By Don A. Wright
The Friant Water Authority board of directors met at the Bello Vita Event Venue in Visalia on Thursday, June 27, 2024. The meeting was chaired by Rick Borges, Vice Chair. Former chairman Cliff Loffler gave an opening prayer asking God for wisdom. In recognition of Fourth of July next week he led us all in singing God Bless America. Just like you’d expect red blooded, God fearing Americans to do when starting a public meeting. Good for him. He also has an impressive voice.
The Meeting
The consent calendar was approved and CFO Wilson Orvis gave context to the somewhat large packet containing the Operations, Maintenance and Replacement draft budget. CEO Jason Phillips explained before Orvis began that earlier today there was another open session at 8:30am wherein Exeter Irrigation District, Ivanhoe ID and Stone Corral ID became full members of FWA. They are now sitting in on closed session and voting on action items. Phillips also reminded the board this is a draft review of the OM&R budget with a 60-day period before the final approval.
Orvis walked the board through the draft saying a three-percent inflation has been baked into the assumptions. The FWA fiscal year is October through September and this is the 2025 fiscal year budget. The consumer price index was also used in developing the figures. A chart going back to 2016 shows the actual budget is below the proposed. The CPI has trended lower than the budget increase. Orvis said major maintenance has driven much of the increase but the big expense has been equipment compliance with the California Air Resources Board regulations. Orvis made it a point to inform the board Superintendent Chris Hickernell and his crew have done an incredible job of keeping costs down as much as possible.
Orvis said there was a good deal of interaction with the various board committees. One of the suggestions is increasing the number of grades and steps available to employees for those demonstrating merit. He said there is a good portion of experienced employees who have maxed out their compensation. COO Johnny Amaral said it is detrimental to Friant to lose these experienced workers to other employers because it can’t compete. The board approved starting the review process.
Grants
Orvis reported the US Bureau of Reclamation has a 50/50 cost share matching grant for the Water Smart small scale water efficiency grant program. The Bureau requires a board resolution and the application deadline is July 9th and it should announced the awards sometime early fall. The board passed the resolution and directed staff to apply for the grant.
Reports
The first report was from Stantec’s Janet Atkinson on the Friant Kern Canal repairs. There were photos of the construction of the permanent plugs being installed in the old canal. There were challenges. A fleet of trucks and tractors kept dumping dirt into the canal until there was enough to no longer wash downstream and was compacted. Both the north and
south locations where the old and the new canals meet have completed the plugs. She also said the electrical systems are completed as well. There is more work to be finished on the roads and other punch list items. These are the last things to wrap up the construction. Total change orders are under $7 million. Pretty good for a half a billion dollar project. Amaral added there are ongoing meetings with districts needing turnout upgrades.
Water Ops
Ian Buck-Macleod gave the water report saying he finished this report on Tuesday morning and much has changed. He said there hasn’t been much precipitation from the freak storm but there have been increased fires from the accompanying lightning strikes. He said the weather prophets are looking at a hot summer.
The Bureau has increased South of Delta allocations 10-percent to 50-percent. Demands on the west side were lower and that allowed more water stored at San Luis Reservoir. Was the lower demand due to under estimated allocations causing growers to cut back on production? I think that’d be a safe bet. Tell growers they’re not going to get a full allocation during a normal year and they’re liable to cut back acreage.
Buck-Macleod said on the Friant side there was a hotter than usual May and that caused a loss of supplies. Friant is expected to top out at a 90 percent Class I allocation. He said the Bureau has helped with some O&M related to the FKC repairs. He also said, if I understood, the last Airborne Snow Observatory flight has been cancelled.
Rufino Gonzalez, USBR reported he expects summer thunderstorms to add up to 60,000 a/f. This could kick up the allocation to almost 100-percent. He asked for the districts to submit their schedules to help with planning. He expects the possibility of some water being released at Friant Dam but it won’t be much. He also announced he’ll be transferred to deal with federal things at Tracy later this year.
External Affairs
State lobbyist Mike Villines reported in person. Good to see him. He said he’d been monitoring things in Sacramento and while the Friant Board was meeting the Assembly was on the verge of a fist fight. Makes sense. Villines said AB 2079’s author Steve Bennett played poorly when asked to cooperate on amendments. It sounded like even the Department of Water Resources was taken by surprise by Bennett’s intractability.
