Tulare County supervisors say Washington trip produced action items, press for more flexibility on dam storage

Members of the Tulare County Board of Supervisors described a multiday Washington, D.C., advocacy trip that included meetings with the county’s congressional delegation, federal agencies and White House staff.

Chair Pete Vanderpool said the delegation urged federal officials to give local water managers more flexibility over winter storage thresholds at dams. Vanderpool described the request as coming “specifically from the Queer Delta Water Conservation District” and said it asked for “higher winter conditional limit thresholds” that otherwise force water managers to release water at predetermined levels.

Supervisor Dennis Townsend and other supervisors called the trip productive, saying every meeting produced action items and follow-up. Townsend credited county staff and legislative advocates for coordinating meetings and providing data; he said the group had “takeaways and action items that they will follow up with.”

Vanderpool noted the delegation met with both California senators and the county’s three members of Congress, and singled out Sen. Adam Schiff’s appointment to the Senate Agriculture Committee as significant. “We have not had a California senator on the AG committee in the United States Senate since Pete Wilson,” Vanderpool said, adding he expects that to benefit county interests.

County staff accompanying the delegation included CAO Jason Bridal, chief of staff Israel Sotelo and legislative advocate David Wetmore, who supervisors said provided facts during meetings.

Supervisors listed several upcoming local water and government meetings in the following week, including a LAFCO meeting, a Greater Kaweah Groundwater Sustainability Agency meeting and a Tulare County Water Commission meeting; those items were announced as calendar reminders rather than discussed for action during the meeting.