ABOUT Lost Hills Water District

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 State Water Project (SWP) to land within the District. The California Water Code gives the District the authority to receive grant funds and construct infrastructure projects. On September 16, 1966, the California District Securities Commission approved the District contract, dated February 4, 1966, with the Kern County Water Agency (KCWA or Agency) and the District was authorized to execute the proposed water supply contract with the Agency. The contract between the District and the Agency was executed on November 10, 1966.

The District boundaries begin in the south at the town of Lost Hills, California and extend north and west to the Kings-Kern County line. The District lies in the northwest portion of Kern County, just west of the Kern National Wildlife Refuge. The Aqueduct and Interstate 5 bisect the District diagonally. Highway 46 is located at the south end of the District. Adjacent districts include Dudley Ridge Water District to the north, Berrenda Mesa Water District to the west, Belridge Water Storage District to the south and Semitropic Water Storage District to the east.

Of the 74,357 acres in the District, 70,453 acres are farmable, although not all this acreage is currently being farmed. Service Area 9 contains oil production fields and is not farmable. Service Area 8 contains lands that have been annexed into the District but are not farmed because no delivery system is available. A portion of Service Area 6 (6E) has been excluded from the District water service area. The net cropped area is currently about 32,000 acres all irrigated.

The climate of the District is typical of the southern San Joaquin Valley with temperatures in the summer often exceeding one hundred degrees Fahrenheit and low temperatures in the winter occasionally falling below freezing. Summers are generally hot and dry and winters are semi-arid with fog being a common occurrence during the winter.