By Don A. Wright
The Exchange Contractors board of directors met at its Los Banos headquarters on Friday, August 1, 2025. If one was so inclined one could listen in by telephone. I was so inclined and dialed in five minutes early. Partly to be sure and not have a technical difficulty and – well dog gone it – to listen to some of that spicy hold music. While trying to turn down the volume of the ear pudding I turned off my I-phone – tech tip – don’t push buttons on both sides at the same time. Oh, I see, you already knew that.
The Meeting
The began at 9:00am sharp with the flag salute. Chairman Chris Cardella asked if there were any changes to the agenda. There weren’t and the minutes were approved. Executive Director Chris White asked everyone to introduce themselves. There were only three of us willing to speak up.
Reports
Staff gave the financial reports including expenditures and budget comparisons for the general, water transfer, resources and drainage budgets. Ex Con is in pretty good shape this year. The board approved.
Water Report
Adam Hoffman gave the water report saying there are no allocation changes with South of Delta still at 55 percent and both Ex Con and Friant hanging in at 100 percent. Storage at Shasta is at 3.2 million a/f with releases going strong. By the end of next month you can expect 2.6 million at Shasta.
San Luis Reservoir has 300,000 a/f on the federal side with 10,000 a/f per day drawdown but that’s slowed to 2,000 a/f per day. Millerton has been drawing down 3,000 a/f per day. The upstream reservoirs are releasing 42,000 a/f to Millerton Lake on the San Joaquin River.
The Delta has its ups and downs. The Jones Plant has bumped around from five to two pumps. There are salinity requirements just downstream of the San Joaquin and Sacramento Rivers confluence that triggered more outflow to push the salt back. There was an unusual high tide that pushed saline further upstream into the Delta.
The temperatures were very pleasant last month, for part of July anyway. August is warming up and that will bring higher demands.
Exec Directors
White said there is funding being sought from the Bureau to continue SJR restoration. Good news, $90 million for Sac Dam restoration and construction could begin this fall if the various attorneys get in line with the program.
Jarret Martin, General Manager of Central California Irrigation District and John Wiersma, GM San Luis Canal Company reported on SGMA matters. Martin said the next six weeks will include conversations with the State Water Resources Control Board staff on how to behave. Wiersma had nothing to add.
White said Ex Con is working with the Bureau and the San Luis Delta Mendota Water Authority on upcoming expenditures. The Ex Con Community grant fund of more than $500,000 is up for grabs. Good for them.
Policy & Programs
Steve Chedester reported fish screen design is coming along, I sensed not as fast as hoped. The great Tom Berliner is working on it. That should give hope. Chedester said the Voluntary Agreements are the options the State Board choose instead of dewatering the Valley.
Orestimba Creek has two test wells to be drilled. The recharge and recovery grant is moving along. He said it was complicated due to NEPA since it’s a federal grant and needs to have the $5 million deal coordinated through SLDM. White said the Del Puerto Dam is at the 30 percent design milestone.
Water Resources
White said the Los Banos Creek construction is ready to go out to bid. The funding is in place, the water rights diversion and even the Friant protest has all been dealt with. There will be an operations plan brought back to the committee. In the meantime a Participation Agreement must be signed. Ex Con is a Joint Powers Authority between four entities. It’s a fairly unique deal as two of the entities are privately held, good for them. But as a JPA they all have to agree on some things, like this Los Banos Creek project.
Gov’t Mischief
David Cory said the Nitrates in Groundwater panel members have finally been named. This is kicking off this month with Cory presenting before the State Board. Cory said there is an environmental “justice” member, but the panel also has some surprising balanced folks such as Dr. Thomas Harder. I don’t know which man with the same sounding but not spelled name – this one is. There’s one who’s a professor and one who’s a private enterprise hydrogeologist. Cory said the panel is mostly seating technical experts.
Water Transfer
Ex Con has an agreement between them about transferring water. They check in with each other and get the OK before they send water out of the boundaries. The San Luis Canal Company wants to send 500 a/f to the Triangle T Water District. TTWD is battling subsidence in the Red Top area southeast of Ex Con. It makes good sense for Ex Con to move some water to them. It keeps things nice with the neighbors, keeps the state from poking its nose and nuggets into the situation and they have the extra water this year, so why not help? The board agreed.
Legislative & Outreach
The state and federal elected officials are on recess. Was that why last week was cooler than average? Not as much hot air being emitted into the atmosphere in Sacramento and DC? Congressman Adam Gray is planning a tour of Ex Con.
