By Don A. Wright
The Friant Water Authority board of directors met at the Bello Vita Event Venue in Visalia on Thursday, March 27, 2025. Ethics training followed. I could have stayed but it was like, two hours long. So, instead I signed the role and went to the men’s and forgot to come back and finish the training all the while cheating on my taxes. There, that should be enough to get my beloved drop cap into the opening paragraph without it hanging too low.
The Meeting
At 10:40 am Chairman Rick Borges thanked everyone for our patience for the extended closed session. The regular open session meeting was scheduled for a 10:00am launch.
There was no reportable action that occurred. Next under public comment Bill Swanson of Stantec Engineering took the microphone and thanked Friant for the opportunity to work on the Friant Kern Canal repair project. Stantec recently received an award for excellence for the FKC project and while it was from an engineering society it opens other doors. Swanson asked the board to consider applying for an ACWA award. That earned Swanson some applause.
Attorney Don Davis reminded everyone that not only was there ethics training after today’s meeting the Form 700 financial statements are due. Director Cliff Loeffler led us in prayer for wisdom.
Action Items
The first action item was given by in-house engineer Katie Duncan and it concerned the FKC Pump Back project. She said the project has progress to the point where the Final Environmental Impact Report needs to be certified by the board. This is all part of completing the CEQA, California Environmental Quality Act.
The purpose of this project is to increase operational flexibility, supply reliability and tie in with the San Joaquin River Restoration project. The Shafter Wasco, Woollomes and Deer Creek check structures will be the locations for pumps. There are three options with varying degrees of cubic feet per second capacity. One is known as the Seasonal Alternative being recommended by staff. There will be 15 mitigation measures Friant will have to implement.
Groundwater is a subject for overriding considerations. The product of the project is more supplies and increased operational flexibility will help with fighting subsidence. The preferred seasonal option has less environmental hassles.
The next step is approval of implementing the project and filing a notice of determination. The US Bureau of Reclamation will circulate a National Environmental Permit Act (NEPA) Environmental Assessment (EA) to San Joaquin River Restoration Program (SJRRP) settling parties. If the board approves the project today there will be a final budget determined and construction could start in October of this year. The cost is less than $3 million and covered by a grant if I heard correctly. Duncan thanked the five engineering firms involved in this.
Davis spoke next saying Duncan’s overview was excellent. The last EIR was five years ago and there needs to be a new resolution from the board. He said to do this there must be a public hearing. Director Kelly Hampton said he wants to be sure the contractors directly impacted are OK with this.
Duncan said she can’t speak for them but both Arvin Edison Water Storage District and the Shafter Wasco Irrigation District have commented and she asked them to comment during
the hearing. Director Craig Fulwyler, SWID said his district is comfortable with the water quality issues as a downstream contractor. Director Edwin Camp, Arvin said the same thing with both of these directors praising Duncan for her work. There were no other comments and the hearing was closed. The board approved the resolution by voice vote. Director Carl Janzen, Madera ID asked if the vote needed to be polled since this is a resolution. Davis said since it was unanimous there wasn’t a need.
CEO Jason Phillips said the water quality issue has been around almost a decade before he started at Friant. He thanked Duncan and Ian Buck-Macleod for their hard work and credited them helping to bring unity back to Friant.
FEMA Funding
CFO Wilson Orvis pointed out to the board his contribution to the packet was light this month. Good for him. A couple of years ago you’ll recall, there were some major flooding problems on the FKC repairs. This involved the Federal Emergency Management Agency and Cal OES, the Governor’s Office of Emergency Services. In order to get FEMA funding
Cal OES has to have its say in the matter before FEMA can determine funding eligibility. FEMA won’t give funds to federal agencies and although the USBR owns the FKC, FWA a non-federal entity is financially responsible. Cal OES needs a resolution from the board to get it to FEMA to get the money to Friant. I think I got that right.
Loeffler pointed out Friant’s financial team has done an incredible job getting this cobbled together and with that endorsement the board approved the resolution. Somewhere Orvis referred to Friant’s situation as a unique snowflake and after the vote Phillips praised him for being a unique unicorn.
