I. RECOMMENDATION:
City Council is recommended to approve a resolution and agreements for conveyance of water owned by Pleasant Valley Water Conveyance Partners (Farmers) and Gladstone California Water (LP) during the 2026/27 water year.
II. BACKGROUND:
The City has a history of providing untreated water services to both PVWCP and Gladstone. These wholesale activities benefit the city’s water ratepayers.
III. DISCUSSION:
These agreements are for transportation-only of farmer-owned water, not for the sale of excess City water. (Any proposed agreement(s) for sale of excess water will follow, depending on water availability.)
Each year, the farmers request services from the city to move surface water they own through the Coalinga Canal, using the city’s conveyance agreement with Westlands Water District. The effort required by the City to provide this service is administrative and financial only. The agreements must be prepared and executed. Westlands personnel read the meters each month, then city staff prepare and issue the billing statements and collect the amounts due. For conveyance only, the proposed cost is unchanged at $25 /AF. Dan Bergmann of IGS continues to support this effort to ensure water volumes are tracked accurately, and billed and collected timely.
The attached agreements are proposed to be effective retroactively to March 1, 2026, which was the beginning of the 2026/2027 water year.
IV. ALTERNATIVES:
- Approve the agreement (recommended)
- Deny the agreement and not provide water conveyance. (not recommended)
V. FISCAL IMPACT:
The projected net benefit to water enterprise rate payers is approximately $57,000, based on 2,300 AF of transfer water last year. |