The Exchange Contractors board of directors met on Friday, November 5, 2021 at its Los Banos headquarters and with GoToMeetings, the pale, half cousin with Zoom-ish pretentions online meeting platform that for some reason doesn’t broadcast audio very well. So one must go through the living heck of pressing buttons on their phones listen in. Actually I’m sitting here in my pajamas drinking coffee while I write this report. I’ve had tougher jobs. I was just thinking how Mr. Spacely forced George Jetson to push more than three buttons one day.
On a more somber note this will be the first Ex Con board meeting without Jim O’Banion as Chair. Mr. O’Banion can not be replaced. I’ve been attending Ex Con meetings for about 20-years now and I don’t recall any board meeting without him sitting at the head of the table. I never quite know what to say when someone loses a loved one. And believe me
under the serious work of providing water to almost a quarter of a million acres of farmland the men and women involved at Ex Con are like a family. And they’ve lost a member of this working family. So, peace and hope to the folks there at the Exchange Contractors. It’ll be a challenge, but one I’m confident they can rise to.
The Meeting
Vice Chair Chris Cardella Chaired the meeting and things got up and running at 9:05am. The minutes were approved and there was no public comment. There was a quorum. I missed the flag salute but it was performed earlier at the GSA meeting directly preceding this board meeting. Joann White gave the financial reports resulting in the board paying its bills and approving her reports.
Executive Director Chris White presented the board with the 2022 budget including the water resource plan. The board approved.
Water Report
Water Master Adam Hoffman gave his report saying the San Joaquin River restoration flow releases have been delayed again, until the middle of this month. It was interesting to see Millerton Lake is at 135 percent of its average for this time of year. Pine Flat Lake on the Kings River is at 75 percent while San Luis Reservoir is at 34 percent of its average. Shasta is at 41 percent. The Delta is getting 15,766 cubic feet per second of inflow and 11,209 cfs of exports. The feds are taking 4,216 cfs and the state is taking 6,680 cfs. The storm from two weeks ago is still setting records for precipitation.
XO Report
White reported on something – unfortunately someone was crumpling paper in the mic and we couldn’t hear what he said. They knocked it off and we were able to hear White say the City of Los Banos has cleared some hurdles to relocate the offices of Ex Con and the San Luis Delta Mendota Water Authority along with a museum. There is a design team on board but folks are still waiting for the city council to OK the deal. Good for them.
Policy Report
Steve Chedester gave his report saying there were several operation plan options on the Mendota Pool for the fish screen and control structure. There were hopes that would have been finalized by today but the US Bureau of Reclamation has not yet made a decision. There are plans for a reverse flow facility and a fish recapture facility and the awaited step is to get things to a 62 percent design milestone.
Chedester spoke with a grants officer at the Bureau I believe who will take care of complications resulting in restrictions due to the biological scare from a doctor whose name kind of rhymes with crouchy paying a foreign lab to create a disease from bat snot causing missed deadlines.
Resolution 2021-05
Next the board passed a resolution honoring Jim O’Banion for his service. On behalf of all the Exchange Contractors White will present this resolution to O’Banion’s family. I saw on
the resolution wording that O’Banion has been the chairman since the inception of the organization. Water history folks.
Bond Talk
A gentleman named David Moore of Clean Energy Capital spoke to the board about Ex Con’s bond rating saying it is an A, an excellent investment grade rating. He said this is the grade needed to attract investors for the Del Puerto Canyon Dam project. He said this A grade is usually awarded to much bigger municipalities, the Ex Con balance sheet is small in comparison. Also it was noted Ex Con doesn’t have experience in developing a dam. However, the strength of the Ex Con management team and the authority’s excellent water rights offset those concerns for the most part. Good for them.
There is a different rating for the bond itself. Moore said the rating of the actual bond is kept private and I’m not sure why he said it out loud in a public meeting. Normally this information would be announced by Moody’s in a press release, so you’ll find out in due course but I can tell you it impressed me. I can also tell you I’m a laymen in these matters so consider the source of my impressing. It was said the first 25,000 a/f of storage in the new reservoir will be collateral to the deal.
State Mischief
Consultant David Cory reported on the nitrate in groundwater issues and other state related efforts to rule instead of govern. The Regional Board wants to take a look at how waste discharge is being handled at the Grasslands Wildlife Refuge. There are few discharges to the San Joaquin River but for certain storm water events. Cory said there are new board members so there will be a presentation about the selenium reductions and the general history of Grasslands.
The Regional Board has issued notice to landowners they have an option to either pay into a salt remediation project or try to meet a conservative level under 700 ec at the root zone. For those of you who don’t know ec stands for electroconductivity. It’s a way to measure salinity in water. Saltwater conducts electricity better than fresh water.
More Gov’t
White reported on legislative matters saying Ex Con’s consultants have reported Camile Touton was confirmed as USBR Commissioner and Mike Conners as the head of the Army Corps of Engineers by the Senate.
Andrew McClure gave the attorney’s report saying the State Board issued a wishy washy curtailment order earlier this year. The State Board suspended the curtailment during the recent storm event temporarily. Ex Con filed a petition of reconsideration against the curtailment order and now has 90-days to file a lawsuit if it wants to. The State Board has acted rightly in as far as storage can increase in reservoirs. The way the curtailment was written that would have been prohibited.
Ex Con is enmeshed in lawsuits as is almost every other water entity in California. So most of the attorney’s report will take place in closed session.
Four Managers Report
Randy Houk, GM Columbia Canal Company reported he and his home board want it to rain like crazy. A succinct report, way to go Randy.
John Wiersma, GM San Luis Canal Company reported San Luis Canal Company has received construction bids and is working with Triangle T on water supplies.
Jerret Martin, GM Central California Irrigation District reported the rain slowed down a couple of projects but no real complaints.
Jeff Bryant, GM Firebaugh Canal Water District reported he’s working with growers to finish off deliveries so they can start maintenance on the system. He sees that happing by the end of the month. He said there were two directors up for reelection and both ran uncontested.
Informational Items
White reported the ACWA conference is coming up and there are opportunities to meet with the Bureau but there are limits to the number of people who will be allowed in a room together at the same time. He also stated O’Banion’s memorial will be Saturday, November 13th in Dos Palos.
The meeting then went into closed session at 10:04am for 10 items. Have a great weekend.
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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
Eric Fontana- Central California Irrigation District, Chris Cardella- Chair Columbia Canal Company, James L. Nickel-Treasurer San Luis Canal Company, Mike Stearns-Director Firebaugh Canal Water 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.
