, serif; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; text-decoration-style: solid; text-decoration-color: currentcolor;"><img id="ydpa1d9b721m_1653007152200238796Picture_x0020_3" src="https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0?ui=2&ik=dcef81a7e0&attid=0.3&permmsgid=msg-f:1685447150395967639&th=1763e940df0bc897&view=fimg&sz=s0-l75-ft&attbid=ANGjdJ_3Ibh2q97pjnMQxdVrG6Z8smCm5meOgpxXL5E_dt7f1QvOLGGPtQYP55DZhINWQOr3kDOWvrbwPNACIuyJkybcJMFp5HP6VhtszU3A1zfsQ1FSIw5iGtDKg88&disp=emb" alt="California Aqueduct and farm fields. Photo credit: Lucy Nicholson/REUTERS/Newscom" data-image-whitelisted="" class="ydpa1d9b721CToWUd ydpa1d9b721a6T" style="cursor: pointer; outline: currentcolor none 0px; width: 618px; max-width: 0px;" data-inlineimagemanipulating="true" border="0"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"></span></p><p class="ydpa1d9b721m_1653007152200238796caption" style="margin-right: 1.5pt; margin-left: 1.5pt; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Times New Roman, serif; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; text-decoration-style: solid; text-decoration-color: currentcolor; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-size: 9pt; color: rgb(102, 102, 102); border-color: windowtext; border-style: none; border-width: 1pt; padding: 0in;">The California Aqueduct and farm fields are seen in the Central Valley in Coalinga, Calif. </span><span class="ydpa1d9b721m_1653007152200238796credit"><span style="font-size: 8.5pt; color: rgb(153, 153, 153); border-color: windowtext; border-style: none; border-width: 1pt; padding: 0in;">Lucy Nicholson/Reuters/Newscom</span></span><span style="font-size: 9pt; color: rgb(102, 102, 102);"></span></p><p style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Times New Roman, serif; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; text-decoration-style: solid; text-decoration-color: currentcolor; margin-bottom: 12pt; vertical-align: baseline; outline: currentcolor none 0px;"><span style="font-size: 10.5pt;">Under the drainage deal, he said, Westlands would have been relieved of its repayment obligations. Instead, the district has almost repaid that debt — nearly $210 million so far, according to Reclamation. It has only one payment of about $330,000 left, which it plans to make in the fall.</span></p><h3 style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: 13.5pt; font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-style: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; text-decoration-style: solid; text-decoration-color: currentcolor; margin-bottom: 12pt; vertical-align: baseline; outline: currentcolor none 0px;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Red flags</span></h3><p class="ydpa1d9b721MsoNormal" style="margin: 0px 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Times New Roman, serif; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; text-decoration-style: solid; text-decoration-color: currentcolor;"><img id="ydpa1d9b721m_1653007152200238796Picture_x0020_4" src="https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0?ui=2&ik=dcef81a7e0&attid=0.4&permmsgid=msg-f:1685447150395967639&th=1763e940df0bc897&view=fimg&sz=s0-l75-ft&attbid=ANGjdJ9MfW7XRmXmtaKUlC98nMVEtTsJP8WjdxbW351mC9QRk9BNuesFe1W94qhAxIc7rEJoAF1cumVP6VXjwxrgw_lYoOY6nR3AtGrlsojGT7MQ9pWb5hoAQen8D04&disp=emb" alt="Tom Birmingham. Photo credit: Westlands Water District" data-image-whitelisted="" class="ydpa1d9b721CToWUd" data-inlineimagemanipulating="true" style="width: 178px; max-width: 0px;" border="0"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"></span></p><p class="ydpa1d9b721m_1653007152200238796caption" style="margin-right: 1.5pt; margin-left: 1.5pt; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Times New Roman, serif; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; text-decoration-style: solid; text-decoration-color: currentcolor; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-size: 9pt; color: rgb(102, 102, 102); border-color: windowtext; border-style: none; border-width: 1pt; padding: 0in;">Tom Birmingham. </span><span class="ydpa1d9b721m_1653007152200238796credit"><span style="font-size: 8.5pt; color: rgb(153, 153, 153); border-color: windowtext; border-style: none; border-width: 1pt; padding: 0in;">Westlands Water District</span></span><span style="font-size: 9pt; color: rgb(102, 102, 102);"></span></p><p style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Times New Roman, serif; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; text-decoration-style: solid; text-decoration-color: currentcolor; vertical-align: baseline; outline: currentcolor none 0px;"><span style="font-size: 10.5pt;">The massive public lands package finalized in March 2019, <a href="https://www.congress.gov/116/plaws/publ9/PLAW-116publ9.pdf" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.congress.gov/116/plaws/publ9/PLAW-116publ9.pdf&source=gmail&ust=1607458669143000&usg=AFQjCNEWV2mk9LW3AlwFzMh_GAmGKa6hsQ" style="color: rgb(17, 85, 204);" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><b><span style="color: rgb(153, 0, 0);">S. 47</span></b></a>, authorized Reclamation title transfers.