By Don A. Wright
The Exchange Contractors board of directors met on Friday, April 5, 2024 at its Los Banos headquarters and by phone. In fact the official request at the top of the official agenda is, “Notice: All members of the public are asked to attend the meeting by conference call.” It’s also italicized to show they mean it. Like when you sign a letter
sincerely. For many years I used to drag my sleepy self out of bed and drive across the Valley to attend the Ex Con meeting in person. I might do so again someday. To heck with italicized stay away notices. Not bragging but they don’t scare me that much, only a little bit. Now if they were to bold and underline an italicized stay away notices you’d have to sit up and pay attention. You’d just have to.
Before the board meeting the Groundwater Sustainability Agency met. Executive Director Chris White considerately* interrupted the speaker’s presentation of well levels to let those of us waiting on the phone know the GSA was spilling into the regular meeting. It reminded me of the time The Violent Fems opened for Van Halen; the GSA being the opening act in this story. Known as an acoustic punk band, the Fems had charted with Blister in the Sun. Van Halen, of course, was a heavy rock guitar force of nature held in awe by many. This didn’t go well. The Fems were pelted by
quarters and other found objects while being drowned out by the audiences’ chants which were far too inappropriate to reprint here. The Fems responded by flipping everyone off, answering the chants with some other harsh in-kind language and left the stage. This made me think, what if everyone on the phone started chanting, “Ex Con, Ex Con, Ex Con!!!” until the regular meeting started?
The Meeting
The Exchange Contractors Groundwater Sustainability Agency meeting ran a little long so the regular Ex Con meeting started later than the scheduled 9:00am and took up at 9:22am which gave me some extra time to write the above nonsense. Idle hands and all. A take away from the SGMA discussion is no matter where you go the state still wants to shoehorn everyone into the same usage reduction, one-size fits all, footwear.
Chairman Chris Cardella called the meeting and under review of the agenda the board agreed to move closed session up to right after public comment which was right after the approval of the minutes and self-introductions. So that meant the meeting went into closed session at 9:24am. Attorney Andy McClure was phoning in his services and was up against a limit amount of time he had available.
Closed Session
I’ve sat through a few closed sessions. At one point I used to wonder what interesting things might be said behind closed doors, far away from the glaring light of public scrutiny. No longer. They are usually as bland as a Miracle Whip on Wonder Bread sandwich. But the Ralph M. Brown Act, wisely I believe, allows public agencies to discuss legal matters of a
litigious nature, personnel issues and real estate transactions in private. It would literally be against the law for a board to discuss any non-sensitive public business without the public.
The agenda showed seven items under closed session. Six of them had to do with existing or pending or possible lawsuits. One was the price, terms, conditions and quantity of water being made available for transfer.
The Audit & Other Fiduciary Matters
Just when you think the meeting could not get any better sometime after 10:00am CPA Joe Mastro gave the board the auditor’s report by phone. Mastro does a pretty good job of not bogging down too far in the minutia. There is no law stating an audit report has to be a verbal presentation. However, entities pay good money to attain compliance with the law
and CPAs and bookkeepers work hard to ensure things are clean. So, of course they want to show the work product. The board accepted the audit report.
Like good gravy on a flaky biscuit Joann White followed the audit with a presentation to the board of expenses to be paid, budget reports and cash activity. This report was approved as were the minutes of the February finance committee meeting.
Water Report
Watermaster Adam Hoffman started by saying the South of Delta allocations have gone up by 15-percent to 35-percent. It is widely believed this will go since we’re having a good water year. Friant’s allocation has gone up to above 80 percent.
Pulse flows on the San Joaquin River have started. Shasta is at 4.2 million storage and gaining. Hoffman said in March during a flood release, the US Bureau of Reclamation backed off on the amount sent downstream to preserve storage quantities.
San Luis Reservoir is declining with no loss of rescheduled water. Millerton Lake on the San Joaquin River has increased demands as inflows increase. Pine Flat Reservoir on the Kings River is doing well as well.
Delta inflow is finally starting to decline to 50,000 cfs. The federal Jones Pumping Plant had to throttle back to one unit due to the presence of unaccounted steelhead. The state’s Banks Plant is pumping more than Jones at this time. Hoffman said there is the potential Jones might have to remain at one pump through April and May. The first quarter of the year had precipitation at or above average.
Executive Director’s Report
White said they are looking at the documents from the public documents on the East/West agreements. There is a Voluntary Agreement public hearing coming up before the State Board. This will give the State Board and staff a chance to hear from the water agencies on what the VA impacts actually are. White indicated the VAs contain some dangerous restrictions on water transfers that could harm the Valley’s westside.
Water Resources Plan & Water Transfers
Jarret Martin reported flood flows on Orestimba Creek will be captured next year and the project is looking good. Los Banos Creek got a visit from Congressman John Duarte who brought a multi-million dollar check with him to help that project along. White reported there are productive meetings concerning the road alignments on the Del Puerto Canyon Dam project.
