The Exchange Contractors board of directors met on Friday, March 4, 2022 at its Los Banos headquarters. The meeting was a combination of in person, the non-Zoom GoToMeeting and teleconference. I once asked why not pump the audio through the GoToMeeting like you can do with Zoom but I don’t recall the answer. I checked the weather in Los Banos before the meeting and it’s drizzling out there and is expected to continue through tomorrow. About the same as where I’m at east of Clovis. There’s a nice gentle drizzle but we all know we want it to rain buckets and snow like crazy. However, as I’ve said many times farmers are like ducks and frogs and rain makes them happy as long as it comes at the right time of year.
I also checked Shasta and there is a little bit happening up there today. Recall much of the water going through the pumps in the Delta comes from releases at Lake Shasta. So, that’s a part of the state that needs a lot of precipitation as the lake has been lower than usual.
The Meeting
The meeting was called to order at 9:17am as the earlier GSA meeting ran a little long. Chairman Chris Cardella, Columbia Canal Company asked if the agenda was steady and Executive Officer Chris White asked to move the audit report up.
CPA Joe Mastro gave the report and there were no hiccups that I heard. The audit showed Ex Con as running smooth financially from an audit perspective. The board approved the minutes after approving the audit. The board also adopted the resolution to allow meeting remotely although White pointed out all the directors have gathered in one place at the boardroom.
The public was allowed to participate and this is where I found out Cannon Michael is sitting in as an alternate for Jim Nickel of San Luis Canal Company. Michael knows his way around a meeting as he’s also Chair of San Luis Delta Mendota Water Authority. So, things are in good hands and everyone’s having a good time.
Reports
Joanne White gave the financial report and everyone was just peachy with it. Let’s see if Water Master Adman Hoffman gets as good a review with his water report. Hoffman said both north and south of Delta ag on the Central Valley Project will get zero allocation. The Friant Division has a 15 percent Class I allocation. Hoffman said inflows to Shasta are at a
minimum and the reservoir there is at 1.7 million acre feet of storage. That’s very low for this time of year, San Luis is at 890,000 cfs with 587,000 a/f state and 309,000 a/f federal. Millerton Lake is about half full at 260,000 a/f. Folsom is holding and Oroville is also releasing some. The Delta outflow requirements will decrease later this month and Hoffman expects or at least hopes for increased pumping from both the state and federal plants near Tracy. The operations of the federal Jones and state Banks pumping plants are filled with “if this then that” style guidelines. Most of it revolves around fish, at least nominally. By some estimates the Delta’s land area has been reduced by 90 percent due to development. Here’s another figure with 90 in it – 90 percent of out-migrating salmon are eaten by non-native predators like stripped bass. Why not increase the limit on bass?
Hoffman said Ex Con schedules its meeting right before the end of month forecasts are released. Things are not looking good at Shasta under the current forecast. The current storm is only dusting an inch or inch and half over the Sierra Nevada and most of it is falling south of Shasta.
XO Report
White said Ex Con is working with all manner of other agencies such as SLDMWA and Friant on managing water supplies. San Luis Reservoir is a joint operation between the state and feds and they have a Cooperative Operating Agreement to determine who gets how much under certain conditions. The COA shows the state owing the feds more water if I heard correctly.
White announced the Del Puerto Reservoir project is close to announcing a design team and is up and running. There is a move in Los Banos to join office space between Ex Con and SLDMWA. There will also be a museum in the facility. The City of Los Banos now has title to the property for the building and is very much in favor of the project. If you know where Ex Con’s current office is you know across the street is a statue of Henry Miller on the north side. The new office is planned for directly across the street from The Wool Growers restaurant just east of Henry Miller Park. Good for them.
Policy Report
Steve Chedester gave his report starting with the San Joaquin River Restoration update. There needs to be a fish screen at Mendota Pool and there are weekly calls with the US Bureau of Reclamation on the matter. Reach Three at Sac Dam also needs a fish screen and that is undergoing a similar set of tasks working with the government.
Chedester reported on the Orestimba Creek Project and a negative declaration on CEQA/NEPA was approved. There were only a total of five comments and not one of them shot down the deal. So things are moving forward.
The Los Banos Creek Reservoir has submitted a water rights permit and that seems to be moving in the right direction. It was a little difficult to hear Chedester and of course when dealing with a teleconference I kept getting last chance offers to renew my nonexistent auto warranty. What if they’re a client? You got to answer. Chedester also said Ian LeMay has been appointed the Chair of the San Joaquin Valley Water Blueprint.
Water Transfers
Ex Con moves water around between the members and other clients. White gave a rundown of the what the Water Transfer Committee sees as viable. There was a proposal to move some water gained by land fallowing to Semitropic WSD although I’m not sure how much. San Luis Canal Company wants to move 237 a/f to Gilardi Farms and 2,240 a/f to the San Luis Water District. the board agreed these would be prudent. As a side note SLWD is a master at finding water and making transfers.
Gov’t Mischief
Consulting Attorney David Cory has made a career of following all the regulations and programs out of Sacramento. If only as much water flowed as regulatory red tape. The state wants growers to file a forklift of paperwork and you can read more about all of that in the board packet. Cory gave a very short report.
White presented the legislative report on both state and federal matters by likewise saying it is all in the packet.
The attorney report was next and I’m not sure which attorney was present but I know Ex Con is represented by Paul Minasian’s firm. He said something about a trial winding up and the water quality objectives presented by the defendants were found to be ridiculous. The State Water Out of Control Board has changed its position on the water temperature plan on the Sacramento River but I couldn’t tell how. The but the bulk of the attorney’s report will be in closed session.
Four Managers Report
Jarrett Martin, General Manager Central California Irrigation District said there was some frost water released.
Director Mike Sterns gave the Firebaugh Canal Water District report and I couldn’t hear him. I don’t know where GM Jeff Bryant was but we hope all is well.
GM John Wiersma gave the San Luis Canal Company report saying the annual meeting is coming up later this month and he was told last night Caltrans is condemning the bridge at Turner Island. That’s a busy crossing and he heard the county will try to rig a one lane bridge until things can be improved.
Randy Houk, GM Columbia Canal Company said they are ready to start moving water when the time comes.
Info
White said some assemblyman from southern California is taking a tour of the area. The
Water Education Foundation tour will take place in person on April 20th. WEF has hired a flame thrower in its writer ranks, so watch out for woke drift. The Spring ACWA Conference is coming up in May and will be held in Sacramento. The meeting then went into closed session at 10:05am. White wished all a pleasant weekend.
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 2022 by WaterWrights.net/DAW
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 Columbia Canal Company -Chair, Mike Stearns Firebaugh Canal Water District -Vice Chair, 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, Darlene O’Brien- Administrative Assistant, Paul Minasian-Attorney
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.
