By Don A. Wright
The Friant Water Authority board of directors met at the FWA headquarters in Lindsay on Thursday, October 23, 2025 and on Teams. Even though Billy “Bad Buns” Gates doesn’t seem to care about customers anymore, it’s almost as if Teams has accidentally experienced a marginal improvement. It’s minimal but at this point that’s a surprise.
Also, the gang is using the hideout in Lindsay again. The board is meeting in the much smaller, more difficult to get to HQ conference room, which is of course as Janet Jackson sang it’s its prerogative. I have been to meetings there, just not full board meetings. When they’re broadcasting online – by all means – save those tax engorged fuel dollars.
The Meeting
Things almost kicked off at the scheduled 10:00am start for open session. The closed session items were taken up at 8:30am. Also, while I got you, keep an eye out for some changes to the Brown Act that governs public meetings. We’ll have an update written by a real lawyer soon.
Chairman Rick Borges called the meeting to order at 10:05am. Audio was spotty but I heard him say there was not reportable action from closed session. Mark Larsen, General Manager of the Greater Kaweah Groundwater Sustainability Agency spoke during public comment. Larsen said the Kaweah Subbasin is expected to be returned to the Department of Water Resources and he invited FWA to review and discuss the protections being placed to prevent harmful subsidence on the Friant Kern Canal.
Director Cliff Loeffler asked the Lord Jesus Christ for a blessing of wisdom as the board makes decisions. He thanked God for the recent rain. Good deal. Also, the consent calendar was approved.
Pump It Back
Engineer Katie Duncan reported on the Friant Kern Canal pump-back project saying there needs to be an addendum included in the NEPA and CEQA determination. There was only a few minor changes Duncan characterized as improvements. For example, the footprint of the project is actually smaller. She asked the board to pass a resolution to allow the permitting process to go forward. The board did so without comment. That was the only action item on the agenda.
Reports & Updates
Ian Buck-Macleod, like me, opted to attend remotely. He reported the October rains have been pretty good with between ½ and one inch of rain which left an above normal snowfall for this time of year. Northern California will be drenched this week but most of the wet energy is going to stay north of Modesto, well out of the San Joaquin River watershed. But overall a good start to the year. There is no precipitation expected in the next 10-days.
Buck-Macleod reported there have been problems with the federal exports from the Delta. The Jones Pumping Plant has been down for scheduled maintenance. The feds have teamed up with the state to take some supplies through the Banks Pumping Plant. There again have been challenges due to water quality in the Delta. The atmospheric rivers hitting the north state should clear that problem up. Both the state and feds share the San Luis Reservoir. If I understood correctly there are so many different water colors in SLR that some contractors are concerned about proper accounting. Buck-Macleod said at this time there isn’t a clear and present danger of a call on Friant water.
Buck-Macleod gave a brief history of the past water year and then some good news. This year’s ASO, Airborne Snow Observatory, flights are on the schedule. There should be four flights included in this year’s package with an option for two more on the San Joaquin River watershed if needed.
The rewetting of the San Joaquin River (SJR) for restoration of salmon runs has been going on since September. All the necessary reaches will be charged and ready to roll.
Water Quality
Duncan said Friant has just wrapped up the water quality year. She said there was almost 50,000 a/f of non SJR water pumped into the FKC from the Fresno area to Kern County. This is almost twice the amount of water as last year. There is a mitigation ledger but it’s a “leave behind” to offset the saltier water from the Cross Valley Canal towards the downstream end of the FKC. The water quality of the CVC isn’t as good as the water from the Kings and Kaweah Rivers.
Duncan reported there is increased sampling and testing. I think I heard her say BSK Labs is doing the evaluation. She asked the districts to give her a call if anyone has questions regarding EC, electro conductivity which shows the amount of salt content. There are committees within FWA charged with overseeing this program and Duncan said this has been a good year with cooperation and learning curves both being positive. Also, a new hydrologist is on board, I believe Duncan said her name is Anne Holtz.