Attorney’s Report
Andy McClure reported the Del Puerto Canyon CEQA case has one settlement and one hearing. He believes they have a very good shot at this one. On the regulatory front the State Board State’s VA report includes some transitions and differences. More about that in closed session and comments are being developed.
Four Managers
Mike Gardner, GM Columbia Canal Company said water is tracking much better in July due to cooler temperatures. The summer maintenance program is well under way.
Jeff Bryant, GM Firebaugh Canal Water District reported higher deliveries so far this year. Otherwise usual day to day.
Wiersma said they’re gearing up early this year for canal lining so there can be more deliveries for winter crops. He said Cal Trans is selling back some of the land they had purchases by auction at Turner Island Road and Highway 152. They were going to put in a clover leaf traffic feature but decided not to. There are easements, a lot of them, that need to be cleaned up. He said there were five bids received for the canal lining. I think he said there’s a total of four miles of work.
Martin said CCID is continuing its investment in infrastructure and hopes to get some of the smaller projects finished before the end of the year. He said they are also working with Grasslands Water District to protect against bank blow outs.
Information & Closed Session
White said August 20th is the deadline for the Community Grants. The fishing trip for kids is
coming up soon. Good for them. Someone asked if the Ex Con website can be linked to the individual members’ websites and the answer was yes. The Ag Leadership Program is rolling through Ex Con soon and that’s got the fellers excited.
This was all followed by closed session with the regularly scheduled open portion of our show tuning out at 9:48am. Forty-eight minute meeting. I remember when a good old fashioned Ex Con meeting took half a day. Well, that was that. Go be good to yourselves and others.
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SAN JOAQUIN RIVER EXCHANGE CONTRACTORS WATER AUTHORITY
Main Office: 541 H Street, P.O. Box 2115 Los Banos, CA 93653 Office 209/827-8616 www.sjrecwa.net Email: contactus@sjrecwa.net
DWR SGMA Identifier #5-022.07
The Exchange Contractors cover almost a quarter of a million acres in Fresno, Madera, Merced and Stanislaus Counties.
Mission Statement
The Exchange Contractors Water Authority mission is to effectively protect the Exchange Contract and maximize local water supply, flexibility and redundancy in order to maintain local control over the members’ water supply.
Board
Chris Cardella -Chair Columbia Canal Company, Mike Stearns-Vice Chair Director Firebaugh Canal Water District, Cannon Michael-Treasurer San Luis Canal Company, Eric Fontana- Director Central California Irrigation District
Staff
Chris White-Executive Director, Steve Chedester- Director Policies & Programs, Adam Hoffman-Water Resources Specialist, Joann White-Director Finance and Human Resources, Andy McClure-Attorney Minasian Law Firm.
History
From the Exchange Contractors’ website: www.sjrecwa.net The San Joaquin River Exchange Contractors hold some of the oldest water rights in the state, dating back to the late 1800s. The rights were established by Henry Miller of the legendary Miller and Lux cattle empire. In 1871, Henry Miller constructed canals to divert water from the San Joaquin and North Fork of the Kings Rivers for irrigation of his vast acreage. Today, several of the original Miller and Lux canals are operated by the Exchange Contractors.
Although Henry Miller’s canals served the irrigation needs of his estate in the western portion of Fresno, Madera, Merced, and Stanislaus counties, in order for more growth on the east side of the San Joaquin Valley to occur, more water was needed. In 1933, the United States Department of Interior undertook the Central Valley Project, a vast undertaking to build dams throughout the great Central Valley including the Sacramento, American and San Joaquin Rivers. When construction of the Friant Dam (north of Fresno) was under consideration, feasibility studies showed that irrigation development of the Friant Project between Chowchilla and Bakersfield depended upon water being diverted from the San Joaquin River at Friant Dam and brought to the east side of the valley, via the Friant-Kern Canal.
To accomplish this, the government asked the heirs of Miller and Lux to agree to “exchange” where they receive their pre-1914 appropriative and riparian water from the San Joaquin and Kings Rivers for guaranteed deliveries of “substitute” water from the Sacramento River by means of the Delta-Mendota Canal and other facilities of the United States. This agreement, known as the “Exchange Contract,” along with the accompanying “Purchase Contract,” were reached in 1939 and that led to the name “San Joaquin River Exchange Contractors.” In normal years, the Exchange Contractors are guaranteed 100% of their contractual water allotment (840,000 acre feet) and in critical years the amount is 75% (650,000 a/f).
The Exchange Contractors, however, did not abandon their San Joaquin River water rights. Instead, they agreed not to exercise those San Joaquin and Kings Rivers’ water rights if guaranteed water deliveries continued through the Delta-Mendota Canal or other facilities of the United States.
