By Joel Hastings
President Jim Erickson called the Madera Irrigation District board of directors meeting to order at 2:03 p.m. at the district offices south of Madera with all directors present. He led the Pledge and then invited public comment. District land owner Tom Coleman said that he believed the sound system used for the meetings on Zoom needed improvement. He said he had been unable to hear what was being said at the last meeting and only knew who was speaking because he’s familiar with the board and staff. It was promptly
acknowledged that his concerns were justified and that efforts were being made to upgrade the system with a better microphone.
BOE
With that, the group convened its public hearing as the board of equalization, presenting the details of acreage and assessments provided by the county real property department which had been distributed in the board packet. However, no one was present in person or online to raise a question, objection or request for a change. It was announced by Controller Jennifer Furstenburg that property owners had until Friday’s meeting, June 21, at 2 p.m. to register any concerns. Then at that time, the board would approve the listings. She added that a number of changes would appear on the document by Friday because the county had just sent over some 100 corrections and adjustments after the MID meeting notice had gone out. It was announced that Director Carl Janzen would not be at the meeting Friday, but with the four other directors present the roll could be approved.
SGMA
Convening as the board of the GSA, the group heard an update from Dina Nolan, assistant GM, who said work with a consulting firm has begun on the five-year update of the GSP. Meanwhile, work continues on the projects identified in the plan. To that end, the board had considered properties submitted for purchase from local landowners who had
responded to the RFP put out by the district. However, there were no recommendations for purchase at this time. She said new, attractive signs had been placed on recharge basins around the District to inform local residents about the purpose of these ponds.
MID Board
Reconvening as the MID board at 2:12 p.m., approval was given for the consent calendar which included minutes from two meetings – regular on April 16 and special on May 1. Also included were the warrant list of payments through May 7 and financial reports for March, April and May.
Controller Furstenburg led off staff reports explaining that a sweep account which for several years had been used for daily deposits had been discontinued since the rate of interest had fallen to virtually nothing. Instead, excess cash is moved into two newer accounts established by the board last year earning as much as five percent. The checking account balance will now remain at two million dollars in order to avoid bank fees.
O&M
Operations and Maintenance Manager Charles Contreras presented his report with the usual amount of details and photos. He began by describing several mandated training programs that had been completed. With the system running at full capacity, repairing
leaks in pipes and blockages in ditches requires ongoing efforts. He said a 2600-ft section of pipe had been replaced without incident within two weeks. The outside and tops of canals are being mowed since the wet spring encouraged growth of lots of weeds. But the vegetation on the inner banks remains because mowing causes problems for the crew and for water users. Pesticides are being applied and to combat algae, microbial treatments are being used, cutting down on the need for chemicals. Canal cleanup and new signage along Road 23 near the golf course had created a favorable impression among those attending the Friant annual meeting held at San Joaquin Winery in that section.
With these ongoing repairs in mind, Director Dave Loquaci asked about the long-term plan that had been developed several years ago for updating and replacing the district infrastructure, some of which is 100 years old. It was explained that crews had i-Pads and each repair is documented and, sure enough, some of the problems were on the list, with
failure in effect predicted. Assistant GM Nolan added that she would present an overview in the fall after the water season was completed. The plan prioritizes work based on the location, the number of users and the risk of flooding. Much of the city of Madera lies within the District, which in total has 300 miles of pipeline and 150 miles of canals and ditches with related gates, turnouts and the like.
Conteras finished by saying a new challenge is emerging as water customers ask that water be shut off Friday afternoons and restarted Monday mornings. This results from new overtime regulations for farm workers. Additional pressure is put on the system that is already running at capacity both shutting off water and then starting up again.
GM Report
Next up, General Manager Tom Greci said that the entire Friant system is being stressed with weekend shutdowns, starting with the Kern and Madera Canals. Regarding the water year, he said that Friant has been jumping back and forth between uncontrolled and controlled water, based on runoff and the changing depth of Millerton Lake. He said the canals were maxed out in May and June, so weekend shutdowns are becoming an issue. As of midnight last night (June 17), he said Friant came off the uncontrolled season which means no more Class 2 water. Even so, MID still has 100 percent allocation and should be able to deliver water for the full season into the fall.
He said that in addition to finding storage basins to take water out of the canals and then put it back, it is becoming an issue for the MCWPA power plant with water coming in “waves.” Even so, he said, the power plant is running at full capacity. He said a meter needs to be replaced which has proven to be a much more complicated process than expected. Also, one of the turbines has a slight knock or vibration which is being investigated even though it’s still within tolerances.
Continuing, he said the July board meeting is canceled and any business will be on the August meeting agenda. He also said a good crowd had attended the Friant Water Authority annual meeting held in Madera on May 16th. He said it was a nice program with a tribute to the late Kole Upton and a speech by FWA CEO Jason Phillips. Greci said there would be a short ceremony on Friday to dedicate the repaired Kern Canal.
Announcements & Directors Reports
Nolan had two announcements. She said that Director Janzen was completing 25 years on the MID board. Irrigation Leader magazine had been informed and they are putting a photo of Janzen on the cover and doing an interview with him, news greeted with a round of applause. Nolan also said that a copy of the MID Centennial history book will become part of the Library of Congress.
The meeting concluded with reports from the directors. Tim DaSilva said that while a few growers had asked about getting water, nearly everyone seems happy with the season so farm. Brian Davis said he had nothing to report.
Director Janzen said the insurance subcommittee at ACWA had met with its vendors. Based on the extreme weather events across the country – floods, tornados, wild fires – insurance rates won’t be going down. He said self-insurance contributions for some coverages now amounted to a fund of over $172 million earning a good return. He said the Friant Power subcommittee has done a budget for the coming year with a margin of six million dollars income over expense.
Director Loquaci commented on grower conversations he’s had. He concluded location is everything in farming with those on the south side of the district complaining about the high price of district water while those in the north saying the price is great, get me all you can!
President Erickson also chairs the Friant Power Authority board and said he has six months left in his term. He says he’s looking forward to relinquishing the gavel. Of course he’ll be attending the dedication for the Kern repairs. With that he adjourned the meeting at 3 p.m.
As usual the board conducted an hourlong closed session before the open meeting. The agenda called for a review of pending and current litigation, conference with labor negotiators for the MID Employees’ Association and a performance evaluation of Assistant GM Nolan. There was no reportable action from that session.
The next meeting of the board will be on Friday, June 21 at 2 p.m. acting as the board of equalization.
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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: Jim Erickson, Chair; Tim DaSilva, Brian Davis, Carl Janzen and Dave Loquaci
HISTORY: From www.madera-id.org The Madera Irrigation District (MID or District) 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
