By Don A. Wright
The Exchange Contractors board of directors met at its Los Banos headquarters on Friday, June 6, 2025 and by telephone. I opted for a telephone connection to save the $5 per gallon. We’re in June, halfway through the year. This is the time when we all know how much water there is going to be. It’s too late for planting and too early for harvest – for the most part. There is still a good deal of work to be completed but the irrigation systems are mostly up and running. Canals are full, deliveries are being made, the maintenance window is closed. This can make for short meetings. We’ll see.
The Meeting
Chairman Chris Cardella called the meeting at 9:00am sharp and all saluted the flag.
Executive Director Chris White reported there were no changes in the agenda but attorney Andy McClure wasn’t able to attend leaving an empty chair. So during closed session, White said someone from the excellent Minassian law firm will phone it in.
The minutes were approved and during public participation everyone introduced themselves with the board and staff first. Others in the room and others like myself on the phone. Things were off to a rollicking start full of goodwill and optimism.
Financials
Participating by phone for some meetings is not too bad. I recognize most of the voices and can follow along well using the agenda. However, there is someone new giving the May
expenditures. I did not catch the young lady’s name but it was her first time up to bat and she did a fine job. Such a fine job the board agreed to pay the bills.
Check this out. Ex Con is such a full service Joint Powers Agreement the Executive Director texted me Marisol Reynoso’s name. Usually the ever graceful Joanne White gives the financial reports. Mr. White knows change can have a Rain-Manish* impact on reporters. Thanks for that kindness and welcome Ms. Reynoso.
Water Report
Adam Hoffman said the South of Delta allocation for the CVP increased to 55 percent and he said there could be changes. The June pumping from the federal Jones Plant is down to three units. So, not as much as hoped for. April demands were high and May was high also, but not as much.
There was a good return of fish this year and San Joaquin River flows will be reduced at Friant to build a cold water pool reserve – if I understood correctly. Shasta Reservoir has hit its peak storage. San Luis Reservoir is drawing down and that will increase with the time. There is 620,000 a/f on the federal side of SLR. Millerton Lake has just about peaked its inflow as the snowpack has melted. Storage there is close to full at 400,000 and something a/f.
The Delta is being managed for the Old and Middle River of the SJR. The state was planning to pump more supplies south next month and August but it started early which causes the federal plants to pump less to keep the desired balance.
Ex Direct
White reported Senator Alex Padilla has written some legislation to put more money into the San Joaquin River Restoration program. This could include some good funding for infrastructure improvement. But you have to look hard for the money. Allocations going from 50 to 55 percent was based on assuming more pumping that has taken place.
White said there used to be 1,000 US Bureau of Reclamation employees on the West Coast and now there are just 600 and it wasn’t an even drop across the board. Many water entities such as the Friant Water Authority, San Luis Delta Mendota Water Authority and Exchange Contractors are lending a hand. With the Regional and Assistant Regional both being interim and no Commissioner named as yet – our brave Bureau based public servants are kicking some serious management challenge butt. They are keeping the lights on thank God. Good for them.
John Wiersma reported on SGMA and passing the GSP past the State Water Resources Control Board. There will be more on this during closed session. He pointed out the Chowchilla Subbasin was kicked back to the Department of Water Resources and that gives him hope the Delta Mendota Subbasin will be next to get out from the State Board’s clutches.
Other news is the San Luis Delta Mendota WA has handed over the reins to the Hallmark Group to manage the subbasin. The Delta Mendota Subbasin has entered into an MOU with the Valley Water Collaborative. He sees a very good opportunity to save some money by cost sharing, show the state the area is serious about its groundwater and water quality and he’s happy about it.
White said at the recent ACWA conference Ex Con touched bases with its transfer partners and there will be a series of meetings coming up soon.
Policy & Programs
Steve Chedester reported something but he was really difficult to hear. I think that happened last month if I recall. I did hear Ex Con has entered into consultation with the
National Marine Fisheries on Reach 2B of the San Joaquin River Restoration. On Reach 3 there has been comments on the biological opinion regarding what the government considers a “take” at the Sac Dam.