</span></p><p style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Times New Roman, serif; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; text-decoration-style: solid; text-decoration-color: currentcolor; margin-bottom: 12pt; vertical-align: baseline; outline: currentcolor none 0px;"><span style="font-size: 10.5pt;">Supporters of the measure have cast it as a commonsense provision, allowing local managers to take ownership of projects once they have repaid Reclamation.</span></p><p style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Times New Roman, serif; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; text-decoration-style: solid; text-decoration-color: currentcolor; margin-bottom: 12pt; vertical-align: baseline; outline: currentcolor none 0px;"><span style="font-size: 10.5pt;">That is how Birmingham described it. He said that only two facilities Westlands is seeking ownership of don't entirely serve the district — the Coalinga pumping plant and Coalinga Canal, which shuttle water to Westlands as well as the city of Coalinga.</span></p><p style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Times New Roman, serif; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; text-decoration-style: solid; text-decoration-color: currentcolor; margin-bottom: 12pt; vertical-align: baseline; outline: currentcolor none 0px;"><span style="font-size: 10.5pt;">"Westlands operates and maintains these facilities, at its own expense," Birmingham said, adding that the city contributes to the operations and maintenance costs.</span></p><p style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Times New Roman, serif; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; text-decoration-style: solid; text-decoration-color: currentcolor; margin-bottom: 12pt; vertical-align: baseline; outline: currentcolor none 0px;"><span style="font-size: 10.5pt;">The transfers would be sure to raise red flags among watchdogs, however, because of Westlands' political clout, as well as its physical location in the middle of the sprawling Central Valley Project.</span></p><p style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Times New Roman, serif; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; text-decoration-style: solid; text-decoration-color: currentcolor; margin-bottom: 12pt; vertical-align: baseline; outline: currentcolor none 0px;"><span style="font-size: 10.5pt;">"Bernhardt and his swamp team are quickly moving to transfer ownership of federal water infrastructure to irrigation districts that have little interest in protecting endangered species, let alone the potential impacts on downstream water users," said Jayson O'Neill of the Western Values Project.</span></p><p style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Times New Roman, serif; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; text-decoration-style: solid; text-decoration-color: currentcolor; margin-bottom: 12pt; vertical-align: baseline; outline: currentcolor none 0px;"><span style="font-size: 10.5pt;">O'Neill and others have also criticized the Trump administration for awarding Westlands a permanent water contract, replacing contracts that are renewed periodically.</span></p><p style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Times New Roman, serif; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; text-decoration-style: solid; text-decoration-color: currentcolor; margin-bottom: 12pt; vertical-align: baseline; outline: currentcolor none 0px;"><span style="font-size: 10.5pt;">Conservationists say the permanent agreements allow Westlands and Reclamation to sidestep environmental reviews that are conducted when contracts are renewed.</span></p><p style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Times New Roman, serif; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; text-decoration-style: solid; text-decoration-color: currentcolor; vertical-align: baseline; outline: currentcolor none 0px;"><span style="font-size: 10.5pt;">Reclamation, however, has cast the contract conversion has a good deal, guaranteeing repayment of Westlands' debts more quickly. Moreover, the agency was required by the 2016 Water Infrastructure Improvements for the Nation (WIIN) Act — a law signed by President Obama shortly before he left office — to approve conversion requests. At least 75 districts have sought to take advantage of the provision (<a href="https://www.eenews.net/greenwire/stories/1062498809/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.eenews.net/greenwire/stories/1062498809/&source=gmail&ust=1607458669143000&usg=AFQjCNG-lF3BAGBCyvoQcmBKYTxG9B6ckw" style="color: rgb(17, 85, 204);" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><em><b><span style="color: rgb(153, 0, 0); border-color: windowtext; border-style: none; border-width: 1pt; padding: 0in;">Greenwire</span></b></em></a>, March 2).