External Affairs
Next Johnny Amaral reported state legislative consultant Mike Villines is on vacation in Europe as are the state senators and assemblymen. So that’s a big chunk of often harmful mischief we won’t have to worry about for the next couple of months (the
elected not Mike.) Save of course Prop 50. You know it. Democracy must be saved by putting the democracy of an independent political districting committee on ice while the politicians themselves set the district boundaries. This will disenfranchise millions of California voters, almost all of whom reside in the redder, rural, agricultural portions of the state outside of the Bay Area and Southern California.
On the federal side there is still a government shutdown as the Senate hasn’t been able to breakthttps://californiawateralliance.org/hrough with paychecks for federal employees.
Amaral reported the Family Farm Alliance’s long-time Executive Director Dan Keppen will be retiring at the end of this month at the annual conference in Reno. New Mexico attorney Samantha Barncastle will replace him. Good for both of them.
O&M
Chris Hickernell reported on operations and maintenance matters saying the California Air Resources Control Board hasn’t been able to get an exemption for its (not yet useable because it’s a make-believe) electric fleet mandate from the federal EPA. So this has been put off for another couple of years.
Hickernell also reported on cattle guards, new roads and other infrastructure
improvements. The FKC has dozens of bridges, many of them not servicing public roads. That’s a lot of work right there. He also said goats are still the Greatest Of All Time go to for canal bank weed control, which in turn reduces fire threats and other unpleasant happenings. So, goats are grazing.
Unfortunately, goats don’t eat golden mussels. Hickernell is keeping tabs on the invasive/destructive bivalve.
SJV Blueprint
Austin Ewell reminded everyone next Wednesday, October 29 will be a big meeting of the Water Blueprint for the San Joaquin Valley at the Fresno Farm Bureau headquarters. The US Bureau of Reclamation’s Regional Director Adam Nickels was supposed to be there in person but due to the shutdown he’ll be online. Evidently there are no funds for Bureau personnel to attend the FFA conference in Reno either.
Ewell reported the California Water Institute at Fresno State University and Stantec Engineering are releasing into the wild the Unified Water Plan for the San Joaquin Valley at this meeting. He also mentioned Trump is inviting Democrats over to the Rose Garden to help clean up the rubble from the construction on the east wing’s new ballroom.
San Luis Delta Mendota Report
Wilson Orvis reported on what is happening in the San Luis Delta Mendota Water Authority. Remember the SLDM Division of the federal Central Valley Project is one of Friant’s biggest expenses. It’s been a good year with improved cooperation between SLDM and FWA.
GM Report
CEO Jason Phillips welcomed Kyler Crocker, the City of Lindsay’s new City Manager to the table. Lindsay was made a Friant member last month.
Next Phillips said the $100 million Sac Dam Improvement Project ground breaking ceremony has been postponed until the spring due to the shutdown. This improvement was supposed to be completed under the SJR Restoration Program in 2007. So, a bit more time has been added. Phillips also had high praise for salmon expert, Dr. Don Portz, the Bureau’s top man on the river restoration.
Speaking of salmon the state is spending $200 million on the Prop 50 special election but doesn’t have money for the salmon hatcheries while castigating farmers for waste.
It’s time for the annual offsite meeting. Friant’s November meeting often lands on Thanksgiving so it replaces that meeting with an offsite gathering to work through strategy and other matters that need special attention.
Phillips double encouraged everyone to go to the Blueprint next week. He said the Unified Water Plan could bring in more surface water to the Valley. This could reduce the amount of time spent on SGMA from 120 percent to a mere 100 percent.
He also said he saw his son at Honolulu and he’s going back to sea. He’s also going to Denver tomorrow to watch his daughter play volleyball and he’s caught two rattlesnakes at his new home in Arizona.
At 11:22am the Friant meeting adjourned but not before Teams screwed me again. I had a question about a training session scheduled to take place after the meeting and Teams wouldn’t let me unmute my mic and ask it. Teams is officially back in the points off category.
Well, that was that. Go be good to each other and yourselves.
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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 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 to be announced.