Next White walked the board through eight pending water transfers. Two of them are from Central California Irrigation District for about 5,100 a/f total to a private landowner and
Westlands Water District. Six of the transfers are from the Firebaugh Canal Water District totaling 15,000 a/f to other districts. There are transfers involving some private ownership involved in this as well. FCWD’s GM Jeff Bryant said there are some environmental documents still pending. The board approved.
Resolution
Next the board approved Resolution 2024-02 recognizing the contributions of Director James L. Nickel. Nickel has stepped down as the Chairman of the San Luis Canal Company and will no longer be an Ex Con board member. He served more than 30-years on the SLCC board and I’m not sure how long on Ex Con. White said Nickel was honored at a
SLCC meeting last week. Brian Grant is the pending replacement for Nickel. The resolution was passed.
I’ll miss seeing Jim on the Ex Con board. He’s been there since before I began covering it. He also helped set some important editorial policies for WaterWrights. Must have been 15-years or more ago I was awakened by an early morning phone call from Jim. It was harsh and another example of language I won’t repeat here. He was a bit upset over being misquoted, saying Senator Diane Feinstein had contacted him asking why he’d say such a thing.
There were two serious things going on here. I do take quotes seriously and didn’t want to place Jim in a bad spot. And whether or not Senator Feinstein actually read my reports or one of her staff had, I was stunned she even knew these reports exist.
I reviewed the passage in question and had to agree – the way I wrote it strongly implied Nickel had said something unflattering about Feinstein’s staff. That wasn’t my intention and did my best to clean up that mess. But my take away was this – I was appreciative Jim Nickel had the decency to call and confront me instead of just cussing me behind my back. It was a great reminder to always be more careful what I write. Especially since I don’t have an editor. I know I wander off topic and try to be funny now and then, but thanks to Jim schooling me, it is WaterWrights.net policy to emphasize – quotes are only quotes when in “parenthesis” and attributed. Thanks Jim.
Gov’t Mischief
Consultant David Cory spoke about nitrates. For more than 15-years the Central Valley Salts has been working on managing salt. This was until the State and Regional boards got their collective nose and nuts shifted the focus to nitrates. If I hear correctly the nitrate
management plan is far enough along to go back to working on salt in the Central Valley. Salt build up in the soil, you may recall, ruined agriculture in ancient Mesopotamia.
Cory said the west side of the Valley will be the archetype of what will come. The state has plans to complete a study by November and that is not really realistic. Cory said input from the local managers will be very important to prevent the state from veering off and getting lost in other goals. Cory was hopeful the final plan can be developed in a way that will deal with the issues and make farmers whole. And this isn’t just ag being looked at. There are cities and wild life refuges in the area that will also be taken into account. Cory said there needs to be a manager’s meeting soon.
Cory announced Art Baggett is now on the Central Valley Regional Water Quality Control Board and he believes this is good news. He said the Regional Board staff is pretty reasonable and having good leadership on the board is key to making progress.
Leg & Other Reports
White gave the reports saying the state legislative report will be fully developed by the next meeting. There are water bonds possibly pending. Who knows with the massive budget deficit? On the federal side things have only slightly calmed down but the Del Puerto Canyon Project got some funding.
White also reported the City of Los Banos and Grasslands WD have asked for community funding from the money Ex Con set aside. Good deal. Congressman Duarte has been asked for help for additional funds. He said McClure’s report is in the packet and McClure has been very helpful with public outreach.
Four Entities Report
Martin said March deliveries have been under average due to the weather.
I think I heard SLCC GM John Wiersma say everything’s going good.
Bryant said they have found a new weed treatment that has proven much better. He said the solar program isn’t running as fast as he’d like.
Cardella said Columbia Canal Company GM Mike Gardner has had to go to rehab after experiencing a very serious hiking accident. He’s improving and it looks like he’ll be out of intensive care. Bryant said Gardner’s wife has expressed her thanks for the compassion
CCC has shown. Cardella said having Bryant step in and help out has been a reason to give thanks and sleep better. Let’s all keep Gardner in our prayers.
Informational
There will be a Water Education Association event at the Party Barn on April 12th. At the end of the month there will be a tour of Rosedale Rio Bravo WSD and in May there will be an ACWA meeting in Sacramento. The Santa Clara Valley Water District will be hosting a tour of the Anderson Reservoir rehab project at the end of May. White said this could be very interesting. I just read this morning in excellent California Globe the dam removals up in Klamath have cause a massive environmental meltdown with the sediment being very thick, very voluminous and toxic. I can’t imagine SCVWD allowing something like that to happen.
With that the meeting adjourned at 11:10am. Even with the extra closed session and auditor’s report this meeting didn’t drag on too much. That’s good meeting management. Good be good to yourself and others.
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*He really is considerate.
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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, James L. Nickel-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.