Chedester said there hasn’t been much happening on Bay/Delta front. The Water Blueprint for the San Joaquin Valley is working on a model about the cost/benefit analysis for water banking on private property.
The Orestimba Creek project is waiting on PG&E for some power hook ups, I believe. The water rights issues are close to being worked out. Getting to the state to understand the issues has proven a bit illusive in regard to how much water is actually being captured and how much was going to the earth.
Jarrett Martin, General Manager of Central California Irrigation District reported on a project going according to plan. Unfortunately I didn’t hear which project he was speaking about.
White reported on the Del Puerto Dam project saying design work is moving forward. The folks doing so are working on rerouting access roads for PG&E.
Gov’t Mischief
Dave Cory reported things will be brief saying the State Nitrate Panel members have yet to be announced but he expects them to be named this month. He hopes they will be reasonable and approved. I hear very little about this from other parts of the state.
Cory said there is also a renewed attempt to manage salts in the Central Valley. Irrigation can condense salt and that needs to be managed. I believe it was the Sahara Forest that was devastated by this type of salt build up. To remediate this requires funding and a governing structure to hang it on. Originally there was a brine line planned to shunt the salt to the ocean. That doesn’t appear to be feasible at this time. Cory said things may be
headed to be a series of salt treatment centers. These centers will be strategically spaced so if a brine line can be used there will be a conveyance tie in.
Pesticide regulations are still a thorn in the side of the bureaucrats because it causes their panties to spontaneously combust at the idea of groundwater receiving even a sliver of a molecule of whatever it is they don’t like at the moment. Cory didn’t say it exactly like that.
More Gov’t Mischief
White reported the May Budget revision was a $12 billion deficit. It is now a $40 billion deficit. This could have a mess of a footprint for ag and the Delta Tunnel.
On the federal side the Big Beautiful Bill has moved from the House to the Senate. Last month’s trip to Washington DC by Ex Con yielded successful results. Good for them. They have a better idea of funding for the Del Puerto Dam project.
Ex Con’s Community Infrastructure Fund committee meeting will be held soon and awards announced. Director Eric Fontana, CCID asked White if the Lighthouse PR firm is looped in on this and the answer was yes.
Four Entities
Mike Gardner, Columbia Canal Company General Manager said May deliveries were 33 percent higher than average. He said he’s started maintenance projects for this coming winter.
Jeff Bryant, GM Firebaugh Canal Water District said May deliveries were also higher. He said don’t hold your breath but he hopes to flip the switch to get the solar plant online next week. He said the weeds weren’t as bad this year.
Wiersma said May deliveries were higher and the budget was approved. That’ll let him get some capital projects up and running. And the groundwater transfer NEPA permit is just about wrapped up on the Bureau’s side.
Martin said May demand was higher but it is still too early to determine when the end of delivery season will be.
Informational Items & Closed Session
White will be traveling next month to somewhere. There will be a tour for Met WD and the July meeting will be July 2nd to avoid stepping on Independence Day. In August the California Ag Leadership Tour will take place on the 21st and 22nd. Congressman Adam Gray is riding along on this one. This September will once again be the time for the special fishing day Ex Con has been hosting. For as long as anyone can remember Ex Con has been hosting a day for children with disabilities to go fishing on the O’Neal Forebay below the San Luis Reservoir. I wonder if the Natural Resources Defense Council does anything like that.
The meeting went into closed session at 9:47am – so, yes it was a short meeting. The closed session agenda included eight items with a mix of lawsuits and real property negotiations. That was that this morning in a small boardroom in Los Banos. Go be good to yourselves and others.
DISCLAIMER OF RESPONSIBILITY; Waterwrights.net strives to provide its clients with the most complete, up-to-date, and accurate information available. Nevertheless, Waterwrights.net does not serve as a guarantor of the accuracy or completeness of the information provided, and specifically disclaims any and all responsibility for information that is not accurate, up-to-date, or complete. Waterwrights.net’s clients therefore rely on the accuracy, completeness and timeliness of information from DAW entirely at their own risk. The opinions expressed in this report are those of the author and do not represent any advertisers or third parties.
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. Copyright 2025 by WaterWrights.net/DAW
*Think: “Wapner three o’clock.”
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.
