Dennis Elam, Vice-President

      Larry J. Ritchie

      Doug Anderson

       Bernard Puget, Treasurer/Tax Collector/Assessor

       Joseph D. Hughes, Legal Counsel

       Dean Butler, Electrical Engineer

The Lost Hills Water District was formed on February 8, 1963, pursuant to Division 13 of the California Water Code, for the purpose of providing irrigation water from the California State Water Project to land within the District.  A water supply contract between Lost Hills Water District and Kern County Water Agency (Agency) was executed on November 10, 1966.  The Agency is an umbrella organization that is a State Water Contractor and obtains water from the State Water Project for delivery to its member units.  After contract execution with the Agency, the District commenced water deliveries in 1968.

The Lost Hills Water District contains approximately 72,183 acres within its boundaries, beginning at the town of Lost Hills, California and extending north and west to the Kings-Kern County Line.  The District lies in the northwest portion of Kern County in the San Joaquin Valley, just west of the Kern National Wildlife Refuge.  The California Aqueduct and Interstate 5 bisect the District diagonally.  Highway 46 is located at the south end of the District.

Of the 72,183 acres in the District, 70,314 acres are farmable, although not all this acreage is currently being farmed.  Approximately 56,000 acres have been farmed on an annual basis over the past five years.  Historically, the major crops grown within the District has been cotton, barley, pistachios, almonds, grapes, olives and alfalfa as well as an assortment of vegetable and additional row crops.  Growers within Lost Hills Water District utilize all three of the major irrigation system types: furrow, sprinkler and micro irrigation.  A survey of the irrigation system types used in 1998 yielded the following results: micro-irrigation 15,925 acres (31%), sprinkler irrigation 23,940 acres (42%) and furrow irrigation 15,925 acres (27%).  The annual crop land that is furrow irrigated has on-farm tail water return systems installed, and all of the collected tail water is reused on the same field or routed for use on adjacent fields.

Lost Hills Water District primarily supplies agricultural water to growers within its boundaries with a small amount of industrial water delivered annually to oil production and commercial customers.  The District supplies no municipal water.  The industrial water supplied makes up less than one percent of the District’s normal annual water deliveries.  All of the water delivered by the District is State Water Project (SWP) water and is delivered to the District through the California Aqueduct.  The District’s annual entitlement of SWP water is 119,110 acre-feet.  In some years, the District is able to purchase supplemental water supplies from the Agency.  In many years, Article 21 water and Turnback water has been available for purchase that can be used to supplement the District’s contract supply.  In water short years, the District purchases supplemental water.  Also, District landowners periodically transfer water into the District to help meet their crop water requirements.

The District currently owns and operates approximately 15 mile of concrete lined canals, 42 mile of pipeline and 38 miles of unlined canals.  Much of the District’s delivery system is automated.  Lift pump operation and canal and reservoir water levels can be monitored from the District O & M office through radio telemetry.  Check structures and water levels can be adjusted from the office, aiding in operation of the system and virtually eliminating operational spills.

            Water management techniques have been utilized within the District since farmed operations began in 1968.  In October of 1984, the District adopted its first written water conservation plan.  In December 1992, the District adopted a new comprehensive Water Management Plan to fulfill the requirements of the Agricultural Water Management Planning Act of 1986 (AB 1658).  In 1999, the District voluntarily elected to update its Water Management Plan to reevaluate goals and objectives that were previously identified.  The proposed canal lining project is consistent with the District’s Water Management Plan and Item B5 of the Efficient Water Management Practices identified by the Agricultural Water Management Council.