By Joel Hastings
On January 20, prior to the regular meeting of the Madera Irrigation District board of directors, a short ceremony was conducted dedicating a plaque in memoriam of Dr. Richard “Dick” Luthy, noted Stanford University professor and water engineer who had been researching recharge flows for both water quantity and quality. He had passed away suddenly but the work will continue. The plaque is installed at recharge basin #10 where three test wells had recently been drilled at depths of 30, 60 and 100 feet.
General Manager Tom Greci welcomed several members of Dr. Luthy’s family, Stanford faculty and students as well as the board and district staff. He called the research a generational project that not only benefits Stanford students and the district but will benefit the Central Valley as a whole in its effort to bring groundwater into balance.
Assistant GM Dina Nolan said that while recharge is regarded as a good thing, there is not much actual data which this project will provide. She said the wet weather had contributed to water coming into the wells and the first measurements were taken today. She said she had begun her Masters work at Stanford the first year that Dr. Luthy had joined the faculty there.
Stanford’s Dr. Scott Fendorf, who will now head up the study, replied describing Dr. Luthy as a mentor to him and other faculty as well as several generations of students. In reply, Dr. Luthy’s daughter, Mara Luthy, expressed the family’s appreciation for this recognition.
Speaking for the board, President Dave Loquaci said the district was pleased to participate in this project, as an example of how the district works to support its growers and the entire community.
Returning to the district offices, refreshments were served and at 2:00 p.m., President Loquaci called the board meeting to order. After the Pledge, the agenda was approved and public comment was invited. The first item of business was reference to the plaque dedication with Greci offering background for the meeting record and for any audience on Zoom. He restated the benefits of this research and then Loquaci welcomed the visitors and thanked them for attending.
Nolan thanked Stanford along with support from grant funding allowing evaluation of the performance of recharge basins. She also recognized Rosendo Baldovinos, the district point person on the project, along with Charles Contreras, operations and maintenance manager, whose staff had constructed these basins and drilled the wells.
After a pause for photos, the meeting continued with a GSA update from Nolan. She recounted that the district was one of only three organizations that had received funds from NRCS allowing landowners to implement recharge and other water saving activities. She said over two years, a total of $4.5 million had been provided through 49 contracts with MID growers. She continued saying that under the domestic well mitigation program, a request for proposals to well drillers was being issued this week, with approvals likely to be done in March. This would allow the program to proceed offering support to affected home owners.
She said both the city of Madera and the Madera Water District had signed on to the memorandum of understanding supporting Davids Engineering as administrators of the program. The board approved this MOU with a unanimous vote.
Resuming the MID board meeting, the consent agenda was approved including bill payments through December 31 amounting to $1,088,158.13. The financial report was included showing a balance in all accounts as of October 31 of $58,687,984.95.
O & M Manager Contreras gave his report referring to the text and photos using six pages in the board packet. Work included calibration of Rubicon gates throughout the district along with concrete repairs to sections of the Madera Canal and a ventilation for several control panels which overheat in summer sun. Regarding the panels, Loquaci said at his ranch, installing simple plywood sun shades had been effective in preventing damage from extreme heat.
Jennifer Furstenburg gave her controller’s report saying 1099’s and W-2s had been issued for MCWPA personnel, with W-2s for district employees as well. Preparation for the annual audit by Hudson & Co. was next for her team.
Greci began his GM report asking Board Secretary Andrea Sandoval to describe the introduction of the new district website. Working with a specialized firm, Streamline, she said the site had been made compliant with the legal requirement that it provide full accessibility non-English speakers as well as for those with hearing or vision impairment. The appearance of the site in terms of photos, color and basic layout remains as it has
been. The work had begun in August and was completed this month. Vice President Brian Davis asked how the district’s implementation compared with other public agencies and Sandoval said it was well ahead of many. He also asked if any content had been lost and the answer was only some outdated and unnecessary documents had been removed, but all functions and necessary content remain.
Sandoval also informed the board that a new training on fiscal and financial management of public agencies was now required by the state. She said a group training for board members would be held for two hours on March 4. It appeared this development was greeted with less than enthusiasm by the board.
Greci gave a water update pointing out the dry weather currently and forecast might have the Bureau pull back its latest allocation, trying to strike a balance between flood control, Class 1 water for contractors and providing water flows in the river for environmental purposes. He said the construction of basins had been very important allowing the district to take the 15 percent allocated. He commended growers for signing up for and taking water for recharge.
There was one item of new business. The board approved the firm of Shuster Advisory Group LLC as administrators of the district’s retirement plans. Specializing in public agency work, this firm had been researched and selected when the current firm had resigned the account, apparently due to company reorganization.
The open meeting was recessed at 2:50 p.m. and the board went into closed session.
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Madera Irrigation District – 12152 Road 28 ¼ Madera, CA 93637 559/673-3514
Staff: General Manager -Thomas Greci, Assistant GM – Dina Nolan
Board: Dave Loquaci, president; Brian Davis, vice-president, Brandon Bishel, Tim DaSilva and Carl Janzen
HISTORY: From www.madera-id.org The Madera Irrigation District (MID or District), founded in 1920, encompasses an area of approximately 139,665 acres. MID operates a primarily gravity irrigation distribution system with approximately 300 miles of open flow canal systems as well as 150 miles of large diameter pipelines.
The District has a Central Valley Project (CVP) repayment contract with United States Bureau of Reclamation (USBR) providing up to 85,000 acre feet (AF) of Class 1 and 186,000 AF of Class 2 water per year from the Friant Division (Millerton Lake). The CVP water is released from Millerton Lake through the Friant Dam, and then conveyed through the Madera Canal for delivery into the District’s service area. The District also entered into a CVP repayment contract with the USBR for the yield from the Hidden Unit (Hensley Lake). Under the Hidden Unit contract, the average annual supply available to the District is approximately 24,000 AF per year.
DWR SGMA # 5-022.06
DEDICATION OF A PLAQUE IN MEMORIAM OF DR. RICHARD LUTHY
Prior to the meeting of the board of directors of the Madera Irrigation District on January 20, 2026, a short ceremony was held to honor the work of the late Dr. Richard Luthy, professor and nationally prominent water engineer from Stanford University. Along with his colleagues and students, he had been working with the district to monitor the impact of recharge basins on groundwater quantity and quality. He had passed away unexpectedly and the district recognized him for this project, which will continue. Shown are MID leaders with Dr. Luthy’s family members. In the foreground is one of the test wells used in the research showing the plaque itself.
