By Don A. Wright
The Tulare Irrigation District held its Tuesday, October 14, 2025 at its location west of town and online with Zoom. TID has a good in person meeting. They usually serve good breakfast burritos. I had a linguini and egg burrito a while back. There was a hot sauce that was the epitome of truth in advertising, “Dave’s Death Sauce”. That was one of the hottest things I’ve ever eaten. I only used a dab applied with a toothpick and it hurt before it made my nose go numb. Good times.
The Meeting
Things kicked off with concerns about the amount of rain we’ll receive this year. As this meeting is taking place it’s raining up and down the Valley. I’ve always said farmers are like ducks – they love the rain. But there are some almonds needing to be harvested and in Kern County there are grapes still on the vine. A big slug of water at the wrong time of year can ruin a crop.
Every year around this time the weather prophets say there’s a fifty/fifty chance it will be wet or dry. I heard President Harry Truman once said he wanted a one-armed economist so they couldn’t say, “. . . on the other hand.”
There are reports out there predicting a dry year or a normal year on the dry side due to the kids – el nino and la nina. Wouldn’t it be nice to know how much water will be available this early in the year? It sure would help with planning for everyone; farmers, districts, flood control, fire fighters.
Superintendent’s Report
Wayne Fox began with telling the board the employees have been going through the annual safety training. They’ve been able to mow almost all the district’s canals where needed. They are also aggressively grading and leveling.
This is the time of year for a district to get caught up on maintenance. The delivery season is finished and the canals are empty. A perfect time for repairs. The discussion turned to repairs and replacements of gates and other components made of metal. If you have different types of some metals touching each other it creates an electrical reaction that will corrode the parts. If I understood an example was placing a stainless-steel bolt on an iron gate. Best check with someone who knows chemistry.
Financials
Kathi Artist gave the board an update on the district’s accounting and financial matters. Fukuda said there needs to be a review and adjustment of the agreement for recharge TID has with the City of Tulare. He said the water mound under the city isn’t growing. Director Dave Martin said the city is continuing to grow and pump more. This is causing less underground flow to reach the growers west of town.
Some of the prime recharge locations are looking like a good candidate for commercial property development. This is driving the cost of land up, at least in the owners’ minds. Fukuda said there is also the water quality component to consider. He believes the City’s efforts will eventually yield better results for all of the participants.
Back to the accounting – Artist’s report was as tight as always and the board approved. TID is passing the acid test of assets minus liabilities equals equity with enough short-term liquidity to pay off short-term debt. Of course the board approved. A special district such as an irrigation district is a political subdivision of the state. If only the State of California’s government took finances as seriously as your average irrigation district – we wouldn’t be in a multi-billion dollar deficit, that’s a given. Farmers have to work in reality – bulls don’t want to be cows, crops and livestock require water to grow whether the non-native bass eat all the salmon or not and farmers don’t have a de facto cash printing press in the Silicon Valley.
Martin asked about the TID phone system and Fukuda said the district has a bunch of left over phones that are too old to use. He’d like to donate them to a school or some other worthy entity still on older systems. TID’s new system is working fine.
Engineering
The district’s new engineer Jorge Munoz showed the board photos and gave descriptions of ongoing projects. There’s a canal at Culvert Avenue that’s getting a new Caldwell or visa
versa. There were other projects but the difficult one, the project that requires a district to have an engineer, was the box structure that is tying in a canal with a new development flood control system. Crews were out there last night helping to manage the storm water.
SGMA
Fukuda gave the board an update on the Kaweah Subbasin. This includes the East Kaweah, the Greater Kaweah and the Mid Kaweah Groundwater Sustainability Agencies. These GSAs and consultants are working together keep the subbasin in compliance. The well inventory
is complete so the well registration phase can be completed as well. There’s going to be a Kaweah Subbasin meeting open to the public at the World Ag Center next week with a BBQ lunch.
More good news, as if BBQ isn’t enough, is the State Water Quality Control Board has set an agenda item on its December 2nd meeting to release the Kaweah Subbasin back to the Department of Water Resources. State Board staff has indicated its assessment is, all of the Groundwater Sustainability Plan problems have been answered. Fukuda said a prominent
non-governmental organization – the Community Water Center in Visalia – sent a letter to the State Board stating it believes the Kaweah Subbasin should be given back to DWR. Good for them.
