The Groundwater Authority voted to approve an addendum expanding public outreach work by Westbound Communications, with staff and legal counsel saying the change will be executed within the existing contract budget.

General manager Carol told the board that Westbound produces draft materials that “are reviewed and approved by a number of staff, including legal counsel,” and that staff stands behind the materials produced. Director (speaker 3) and several public commenters, including Ridgecrest resident Renee Westelusk and caller Mike Senat, challenged prior press releases and said language in an earlier Addendum A contained misleading characterizations about district actions and Searls Valley Minerals’ positions. Several commenters also raised disputed figures about litigation spending, with one public speaker saying the water district’s total adjudication-related spending has been described as about $3.8 million in legal fees plus roughly $1 million for the model.

Board members pressed staff to make underlying technical data available. Director Sandeman (speaker identified during Q&A) explicitly requested access to the allocation-table information used to develop the Groundwater Sustainability Plan. Staff replied that some of those materials have been provided to the court and that the communications addendum under consideration was last updated last year; the board’s discussion focused on Addendum B (additional outreach work) rather than re-litigating the wording of prior releases.

After public comment and a period of back-and-forth among directors and staff, the board approved Addendum B by voice vote (Chairman Heyman, Vice Chair Peters, Director Ettinger and Director Vallejo voted yes; Director Saint Amond voted no). The approved addendum increases Westbound’s scope of communications and engagement planning but, according to staff, does not increase the contract budget for the current year.

Public commenters asked the board to ensure that outreach materials preserve technical guidance prepared by advisory committees for domestic well owners and to avoid altering technical documents drafted by subject-matter experts. Staff said archived technical documents and advisories will remain available and that Westbound’s work will focus on implementing outreach recommendations from the Policy Advisory Committee.