By Don A. Wright
The Exchange Contractors board of directors met at its Los Banos headquarters on Friday, February 7, 2025 and by telephone. When you call the number, it sounds like some computerized operator lady says, “Welcome to Broad Dana.” Men and women come in all shapes and sizes and I’ve known both men and women named Dana. But I’ve never known a lady who wanted to be called broad. Also there was a problem with connections and I missed the flag salute and housekeeping items.
The Meeting
When things got up and running I found myself in the middle of Joanne White’s finance report and the board – of course – approved. They also approved travel expenses and Visa Cards and the minutes of the finance committee meeting.
Water report
Adam Hoffman reported demands are just starting to increase. There were concerns about the dry January but the current rains have helped. Flows down the San Joaquin River are going to increase between now and then in June they will be ramped down to conserve cold water.
Hoffman said Shasta has filled to 4.16 million acre feet so far. The atmospheric rivers are dumping on the northern part of the state. He said Oroville received 30” of rain in one week. There is a lot of water in the system right now. San Luis Reservoir is gain maximum infill on the federal side with all pumps pumping at the Jones Plant. Millerton Lake has a bump in infill due to the recent storm. Still under average.
Delta inflows are big and things are moving fast and Huffman said it’s looking good. There is 107,000 cubic feet per second hitting the Delta. The Feather River got 130 percent of average rain last week and there are more storms coming – and it is supposed to be colder so more snow. He said the DWR forecast will come out on Monday.
Exec Director
Chris White said there was a good meeting on the San Joaquin River Restoration plan. He asked John Wiersma to report and he said bids, plans, operations agreements are all moving forward for various parts of the effort. I don’t know what work was completed but a contractor named Charlie McIlvaine completed more than half the task in one day.
White said Ex Con continues to work with the Central Valley Operations folks from the US Bureau of Reclamation to bring more transparency to South of Delta allocations.
Wiersma said the local Groundwater Sustainability Plan has the finishing touches in place. There are comment periods still open in neighboring subbasins, and they are keeping an eye on what’s going on next door and how it could impact the local subbasin.
White said water transfers are on the agenda and will be covered later in the meeting. A while back Ex Con developed a grant for water in the surrounding communities and it sounded like the City of Firebaugh has qualified for funds and will improve the San Joaquin River side park. Very good.
Policy & Programs
Steve Chedester reported there is some progress being made on Sac Dam in regards to the SJR restoration efforts. There are men and women in Washington DC looking for funds. He reported he had a good meeting with Wade Crowfoot last month, I think about the Voluntary Agreement but I couldn’t really hear what he said.
Chedester said the Water Blueprint has been putting out material in response to the unique situation taking place in California. He hasn’t heard from the State Board concerning the SGMA process for the area in a while.
White added the Del Puerto Canyon Dam Project is moving forward with Merced County Public Works Department presenting the County Board of Supervisors with a good report on the proposed project.
Gov’t Mischief
Next Dave Cory reported on state regulatory happenings. He said the Nitrate Control Panel of experts mandated by the State Board is still waiting for names to be approved. He believes it will happen sooner or later. There was a priority two workshop for the Regional Board concerning nitrates. There were NGOs and State Board staff presence but it was very toned down in comparison to past workshops.
Legislative & PR
White said January 2025 was a long year. He met with Crowfoot last month and they were very interested in Ex Con’s SJR restoration. He said it was a “really good” discussion. Doug Burgum is now Secretary of Interior. There are some questions about federal funding for projects that received Inflation Reduction Act funds. There will be an Ex Con trip to Washington DC next week. The Executive Orders President Donald Trump issued are under careful watch. White said Congressmen David Valadao and Jim Costa have put forth an “Every Drop Counts” bill.
Attorney’s Report
Andy McClure said the Merced County GSA case that won’t die has been consolidated. He said they will make the judge’s task as easy as possible. They will make only one response. This case has dragged on since 2020 and the document being sued over no longer exists. There is a good case the plaintiffs are trying to run up legal fees.
The Del Puerto Canyon CEQA case has been dragging on also. Friant had its lawyers and McClure argued for Ex Con. Ex Con and Del Puerto WD won on all points. It is remaining unpublished. This means they won but unless the court chooses to publish the verdict, it can’t be used as precedence in the future. Friant requested a rehearing but McClure doesn’t see that happening.
The Sierra Club suit on road alignment and cultural issues in the Del Puerto Canyon Dam has been heard. This also, has dragged on. The Sierra Club sued on something that hasn’t happened yet. The road alignment is yet to be determined. The Sierra Club was also suing over fish and terrestrial animals being harmed. McClure said he thinks the pro-dam position is winnable and Ex Con won’t owe attorney fees. If not there are some fees coming up. Also coming up is the hearing next week.
Managers’ Report & Information
Columbia Canal Company General Manager Mike Gardner said the system has been shut down for maintenance.
Firebaugh Canal Water District, GM Jeff Bryant said they irrigated right up until the end of the year and spent January on maintenance. There is a new regulating reservoir starting up this year.
San Luis Canal Company’s GM Wiersma said the same thing, knocking out projects and enjoying the dry weather for that. There are two NEPA documents before the Bureau and that’s about it. Getting ready for the annual meeting next month.
Central California Irrigation District, GM Jarrett Martin said they are finished with maintenance and are ready to start deliveries.
White announced March 7th as the next board portraits sitting. And the DC trip.
Water Transfer
Last month there was a proposal to add another category under Ex Con’s transfer policy. This was sent back to staff for a further presentation this month. White said this type of transfer category has been used but not under this name. It would be good to sort that out and cap it at 50,000 a/f annually.
White suggested a 10,000 a/f but an increase be allowed under policy. This has something to do with groundwater when the water level gets too high. There used to be artesian wells on the west side of the Valley and groundwater can get very high. There was no public comment or questions and the board approved amending Section 6.8 alternative three of the WTP.
Chairman Chris Cardella thanked White for making this much less complex. I’d hate to have to have read through the complex version. SLCC Director Cannon Michael said he was glad to have this happen.
Closed Session
The meeting went pretty fast with adjournment at 10:09am. The board was ready to dive into six items covered under the Ralph M. Brown Act. 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.