There is a good deal of consideration going into just how much the Kaweah Subbasins should present at the State Board meeting. Don’t want to talk too much but it is a great opportunity to present the projects planned for the subbasin to the State and remind them how expensive their unfunded mandates can be.
Friant Matters
Next the board’s attention turned to Friant. The long-time attorney Don Davis is no longer staff attorney. Julie Gantenbein is filling in until the RFP to replace Davis is filled. Also, the City of Lindsay was accepted as a member of the Friant Water Authority and will be represented by Kyler Crocker, former Tulare County Supervisor and now working for Lindsay. Lindsay is also the home of the FWA headquarters and takes water off the Friant Kern Canal. Another development from last month’s meeting was the passing of the Cost-of-Living-Allowance of 3.5 percent.
The FKC pump-back project is moving forward. This will help to recirculate water from the downstream terminus upstream to as far north as Deer Creek near the Tulare/Kern County line. The Ferguson Group is no longer employed as the federal lobbyists. A new yet to be announced firm will be soon employed in that fashion.
McKay Point/Seaborn Reservoirs
Near the Sierra foothills is a delta of the Kaweah River. There are two smaller reservoirs planned for this area that will benefit water supplies, habitat and flood control. There’s a kink. No one knows for sure how much it costs to restore an area. No one involved is old enough to remember what the natural habitat was. Are seeds even available for the type of flora that used to exist? Tumble weeds, an iconic representation of the west, are also known as Russian Thistles. So, you can’t just let the wild run wild in California. After all we have palm trees next to oaks and cottonwoods. Initial estimates are hovering around $20,000 per acre.
Fukuda hopes to wrap this up by 2030 so it will be an addition to the SGMA efforts. Got to get So Cal Edison to get some power to the location.
Legislation
AB 1413 by Diane Papan didn’t make it through, moved to the suspense file and won’t be able to interfere with GSPs. Senator Anna Caballero’s SB 72 was approved and requires DWR to set targets to secure water supplies by certain dates. Once in a while a good one gets through. And, AB 293 by your old friend, king of the bad, thoughtless and unintended legislative consequence, Steve Bennett of Ventura passed. It is a useless piece of legislation requiring GSAs to list board members’ Form 700 (financial interests) on the GSAs’ website. A redundant move since the forms are already by law a public record. It makes potential GSA board members wonder if it’s worth having to jump through yet another government hoop.
Go to Bennett’s website and you’ll read how he brags about letting an immigrant family stay at his home. It sounds like he’s providing them with food and shelter. It doesn’t say if these beneficiaries of Bennett’s largesse are also working as cooks, housekeepers and gardeners; or if they are legally in the United States. Bennett quit answering my questions a while back.
GM Report
Fukuda said there will be a Kaweah Subbasin tour coming up and this will include the San Joaquin Valley Water Blueprint and what potential projects could work for the MOU signed with Metropolitan Water District. They can develop a list of projects to pursue.
Fukuda was at the Groundwater Resources Association’s conference recently where he spoke on what demand management really is, how water markets actually work and the limits to adjudication as a groundwater management vehicle.
Board Action
Items that require the board’s vote were next. The first one was Resolution No. 2025-06 approving the 2026 Assessment Rate. Fukuda said keeping large reserves in the district’s isn’t appropriate. That’s taking the growers’ money, interest that could be earned and investment possibilities out of their pocket. While it is of course necessary and prudent for the district to have reserves,
Fukuda has endeavored to keep the reserve amount at a happy medium. He’s expecting a $13.7 million expense total in the coming year and a $13.1 million income. He’s proposing a five percent increase in assessments this year. There is still some wiggle room from the last 218 Election and with the agriculture industry in the economic doldrums Fukuda and staff will do everything they can to keep the costs down. An assessment just under $100 was considered. At $95 the district should be in the black.
TID’s reserves are currently $13 million. Martin said not to collect more until the actual expense is in view. Director Rick Borges said much the same thing. The board voted for a $95 per acre assessment.
Next Fukuda said TID has a tradition of naming basins after the landowners whose land was converted. He said the Fagundes family is about to celebrate its 100 anniversary working this land. The board passed Resolution No. 2025-07 – Recognition of the Fagundes Basin.
