By Don A. Wright
The Exchange Contractors board of directors met at its Los Banos headquarters on November 7, 2025. You could also participate by telephone. If you’re new to WaterWrights or just water in general the San Joaquin River Exchange Contractors Water Authority is made up of four water entities that have inherited the pre-1914 Miller & Lux Ranch water rights. It’s a fascinating history and one the folks living in the San Joaquin Valley don’t know about as widely as they should. Especially the water folks.
The Meeting
The meeting was called to order at 9:03am with a salute to the flag, a review of the agenda and minutes and public participation. Under public participation a man named Gordy gave Joann White an award for her diligent compassion in organizing the annual fishing event that benefits handicapped children. Long as I can remember Mrs. White has been pivotal in making sure the kids get to experience something most of us would take for granted. Good for her. There was a great deal of applause from the room.
Chairman Chris Cardella asked staff to give the financial reports. That went pretty fast. Executive Director Chris White gave the board heads up on the draft 2026 proposed budget. He said there are still contingencies for the Del Puerto Dam project and some contracting that will be needed to meet the more stringent Water Master duties coming into play. The board approved the budget.
Water Report
Water Master Adam Hoffman gave the report saying demands are normal for this time of year save for the storm that rolled through last month decreasing demands for a little while. There is 10-cubic feet per second of flow at Sac Dam on the San Joaquin River.
Lake Shasta is in good shape and San Luis Reservoir is above 297,000 on the federal side. The rainfall in October couldn’t have been better as when the pumps at SLR were shut down there were concerns it would cause a great draw down. But the rain negated that.
Storms are coming a little early this year and the federal Jones Pumping Plant in the Delta has been pumping five units all month. On the state side the Banks Pumping Plant is running less than the feds and this will balance out the storage at SLR. Hoffman said more rain coming soon. There is more than an inch predicted for the Valley’s eastside during the second week of November.
Living on the east side I can state the amount of fog is way down, on the east side. Last year I went to the Cantua Creek area on the westside and couldn’t see my hand fully outstretched.
Ex Direct
White said there has been a $93 million bid for Sac Dam modifications, if I understood correctly, it’s coming up soon. There have been upgrades on the O’Neill Forebay and the storms will improve water quality in the Delta.
Due to the government shutdown Ex Con has postponed its Washington DC trip. In related travel news White said the Butterfield Stage line went from San Francisco to St. Louis Missouri and it went right through Los Banos.
Policy & Programs
Steve Chedester reported quite a bit on what is happening with the San Joaquin River salmon restoration efforts. There was a time not long ago when it cost $12.5 million per fish to return to the area immediately downstream of Friant Dam. I don’t know now. More fish have shown up but more spending has also taken place.
Chedester said there was a workshop on the Tuolumne River Voluntary Agreement being imposed by the state. He said the Tuolumne River process is part of Phase I of the so called Voluntary Agreements and the districts on that river are not happy.
Chedester said the Water Blueprint for the San Joaquin River is working on the Unified Water Plan for the San Joaquin Valley. Chapters one and two are ready in draft form for review.
Water Resources
Chedester gave an update on the Orestimba Creek project saying the water rights are being finalized. The Los Banos Creek Reservoir will break ground this Monday. The contractors are on site and ready to go. White added there has been some progress on the $16 million budget request. It sounded like it was initially frozen but then was unfrozen. This will help the local water supply.
Ex Con has been reaching out to the Department of Water Resources and Westlands Water District regarding the golden mussel. This little booger is getting into everything.
White reported on the Del Puerto Dam project saying Merced County has been working on the road realignment portion of the work that needs to be completed. There is work going on for permitting and the latest issue is downstream terrestrial habitat.
Gov’t Mischief
David Cory reported the Sacramento folks are pushing hard to limit the amount of nitrates that individual farmers may apply. This sounds like a typical one size fits all approach radiating out from the state capital. In late February or March the expert panel for nitrates is expected to present to the State Water Resources Control Board. Cory said the area Ex Con is in has a pretty good nitrate program in place and is asking the State Board to leave it alone.
Cory continued saying Perry Klassen has retired and a new lady who’s name I didn’t catch will take over the Irrigated Lands efforts.
More Gov’t Mischief
White said there has been some advancements on the Delta Tunnel. There hasn’t been much from the federal side. Staff does recommend HR 3572 by Congressman David Valadao to make funding available for the road realignments at Del Puerto and the BF Sisk Dams and some set aside for subsidence on the Delta Mendota Canal. These are water related but also eligible for transportation funding. The board was in full support.
Attorney’s Report
Andy McClure spoke about some of the lawsuits Ex Con is involved in. He said once the supplemental permitting is approved for the Del Puerto project they can get their ERI finalized and approved.
Four Managers
Mike Gardner, General Manager Columbia Canal Company reported October was 33 percent below average deliveries, year long about 10 percent above average. They’ve contracted with a New Zealand firm for improved monitoring.
Jeff Bryant, GM Firebaugh Canal Water District reported the canal lining will be delayed a year because they just couldn’t get the environmental permitting completed. He said the golden mussel has reached Firebaugh’s pump stations. He’s monitoring the process with an underwater camera. There isn’t a non-physical eradication that is affordable so they’ll have to go in there and scrape the pests off the goods. FCWD President Mike Stearns was honored by naming the new solar plant after him.
Ben Fenters of Central California Irrigation District filled in for GM Jerrett Martin and reported nutria and golden mussel has been discovered in this district. They are advising farmers to dewater as much as they can this off season in order to help with eradication. Don’t forget nutria can be good eating.
John Wiersma, GM San Luis Canal Company said demands are down somewhat and they are working to reline as much as the system and get the winter maintenance under wraps as soon as they can during the winter shutdown. I heard him say they are installing Rubicon infrastructure.
Information & Closed Session
White said the DC trip will be December 9th through 12th and the Mid Pacific gathering in Reno will take place in January if I understood correctly. That was about it for this meeting. The closed session items were all the usual; either lawsuits, personnel or real property transactions. Go be good to yourselves and each other.
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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, Darlene O’Brien- Administrative Assistant, 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.