Last year’s Buffy Wicks and Rebecca Bauer Kahn bills that would have given unfettered power to the State Water Resources Control Board were shot down last year and turned into two-year bills and they also failed. A good bill by State Senator Anna Caballero passed all the hurdles and it looks like it will be signed by the gov.
The state budget has to be signed by June 15th or the elected officials in Sacramento don’t get paid. They getter done but then add a septic tank full of trailer bills before the gov has to sign off on the budget by June 30th.
Villines said there is a hard deadline today to get the water bond on the ballot. And in true Sacramento fashion it’s been extended to July 3rd. Now there’s a hard deadline to get it done next week. One of the provisions on the bond is to get some money into the government trough for the San Joaquin River restoration program. Amaral asked why this $10 billion water bond is being kicked around so much and what are its chances. Villines said extending the deadline has helped and expects it to make the ballot this fall.
Now just when we thought it was safe to go back into the water our old friend Bennett wants to move some money from the Voluntary Agreements and give it to enviros. Villines said ACWA is putting together a coalition to stop this foolishness and Friant is welcome to sign on. I believe I heard the board happily agree.
Amaral said Vince Fong is now in Congress and he has been meeting with Friant. He said Senator Alex Padilla’s chief of staff was toured and fed through the area. Amaral said Padilla has been generous with his time when folks go visit in Washington DC. He and
Phillips will also be meeting in Fresno with Wyoming Senator John Barrasso who has been very supportive of private property and is a high ranking Republican.
Amaral said just about every district in Friant is a supporter of the California Farm Water Coalition and he praised CFWC for its hard work. Amaral said the annual off site meeting will be a serious use of time. He encouraged everyone to attend because it really sets the goals and the pace for the coming year.
O&M
Hickernell said he lost his rein as California’s Safety King last week when someone ran a red light and hit a Friant vehicle. Boogers. He said a lot of copper sulfate and preemergent weed control is going on. He showed some photos of work done on the Tule River. The river banks upstream of the FKC were improved so the flood risk will lessen greatly, we all hope. There was a clogged culvert near Orange Cove that was cleared out. He said the FKC bridges are being resurfaced.
Blueprint
Austin Ewell said the Water Blueprint for the San Joaquin Valley has joined with the Southern California Water Coalition and others to weigh in on the water bond. The Hall Mark Group has prepared a strategic plan and much of it will include how to deal with the biological consultations that are rapidly approaching. The Santa Clara Valley Water District got wind of the Blueprint’s MOU with Met Water District in Southern California and they want to get with it as well. Good news.
San Luis Delta Mendota
Orvis has his daughter with him, or his intern as he called her, for business expense reasons. And she was sitting in Ewell’s seat but it all worked out well. Besides that bit of info Orvis said the new and improved agreements with SLDMWA and Friant are on track. Good for them.
CEO
Phillips said he was able and privileged to attend the Middle Reach ribbon cutting ceremony for the new FKC. The project was only conceived in 2017 so to have it completed that quick, that was something. Rain Emerson has been promoted to Deputy Area Director for the USBR. Good for her. Phillips called her a rising star in the Bureau.
Next Phillips showed some top secrete photos of US nuclear submarines. Shouldn’t that have been in closed session? With that the meeting was adjourned at 11:50am for lunch.
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ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. Copyright 2023 by Don A. Wright
FRIANT WATER AUTHORITY
854 N. Harvard Ave., Lindsay, CA 93247, Office 559/562-6305 Email:information@friantwater.org www.friantwater.org
The Friant Water Authority is a Joint Powers Agreement with 15 districts to operate and maintain the Friant Division of the Central Valley Water Project. Water from the San Joaquin River is diverted at Friant Dam at Millerton Lake to the Madera/Chowchilla Canal to the north and the Friant/Kern Canal to the south. More than one million acres of mostly family farms and numerous communities get their surface supplies from the Friant Division.
Board: Chair Jim Erickson, Vice Chair Rick Borges
Staff: CEO Jason Phillips, COO Johnny Amaral, CFO Wilson Orvis, Water Resources Manager Ian Buck-Macleod, Engineer Katie Duncan, Superintendent Chris Hickernell and Attorney Don Davis.
