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Congress

Calif.’s Westlands Water District hires new political power

By Michael Doyle - McClatchy Washington Bureau

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March 27, 2015 07:00 AM

The politically muscular Westlands Water District of California is reinforcing its already estimable roster by hiring the chief of staff of a San Joaquin Valley congressman deeply involved with the region’s water issues.

Tulare, Calif., native Johnny Amaral, the longtime top staffer for Republican Rep. Devin Nunes, will start May 1 as the water district’s deputy general manager for external affairs. The newly created position will oversee the district’s lobbying, governmental and media operations.

“He’s going to bring his experience working with people at all levels of government around the Valley,” Westlands general manager Thomas W. Birmingham said in an interview Thursday, adding that Amaral is “in a unique position to help us try to develop a solution for our water supply shortages that will unify the entire Valley.”

The 40-year-old Amaral will be paid $250,000 a year, approximately a 55 percent boost from his current House of Representatives’ salary.

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A 1997 graduate of California State University, Fresno, where he earned a degree in liberal arts, Amaral has served as Nunes’ chief of staff since the conservative congressman first took office in 2003.

Although based in Nunes’ congressional district, Amaral has also been a frequent flier to Washington. He said he’s likely to keep up his cross-country travels in his new job, combined with new forays into Sacramento on state legislative and regulatory business.

“I’ve spent most of my time while working for Devin, working on water issues,” Amaral said. “It seemed to me, this might be a way to affect the issues from a different angle.”

Amaral said he will not be registering as a federal lobbyist. The 615,000-acre water district, the nation’s largest, already has a sizable crew working on its behalf.

Westlands reported paying a total of $730,000 to four separate federal lobbying firms last year, disclosure statements show. In Sacramento, the district employs a different lobbying firm for state matters. The district’s direct employees include general counsel Craig Manson, who formerly served as the assistant secretary of the interior during the George W. Bush administration, and chief deputy general manager Jason Peltier, who also formerly served in the Interior Department.

Even so, Birmingham said that he created the new job in part because he has been “pretty busy” juggling legislative and media challenges on top of administering the district. Like Amaral, he has been flying frequently to Washington; particularly last year, as lawmakers struggled to write water legislation.

Roughly the size of Rhode Island, Westlands has a big stake in legislative efforts to secure increased irrigation water supplies and increased water storage, among other priorities. On Capitol Hill, Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein has renewed efforts to craft a bill this year.

“We work with elected officials, regardless of partisan politics,” Birmingham said.

Birmigham said he first contacted Amaral about a possible job three weeks ago. Last week, as their conversation accelerated, Amaral said he began recusing himself from further participation in Capitol Hill water discussion.

“While I’m sad to lose Johnny, I think his hiring by Westlands is a positive sign that the water district intends to take a more engaged, pro-active approach to solving the water crisis,” Nunes said.

Amaral will be replaced as Nunes’ chief of staff by Anthony Ratekin, another Valley native who previously served as field representative.

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