On August 18, 2021, Westlands Water District General Manager Tom Birmingham joined State Senator Melissa Hurtado (D-Sanger) and others to celebrate the 59th anniversary of the groundbreaking on San Luis Reservoir.
Thomas W. Birmingham, the controversial General Manager of Westlands Water District, announced on Nov. 23 that he will retire as of Dec. 31, 2022.
Birmingham has worked on behalf of the District for more than 36 years — from 1986 through 2000 as outside counsel and since 2000 as its General Manager, according to a Westlands press release.
The largest agricultural water district in the nation, Westlands is located on the west side of the San Joaquin Valley in Fresno and Kings counties. For decades, the district has been in the news for opposing efforts by Tribes, fishing groups, environmental organizations and family farmers to restore salmon, steelhead, Delta smelt and other fish populations in the Central Valley and the Delta.
Birmingham left as a new “Change Coalition” slate of board members, frustrated with the district’s current direction, has taken over the Westlands Board of Directors. If he hadn’t resigned, it was likely that the newly-elected majority would have replaced him after the new members joined the board on Dec. 2, according to Lois Henry of the San Joaquin Valley Sun: sjvwater.org/...
In a statement, Birmingham wrote, “I am retiring with extreme pride in the things Westlands has accomplished over the last two decades.”
He claimed Westlands’ accomplishments include “settlement of drainage litigation, settlement of litigation concerning the allocation of water to pre-merger lands and merged lands upon the renewal of the District’s 1962 water service contract, acquisition of additional Central Valley Project water supplies through the assignment to the District of water service contracts, conversion of the District’s water service contracts to repayment contracts, implementation of a significant land retirement program to balance the demand for water with available supplies, implementation of water conservation programs, development of large scale renewal energy projects on District owned lands, construction of habitat restoration projects, and development of integrated water management programs.”
For many years, environmentalists, tribal members and anglers have referred to Westlands as the “Darth Vader of California water politics” for their advocacy of pumping more water from the Delta, Sacramento River and Trinity River and their numerous attempts at gutting Endangered Species Act protections for Central Valley salmon and steelhead.
“Hopefully the new Board will address Tom Birmingham’s leadership failures that include numerous instances of causing untold damage to fisheries, wildlife refuges and drinking water while aggressively litigating so they do not need to clean up their mess,” said Patricia Schifferle of Pacific Advocates.
Under Birmingham’s tenure as General Manager, Westlands has been the major promoter of the Shasta Dam raise proposal, a plan that would inundate many of the remaining cultural sites of the Winnemem Wintu Tribe and would further harm endangered winter-run Chinook salmon, as well as fall, late fall and spring-run Chinook salmon, steelhead and other fish species on the Sacramento River and its tributaries.
The Biden administration has defunded the dam raise plan that the Trump administration, under the helm of Trump’s Interior Secretary David Bernhardt, a former Westlands lawyer and lobbyist, strongly supported.
However, Caleen Sisk, Chief and Spiritual Leader of the Winnemem Wintu, wrote in a commentary published in Cal Matters in April 2021, “The Biden administration should do more than simply defund the dam expansion. They should issue a final decision concluding that the project is infeasible because of tribal rights, environmental impacts and inconsistency with state law. (California law prohibits the dam raise.)”
In addition, Westlands and other contractors have for decades “waged a prolonged, but for the most part losing, war against the Central Valley Project Improvement Act (CVPIA), including against the restoration of Hoopa’s Trinity River fishery,” according to a statement from the Hoopa Valley Tribe: www.dailykos.com/...
On October 31, the Tribe renewed a 2020 lawsuit it had filed against the Department of Interior, then under the helm Secretary Bernhardt, for “financial misconduct, environmental depredation, and violation of tribal sovereignty and fishing rights in California’s Trinity River fishery,” the Tribe stated. The Tribe’s 60-page complaint, supported by hundreds of pages of exhibits, is at this link: bit.ly/…
What the “Change Coalition” at Westlands will do in relation to the district’s positions on the Shasta Dam raise, Trinity River restoration, Central Valley contract renewals, Delta Tunnel, voluntary agreements and other issues is yet to be seen.
What we do know is the “Change Coalition” has four goals it announced in mailers during the board elections:
- Urgently developing more groundwater recharge.
- Providing growers with clear and consistent pumping regulations.
- Developing a plan that incentivizes farming alternatives.
- Improving relations with other water districts, disadvantaged communities, environmental and drinking water advocacy groups.
The district said it anticipates that, in December, the Board of Directors will consider appointing an Interim General Manager to serve after Mr. Birmingham’s retirement and will discuss a process to select his replacement.