TID is adopting the executive team strategy and needs to get the handbook updated. The Tulare Irrigation District Job Descriptions are:
- Chief Executive Officer
- Chief Financial Officer
- Chief Operating Officer – Tulare Irrigation District
- Chief Operating Officer – Mid-Kaweah Groundwater Sustainability Agency
- District Mechanic – this position is going to be vacant at the end of the year. This position is different but very similar to Shop Foreman. This position will now require some formal certification from somewhere and function as a regular mechanic. For instance, they may provide their own tools.
The board approved these positions.
Tulare Irrigation District needs a new Field Supervisor Policy to help coordinate the workload. This has passed the HR attorney test and will be a way to help leaders gain leadership experience and growth. This will not lock anyone into a poor fit, it could be a project by project basis. It will mainly take place for the shop, construction, O&M and herbicide duties.
If for some reason like sickness a temporary leader can be appointed. All appointments are based on merit and experience. It will be important to choose wisely. The board approved and by the first of the year the wheels should be turning.
Tractor Purchase – DWR FDRE Grant Program is yielding some results. Fox said the program will allow pumps that run off a tractor’s power take off, PTO. Fox found four tractors that would qualify. The Massey Ferguson 5711 is in use at the district as a rental and it includes a mower unit. The mower unit won’t be covered by the grant. Half the rental fee applies to the purchase. It is very likely there will never be a need for a mower and a pump at the same time of the year. The board also voted to buy a Diamond Boom Mower from Garton Tractor of Tulare.
A construction management agreement between Tulare Irrigation District and Vanir Construction Management Inc. to oversee the relocation of the Main Canal at Paige Avenue and Highway 99 was proposed. The board said yes get some one to over see this and while Vanir will contract with TID, TID will be reimbursed by Cal Trans.
Fukuda said TID should pitch in a few hundred dollars to the FFA California Water Career Development Event Context Sponsorship. The board said yes.
Lastly, Weather Tools is offering a customized forecast for Tulare ID. The idea is to get a five year package for the San Joaquin River (Friant) and Kaweah River watersheds. The price could drop if there are five or more entities. Fukuda said he believes there are four more entities willing to invest in this.
The Weather Tools forecast will come out the first week of November and remain unchanged. Fukuda strongly recommended entering into this deal. Borges and Martin suggested a counteroffer; if the forecast is off more than 25 percent the next year’s forecast is free to TID. With that caveat the board agreed and then went into closed session.
Well, that was that and the next TID meeting is scheduled for November 11, 2025. Go be good to yourself and each other.
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TULARE IRRIGATION DISTRICT
6826 Ave 240, Tulare, CA 93274 Office: 559/686-3425
Board: David G. Bixler- President, Richard S. Borges, Jr.-Vice President, Scott Rogers, Dave Martin & Michael Thomas
Staff: Aaron Fukuda-General Manager, Kathi Artis–District Controller, Wayne Fox–Superintendent, Marco Crenshaw–District Watermaster & Alex Peltzer-Attorney.
About: The Tulare Irrigation District was organized September 21, 1889. The original proposal for the formation of an irrigation district covering 219,000 acres, extending from the Sierra Nevada foothills to Tulare Lake, was eventually reduced to 32,500 acres. The District continued in this status until January of 1948 when the so-called Kaweah Lands” (approximately 11,000 acres) were annexed. In October of 1948, approximately 31,000 acres, compromising the area served by the Packwood Canal Company were annexed to the District. A U.S. Bureau of Reclamation contract was signed in 1950 providing an annual supply of 30,000 acre-feet of Class 1 water, and up to 141,000 acre-feet of Class 2 water from the Friant-Kern Canal. The District and the Kaweah Delta Water Conservation District have coordinated efforts to enhance the recharge of groundwater within the Kaweah Basin. During high flow times KDWCD may use the recharge basins with the District for recharge purposes. Further, KDWCD has historically provided for a financial incentive program through which the District sustains the level of groundwater recharge from supply sources into the District. This historical program was recently reinstated by both districts in lieu of the District’s plans to concrete-line this canal to conserve the surface water. TID is a member of the Mid Kaweah GSA DWR#-5-022.11
