By Don A. Wright
The Exchange Contractors board of directors met at its Los Banos headquarters on Friday, January 9, 2026 and by telephone. Usually, Ex Con meets on the first Friday of the month but last Friday was right on the heels of New Year’s Day and nobody wanted that. Traditionally in the San Joaquin Valley the week between Christmas and New Years is as low key as you’ll get around these parts. Often the fog would settle in and it would be a quiet time to stay warm and slow down. The cotton was picked, maintenance and repairs finished and it was too early to plant. School was out; kids were busy with gifts yet to become routine. Familial relationships had been reinforced at tables full of blessings and bounty. The week between Christmas and New Years was a good week to slow down and count the things to be thankful for.
The Meeting
Things started with a pledge of allegiance at 9:00am. Chairman Chris Cardella asked Central California Irrigation District’s General Manager Jarrett Martin to lead. After the agenda and minutes were approved Executive Director Chris White asked everyone to introduce themselves in person and on the phone.
Next a young lady, Marisol, whose last name I don’t know, presented the expenses from last month, the balances on the books and some budget information. She did a fine job; you could understand her as she had a grasp of the subject. Then White led the board through the Finance Committee’s recommendations for contributions. This was all very formal so as not to violate any gifts of public funds. Finally, the law requires the board to adopt a resolution (2026-01) setting in stone the organization’s investment policy for another year.
Water Report
Water Master Adam Hoffman gave his report saying the San Joaquin River got up to 190 cfs during the recent storm and has dropped to 165 cfs at Sac Dam. Shasta has had 25 inches of rain in the past three weeks and gained more than one-million-acre feet in storage. This is starting to encroach on flood control levels. They should be able to get inflow to balance outflow so there won’t be much loss.
Hoffman said the San Luis Reservoir is holding its own. Lake Millerton is about 20,000 a/f from flood encroachment. The US Bureau of Reclamation is releasing some Class II uncontrolled season down the Friant Kern Canal. Pine Flat on the Kings River is in good shape.
The Department of Water Resources January 1st allocation is supposed to be released sometime today. Hoffman said lots of water in the Delta, more than 100,000 a/f of outflow and the federal Jones Pumping Plant is running all units. There was an increase in pumping due to the federal Action Five which allows the Old & Middle River reverse flow up to negative 5,000 cfs. This will change as the Delta inflow decreases but for right this moment there is good Delta pumping on both the state and federal side.
Exec Direct Report
White said there have been updates to the Brown Act and that was distributed to the board and there will be more discussions about this in the future.
White said the reconstruction of Sac Dam involves a coffer dam and sheet pilings. The upstream SJR flows are being carefully monitored to prevent all the work from washing away before it’s finished.
Gov’t Stuff
There was a fly-in of Ex Con representatives to Washington DC last month and White said it was productive. They are working on golden mussels and water supplies.
Director of Policy Report
Steve Chedester gave his report saying something but it was difficult to hear, what with paper rustling and such. If I understood correctly the voluntary agreements just received another draft from the State Water Resources Control Board and it’s 600-pages long. The comment deadline is at the end of the month. Chedester also said it has been a quiet month for the Water Blueprint.
Chedester said the Los Banos Creek Reservoir has started construction. There was some hold up due to rain but the big 50 plus inch pipe has been installed. The Golden Mussel is an invasive species and the official determination is the nasty little bipod might be controlled but they don’t expect to eradicate it. They are going to do as much as they can to keep them out of the reservoirs.
Del Puerto Canyon Reservoir
White said something faster than I could type. I can only take this to mean the project is still viable.
Bay Delta Plan & Other Gov’t Mischief
David Cory said January is going to be a busy month for the State and Regional Board as the expert panel is preparing to release its report on nitrates in the groundwater. Cory said the panel does understand agricultural practices and he’s hopeful. The previous work from Irrigated Lands Program can play a role in this. He expects the report to be released by February and once that happens the State Board is going to start developing policy on nitrates in groundwater. There will also be a peer review of this.
This process will fold in domestic wells and waste discharge. It will be nuanced by region hopefully. The Regional Board will first look at the Modesto Management Zone and that should set the template. Cory said there is a good deal of work going into this.
Legislative & Public Outreach
White said the state legislature has just started up and there are new people in committee and other leadership roles. He also spoke about the relationship building that took place in DC, particularly with Reclamation and other Department of Interior folks. The Lighthouse Public Affairs team will give an update at the March meeting.
Attorney’s Report
Andy McClure reported Ex Con and about 10 other public entities were sued by someone in Dos Palos. I didn’t understand what the issue was but there are still two live claims. However, it sounded like the plaintiff was labeled a “vexatious” litigant and prohibited from filing lawsuit after lawsuit. He reported there was more legal wrangling over the Mendota Pool draft EIR.
The Water Quality Control Plan procedure is possibly also vexatious in the impossibly short deadline some are trying to interject into the Voluntary Agreements. But it looks like Action Five is a boon to everyone who eats food and recognizes there needs to be water applied to crops.
Four Managers
I realize this item is for the four managers of the four districts that make up the Exchange Contractors. But I only heard a report from two of them. I’m attending by telephone so I don’t really know who’s in the room and who isn’t. I love my Ex Cons and there is nothing to prevent me from getting up before everyone else goes to bed and driving across the Valley through the fog to attend these meetings. But it would be nice if they held the meetings on Zoom. In any event I do hope Mike Gardner of Columbia Canal Company and Jeff “The Sausage Maker” Bryant of Firebaugh Canal Water District are OK.
San Luis Canal Company GM John Wiersma said December was good but on the construction front it’s a bit “whack a mole” trying to keep working in the driest portions of the district. The San Luis Canal Company is working through its transfer plan.
Martin said CCID is looking at what canal lining could be most beneficial.
Info & Closed Session
White said the Mid Pacific Water Conference is coming up later this month in Reno and asked everyone to be ready for that interaction between contractors and the Bureau. It’s a lot of fun.
The only other thing was closed session which started about 9:50am with 10-items. So, that’s 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.