Reports
Duncan gave Buck-Macleod’s water report saying there are some big storms coming to the state this coming week. She said the Bureau’s allocation forecasting have been conservative but she expects a 40-45 percent South of Delta allocation.
Director John Pitigliano asked if there were any setbacks due to D.O.G.E. Phillips took that one. Phillips said FWA is tracking the impacts of the federal workforce reduction on the Central Valley Project. He said Friant and other CVP contractors have been willing and able to back fill any critical position if necessary. There has also been a line of communication to the DOGE team in Washington DC and there are now exemptions being made for some contracting and science positions. He said while the coordination with DOGE isn’t finalized yet things have been going pretty well.
Duncan said there is an 80 percent Friant allocation and she expects that number will rise. She said there has been good transparency and working conditions with the Bureau. A very recent Airborne Snow Observatory flight gives reason to believe there will be a 100 percent Class One and some Class Two allocations with likely an uncontrolled season in April.
Phillips next spoke about staffing changes at the Fresno USBR office. Rain Emmerson is the new acting Regional Manager with Michael Jackson having retired. Emmerson spoke saying her office is planning on maintaining the same services as always but there are some staffing challenges. She urges everyone to reach out with any issues or concerns saying her door is always open. Phillips punctuated how important the Fresno office is to Friant.
External Affairs
Mike Villines called it in on state matters saying Friant’s senior members spent a couple of days in Sacramento meeting with Wade Crowfoot and Karla Nemeth amongst others. There are plenty of bad bills this year but there are some OK ones too. He’ll be able to get a ranking for support, oppose or neutral positions to the board soon. There are Trump proofing bills setting the clock back. There are some bills impacting water rights and Indian tribes. The state is looking at a poor budget climate this year and there may be some wrangling to come.
Johnny Amaral gave the federal side of the coin. He said congress funded the federal government until the end of the fiscal year with some Senate Democrats going along with it. The Fish & Wildlife Director was named. Aubrey Bettencourt was named head of the NRCS. No word on who’s the new Bureau Commissioner yet.
Amaral said the California Water Alliance luncheon is coming up soon in Fresno and the Friant Annual Meeting/Dinner is also soon and also in Fresno. The Family Farm Alliance’s long term Executive Director Dan Keppen is retiring. Those are big shoes to fill Amaral said as I typed my identical opinion. Keppen is very connected. Amaral said Congressman Jim Costa was very helpful to get the FEMA application moving through the process. Finally, Al Availa will be retiring after decades at Friant and there will be a BBQ in his honor at the Lindsay office.
O&M
Chris Hickernell said he had a wild meeting with Bureau folks since Emmerson took over and it went very well. He said copper sulfate is controlling aquatic weeds. He showed photos of maintenance work up and down the length of the canal. That includes making sure bridges were safe and the various yards up and down the canal are stocked.
The Blueprint
Austin Ewell, interim Executive Director of the Water Blueprint for the San Joaquin Valley said the technical committee has developed a list of projects which has received comments and there is an aligning of priorities to receive funds and water. The Trans Valley Canal is transitioning into the Trans Valley Pipeline. Stantec is looking at that project.
Ewell said the Farmer to Farmer project is continuing and there are some results. Farmers from the Delta and the Valley meet to find common ground. Loeffler said there will be a Great Valley Water session at the upcoming ACWA conference and urged everyone to attend.
Ewell said DWR is looking at a recharge document and the Blueprint was invited to be a collaborator. There will be a Unified Water Plan discussion after this meeting.
SLDM
Orvis reported there was a January workshop of the San Luis Delta Mendota Water Authority board that generated a good deal of introspection on the SLDM scope of services. This month’s board meeting reaffirmed activities agreements for its members. The SLDM board officers were reelected this year.
CEO
Phillips said if he traded his time to speak at this meeting with the Bureau they will increase the allocation. Emmerson said the allocation will be increased to 100 percent Class One and that garnered applause. That was that at 11:58am and we ate. Go be good to yourselves and each other.
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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.