”At the Board’s direction, one of Tom’s priorities over the last several years has been the Voluntary Agreements,” noted Director Daniel Errotabere, who served as the President of Westlands from 2002-2005 and again from 2020-2021. “People up and down the State, including Governor Gavin Newsom, have looked to Tom to help advance the program.”
“I pray Tom’s retirement will not impede getting the Voluntary Agreements done, because they are our best hope to change the way State and federal agencies work to protect fish and to deliver water to people and farms,” Errotabere said.
The frustration by Westlands growers over Birmingham’s leadership has been going on for a long time. Heading into the election where the new “Change Coalition” won the majority on the Westlands board, a report by SJVWater’s Lois Henry “detailed the on-going gripes from growers over Birmingham’s 22-year leadership of the district.”
In a tweet on Nov. 24, Kathryn Phillips, the former Director of Sierra Club California, noted that the reform majority elected on the Westlands Board and the resignation of Birmingham were two of four recent events to be thankful about in the California Water world, but she cautioned that the Newsom administration may try to block water reform:
“A few things to be #thankful about in #cawater world today: 1. Voters put a reform majority on the @Westlands_Water District board; 2. One of the most divisive people in water agency administration in #CA resigned as GM at Westlands; 3. A new chair rose @mwdh2o; and 4. Voters elected reformer @RebeccaEisenbe4 to the District 7 seat at Santa Clara Valley Water District. These changes suggest the foolish Delta tunnels will not happen; the harmful Pacheco Dam will not happen; more emphasis will be on conservation, recycling, and efficiency.”
That is, there’s a chance that smarter policy is ahead. The biggest risk is that @CAgovernor @GavinNewsomn & Natural Resources Secy @WadeCrowfoot will block reform via behind-the-scenes political pressure on the reformers. They have done this before, especially @mwdh2o.”
So my plea to the newly elected who ran on pursuing policies that are better for customers AND the environment: stay strong. History and science are on your side.”
Will the reform majority on the Westlands Board change the reputation of Westlands as the “Darth Vader of California water politics?”
It will be interesting to see what unfolds in the months and years ahead as the new board majority assumes leadership of the district.
Here is Birmingham’s complete announcement:
“I will retire as an employee of Westlands Water District on December 31, 2022.
It has been my great honor to have been part of a dedicated team of District employees for more than 22 years. I am retiring with extreme pride in the things Westlands has accomplished over the last two decades, including settlement of drainage litigation, settlement of litigation concerning the allocation of water to pre-merger lands and merged lands upon the renewal of the District’s 1962 water service contract, acquisition of additional Central Valley Project water supplies through the assignment to the District of water service contracts, conversion of the District’s water service contracts to repayment contracts, implementation of a significant land retirement program to balance the demand for water with available supplies, implementation of water conservation programs, development of large scale renewal energy projects on District owned lands, construction of habitat restoration projects, and development of integrated water management programs.
I am also proud of the role Westlands played in advancing good water policy. The District was able to influence major State and federal legislation, including the California 2009 Bay-Delta Reform Act, the CALFEDauthorizing legislation, the San Joaquin River settlement and restoration program authorizing legislation, and the federal Water Infrastructure Improvements for the Nation Act. The District also played a leading role in negotiating the water purchase agreement for the Yuba River Accord, amending the 1986 coordinated operations agreement, and restoring flexibility for the Central Valley Project and State Water Projectoperations through the 2019 biological opinions. These biological opinions did more than restore the projects’ operational flexibility; they improved conditions for listed species. Indeed, the 2019 biological opinions are more protective of listed species than the biological opinions they replaced.
None of these things were accomplished by me. Rather, I was part of a team of talented staff working under the leadership and direction of an engaged, thoughtful Board of Directors. And none of these things could have been accomplished without working in partnership with dedicated staff of multiple public water agencies from nearly every region of the State, multiple State agencies, and multiple Federal agencies.
As Westlands’ General Manager, I have had the opportunity to work with elected and appointed officials at every level of government, in both major political parties, in Washington, D.C., and in Sacramento. I am proud that, to this day, virtually all these people look to Westlands for constructive solutions to the biggest water and water-related ecosystem challenges facing California.
My greatest joy as General Manager has been my daily interaction with the people that make Westlands a wonderful place to work, including its Directors and staff. I have the greatest respect for Westlands’ employees who work in the field and the District’s offices to deliver water to westside farms and communities. I want them to know how much I appreciate their diligent work.
Finally, I would like to thank the people who farm in Westlands. Despite incredible challenges, these men and women produce food that feeds the State, the nation, and the world. They are innovative, generous, and philanthropic. I cannot imagine a finer group of people. I wish them and the District the best. And, as always, I am praying for rain.”
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