</span></p><p style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Times New Roman, serif; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; text-decoration-style: solid; text-decoration-color: currentcolor; margin-bottom: 12pt; vertical-align: baseline; outline: currentcolor none 0px;"><span style="font-size: 10.5pt;">Critics like Huffman said the contract conversion plus potential title transfer show Westlands is getting everything it wants from this administration.</span></p><p style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Times New Roman, serif; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; text-decoration-style: solid; text-decoration-color: currentcolor; margin-bottom: 12pt; vertical-align: baseline; outline: currentcolor none 0px;"><span style="font-size: 10.5pt;">"Westlands is in the process of calling in deliverables from Bernhardt," he said.</span></p><p style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Times New Roman, serif; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; text-decoration-style: solid; text-decoration-color: currentcolor; margin-bottom: 12pt; vertical-align: baseline; outline: currentcolor none 0px;"><span style="font-size: 10.5pt;">Birmingham said there is "no relationship" between the two.</span></p><p style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Times New Roman, serif; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; text-decoration-style: solid; text-decoration-color: currentcolor; margin-bottom: 12pt; vertical-align: baseline; outline: currentcolor none 0px;"><span style="font-size: 10.5pt;">Unlike the contract conversion provision, the title transfer authority is discretionary, and there is a long list of criteria Interior can consider before authorizing the transfer.</span></p><p style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Times New Roman, serif; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; text-decoration-style: solid; text-decoration-color: currentcolor; margin-bottom: 12pt; vertical-align: baseline; outline: currentcolor none 0px;"><span style="font-size: 10.5pt;">And for facilities that are transferred, it requires the receiving party to compensate the government and taxpayers "in an amount that is the equivalent" to the "net present value" of any repayment option or "other income stream that Interior derives from the transferred facilities."</span></p><p style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Times New Roman, serif; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; text-decoration-style: solid; text-decoration-color: currentcolor; margin-bottom: 12pt; vertical-align: baseline; outline: currentcolor none 0px;"><span style="font-size: 10.5pt;">Huffman said his committee will investigate what that value is for this transfer.</span></p><p style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Times New Roman, serif; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; text-decoration-style: solid; text-decoration-color: currentcolor; margin-bottom: 12pt; vertical-align: baseline; outline: currentcolor none 0px;"><span style="font-size: 10.5pt;">"Checking the Department's math on what's deemed to be appropriate compensation — which we will obviously do — is going to be interesting," he said.</span></p><p style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Times New Roman, serif; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; text-decoration-style: solid; text-decoration-color: currentcolor; vertical-align: baseline; outline: currentcolor none 0px;"><em><span style="font-size: 10.5pt; border-color: windowtext; border-style: none; border-width: 1pt; padding: 0in;">This story has been updated with additional comments from Westlands.</span></em><span style="font-size: 10.5pt;"></span></p><p class="ydpa1d9b721MsoNormal" style="margin: 0px 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Times New Roman, serif; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; text-decoration-style: solid; text-decoration-color: currentcolor;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; border-color: windowtext; border-style: none; border-width: 1pt; padding: 0in;">Twitter: <a href="https://twitter.com/GreenwireJeremy" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://twitter.com/GreenwireJeremy&source=gmail&ust=1607458669143000&usg=AFQjCNEjIB08iD6bhU8osv6oJVyIZiA7YQ" style="color: rgb(17, 85, 204);" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><b><span style="color: rgb(0, 51, 102);">@GreenwireJeremy</span></b></a>Email: <a href="mailto:jjacobs@eenews.net" style="color: rgb(17, 85, 204);" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><b><span style="color: rgb(0, 51, 102);">jjacobs@eenews.net</span></b></a></span></p></div><div><br></div></div></div></body></html>