The Kings River Water Association’s Executive Committee held its Tuesday, March 15, 2022 meeting in person at the Fresno County Farm Bureau offices and online with Zoom. The meeting began at 9:30am in closed session. At about 10:15am Executive Director Steve Haugen invited a small gaggle of those waiting to step into the room. There were more than 30 of us after we all gathered around the table.
The Ex Cmt Meeting
Chairman Jerry Halford asked staff to get going and the minutes were approved. Assistant Water Master Matt Meadows gave his water report and it boils down to what we’re hearing all over the state – maybe 50-percent of a normal supply if things don’t get worse. The latest Airborne Snow Observatory showed only half a million a/f of snowpack in the Kings River. If the soil is a bit saturated there could be a better runoff. The majority of the snowpack is at a lower elevation than usual and that’s a problem. Haugen said past experience shows the current conditions don’t yield as well. He said the eastern and southern slopes are dry creating patchy conditions. When late storms come in and dump on the higher elevations that relatively dry much of that moisture goes to the ground and doesn’t translate to runoff.
ASO
Haugen said the state pulled together an emergency contract to allow three or four ASO flights this year. The current pot has $4 million and to do a thorough job will take $25 million. At present there is good support but the funding is stuck on the low side at $15 million for next year. Meadows said if there isn’t enough snow they won’t fly and try to roll that savings into next year.
Public Information
           Randy McFarland gave his report saying the redrafting of the Kings River Handbook is almost ready to go to Haugen then out to the member agencies for review and double checking. Then print. He said it’s bigger than it was last time. There was television coverage on a KRWA press release and as usual McFarland is as busy as anyone. I don’t
know how many of you recall but several years ago McFarland and then San Luis Delta Mendota Executive Director Dan Nelson gave a history of the water in the San Joaquin Valley at the Fresno Arts Museum. I wish they’d go it again. It was very interesting.
Committees
Alex Dominguez reported the legislative committee met yesterday and it liked AB1774, if I got the number correct. This will fast-track some regulatory permitting for water projects. AB2054 was also a winner and before I could write down what it did Dominguez gave many other bill support recommendations in the Assembly and the State Senate.
On the not so nice side were the bills coming out of the Planning and Conservation League’s recommended updates to California water rights, as if rights are granted by the state the same as a privilege. AB2108 sets up an environmental justice and tribal justice seat on the State Water Resources out of Control Board. There is another bill that will prohibit increased storage until the San Joaquin River Restoration Project is finished. If I understood correctly. Dominguez covered his topic pretty quickly. Attorney Lauren Layne gave some further details on bills that will update the Brown Act’s position on online access to public meetings. It is California, it is the 21st Century and at the very least audio should be available to the public. But it’s also water in California and that’s never easy.
Haugen said the State Board is bring on a multimillion dollar accounting system it wasn’t to pass on to water rights fees. He said it looks like a seven percent increase this year. And finally Haugen said there will be a legislative briefing this Friday. The Fish & Wildlife report was given by Meadows saying there will be a cleanup party along the Kings River this Saturday. Cleaning up trash, breaking apart illegal fire pits and painting over graffiti. T-Mobil is slated to send out 20 employee volunteers so they could get 40-folks out there toiling and scrubbing.
Financial Matters
Haugen gave one of the best fiscal reports ever. All the minutia was presented and approved, including paying the bills took place very quickly. The report included a word on the Phase One A hearing on opening the Kings River appropriations and the increase in State Board fees have been baked into the budget. Please note I didn’t write cooked into the books. This year’s budget went up $700k, in part to the increased water rights fee. The executive committee voted to send the proposed budget to the full board.
The meeting of the Executive Committee was adjourned at 11:14am and there was a five minute break.
The Board Meeting
It turned out to be a 10-minute break but that was good because so many of the people I like to get a good word from were present in the room. At 11:24am Halford had Meadows recite who was attending online and Haugen took roll of the entire board. There was a quorum and the board to approve the online Sino virus portion of the meeting. That took a roll call and for some reason Alta ID’s GM Chad Wegley opposed. He was the only one. I found it humorous. He was texting and taking notes while voting and I’m not sure he can vote.
FID’s Director Ryan Jacobsen asked if there is a more efficient way to take the vote than
roll call. There’s more than a dozen directors and each roll call takes a while. There is the reverse vote where the first isn’t, “All in favor,” but, “All opposed.” If the item is likely to be passed then the opposition count would be shorter. Under law directors must make their votes known publicly. Someone helpfully suggested if Jacobsen did break the voting law and was jailed at least he could use his one phone call to attend the KWRA meeting remotely since they passed the online resolution.
Consolidated ID’s GM Phil Desatoff introduced Mike Carbajal as CID’s new assistant GM. He said he’d already warned Carbajal not to trust anyone. He also said Carbajal used to be the Public Utilities Director for the City of Fresno and that folks do not hold that against him.
This is the first KRWA meeting I’ve ever attended in person and it was interesting to note – most outfits take minutes monthly but these guys had meeting minutes going back a year. You know in the age of virus panicking public meetings can be more complex than usual. Haugen assured the board the interval between meetings and minutes will return to normal.
Reports
McFarland gave his report and invited the board to read it in the packet.
Haugen gave the water master report and it was about the same as the report in Executive Committee but shorter.
Attorney Joe Hughes didn’t have much in open session that wasn’t included in Haugen’s written report.
The Budget
Haugen gave the treasurer’s report and the budget report. The treasurer’s report was accepted. Mark Unruh, People’s Ditch Company recommended including an annual dinner, like they always did. KRWA used to kick in $750. Well, with inflation it was suggested that number double. Desatoff asked Haugen to elaborate for those under the age of 60.
Haugen said sometime back in the 1960s the annual dinner would coincide with the annual meeting. The location rotated between member districts and there was usually a $30 ticket. Desatoff asked if the last one held was more than a decade ago and did they stop due to gun play. The answer was no. According to attorney Doug Jensen all the gun shots took place in the parking lot. For those who don’t know the history of the folks along the Kings River you can get an idea from Mark Arax’s book The King of California. I used to joke that I’d heard KRWA directors would start the meeting by gnawing the ears off of furry woodland creatures to demonstrate dominance. While the gun play was a jest there has been dynamite play along the Kings River in the old days.
All of that joking around was a prelude to the outrageous cost increases imposed by the State Board. Jack Paxton, Kings River WD asked how it could cost an extra $400,000 for six pages of a computer generated report. Good question. The board approved the budget.
New Executive Committee Members
There are six divisions, I guess you’d call it, geographic areas that operate within KRWA. Each of the areas had to nominate representatives to the Executive Committees. That was a long one and you’ll have to read the minutes next year to find out who is who.
Likewise there are now a new slate of officers, pretty much everyone moved sideways. Halford is the treasurer. Fresno ID’s Ryan Jacobsen is Vice Chair and current Vice Chair Frank Zonneveld is now Chair. The meeting went into closed session at 11:58am.
DISCLAIMER OF RESPONSIBILITY; Waterwrights strives to provide readers and clients with the most complete, up-to-date, and accurate information available. Nevertheless, Waterwrights 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’ clients therefore rely on the accuracy, completeness and timeliness of information from Waterwrights 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
KINGS RIVER WATER ASSOCIATION – 4886 E. Jensen Avenue, Fresno, CA 93725 559/237-5567 www.kingsriverwater.org
Water Master – Steve Haugen, Attorney – Joe Hughes
