WHWD History and
Our Path Forward
Current state of the district, financial updates, what’s next, and Q&A
WHWD Board of Directors�February 10, 2021
How’d we get here?
A brief overview:
How’d we get here?
Water Entitlement
Schedule
Source:
KWCA-Diablo Grande Water Agreement �2001, Page 8
State Water Project (SWP) Allocation
Mismanagement of WHWD by World International
Angels Crossing Written Commitment to WHWD
Angels Crossing AAR
Angels Crossing, WHWD, and World International
Assignment, Assumption and Release Agreement��Page 1
Dated April 30, 2020
WHWD Current Financial Status
Developer Contributions to WHWD 2009-2021
How can the district rectify this shortfall?
The short answer is…
What can the district do about World & AC not performing?
Are there benefits to homeowners if rates go up?
What are the consequences of not increasing rates?
KCWA-WHWD Water Contract
Page 7�Article 5 �Suspension of Service Upon Default
Letter from KCWA to WHWD
Dated April 9, 2020�
What is the forward-looking plan for the district?
What is the forward-looking plan for the district?
In addition to the aforementioned plan:
For our community: Q&A
1. What’s this about World Intl running the WHWD board for years?
WHWD is what is known as a landowner voting district. Instead of “one-person/one-vote” each landowner holds a number of votes equal to the number of dollars in assessed land values. For example, if the lot in which your house is located is assessed at $100,000, then you have 100,000 votes for election purposes.
As discussed next in question #2, because World did have a significant majority of the outstanding votes as compared to individual landowners in the district, they were able to retain a majority on the board because there were very few residents which declared themselves a candidate for elections or vacancies on the board.
For our community: Q&A
2. Why hasn’t there been a WHWD BoD election in years?
In every year for which there were director seats up for election, WHWD conducted the election process in accordance with state law. Beginning at least 2011 and every odd-numbered year since that date, WHWD has started the election process in accordance with the Elections Code. However, no elections are needed to be conducted when the number of candidates equals the same number of director positions up for election. For example, if there are 2 director positions and only 2 people declare their candidacy, there is no election held.
In years in which there were more declared candidates than positions up for election, WHWD has conducted an election. This occurred in 2011 and 2013.
Recently, accusations have been made that WHWD must hold elections when a director resigns the position prior to the date the seat is up for election. This is false. When a vacancy occurs prior to the expiration of the term (except for specific circumstances which haven’t occurred in WHWD) the board is authorized by law to either fill the vacancy by appointment (filled by a vote of the board) or call for a special election. To date such a vacancy has always been filled by appointment by the board as opposed to holding a special election.
As a landowner voting district, WHWD is required to conduct its own elections – Stanislaus County does not assist in this effort. Appointment instead of calling for a special election in every instance saves the district tens of thousands of dollars required to hold an election.
For our community: Q&A
3. What happens to the money I pay every month to WHWD?
Customer payments are currently being used to fund operations and keep water service running for residents.
Bills outstanding with KWCA and COP are just that, outstanding and waiting to be paid.
For our community: Q&A
4. Why are the Kern and COP bills piling up?
WHWD facilities must run and bills piling up are a symptom of an underfunded district for the last few years.
If the district was being funded per the Master Agreement/AAR, these bills would be paid.
An analogy: if you were laid off from work, would you keep paying the mortgage or buy groceries to feed your family?
WHWD chooses to fund immediate operations rather than debts which can be settled later.
For our community: Q&A
5. What does it mean to be “allocated” water from the state?
The SWP (State Water Project) allocates a percentage of requested water from all state water contractors (including KWCA) to water districts. The current allocation is set at 10%, down from 15% as of October 2020, also down from 20% set earlier in 2020.
At 10%, we will receive 800 of our 8,000 allocated acre-feet of water. However, WHWD still must pay for the entirety of the 8,000 acre-feet.
(notice source: water.ca.gov / Notice 20-06 / as of 12/01/2020)
For our community: Q&A
6. What is water banking?
KCWA and WHWD have an agreement to “bank” water in excess of actual requested usage for the district it serves. If we only use 600 of our allotted 800 acre-feet in 2021 (given the 10% allocation), we would “bank” 200 acre-feet to KCWA and its partners in the banking program. This water would be credited at face value to the district. Banked water can also be called upon during times of over-usage (for example, if we need 1,000 AF but only have 800 allocated), however purchasing the banked water comes at a much higher cost than the originally allocated water.
(source: KCWA/WHWD Water Banking Agreement revised 2010)
THANK YOU RESIDENTS
We hope you’ve found this presentation to be helpful.
As your new resident-run WHWD Board of Directors, we take transparency and informing the public very seriously.
In the coming weeks and months, more information and documents will become available to you for your own interpretation and perusal. In the meantime, please continue to be patient with us as we work through this trying period, and know we are always thinking about our community and what’s best for our residents and water district.
We greatly appreciate your time!
Sincerely,
Your WHWD Board of Directors
Contact & References
Chris Blessing, Director of Communications, WHWD Board of Directors
Email: chrisblessingwhwd@gmail.com
Reference documents and websites: