The Tehama Colusa Canal Authority held its Wednesday, November 3, 2021 board of directors meeting at its Willows headquarters and by telephone. The meeting was called to order at 9:00am by Chairman Ken LeGrande and he said things are going to move fast since General Manager Jeff Sutton is pressed for time. One of these days I’ll meet these guys and the only one I’ll recognize will be Sutton since he made the cover of Irrigation Leader. He said he was holding out for the February swimsuit addition but they rejected that offer. It’s a good article and gave me a little better idea of what TCCA is all about.
The Meeting
There was a quorum but a lot of folks missing. The agenda was approved but with most of the folks in person and very little director comments coming from the phone it sounded pretty good. The minutes were approved as were the financial reports.
Rich Robertson spoke for the US Bureau of Reclamation as TCCA is part of the federal Central Valley Project. Robertson asked for everyone to please make any 215 requests and I think he said Warren Act applications as well. So, the usual flood flows and inputs into the system.
Manager’s Report
Sutton started with the O&M update saying aquatic weeds are being attacked with deadly force, hopefully. He said meters have been read recently and winter maintenance is just around the corner. He said water levels in the canal are pretty low and there are opportunities to finish up the gate coating project. The Tehama Colusa Canal is 140-miles long so there is a lot of work to be done and a good deal of coordination between the Authority and the member districts.
Sutton told everyone cooperation made a very challenging year much better. He said it was an example of “successful crisis management.” Good for them. There is a scheduled power outage with WAPA but the necessary steps have been taken to prevent any disruption on the system. He also said staff has undergone safety training. If I understood correctly the nanny governess now requires proper footwear included in training. He said he’s scheduled a meeting for the right foot and in a few weeks they will cover the left foot. Or something like that.
On the subject of climate change Sutton also acknowledged the climate is changing, he calls it fall, which is once again following summer. In any event he is hoping for rain and Lake Shasta to fill. That was that for O&M.
The ACWA conference was going to be skipped this fall but Sutton said there are meetings scheduled he should attend. There is also the USBR’s Mid Pacific Conference coming up in January. He said there is a very good agenda and he said he’d like to invite some of the Bureau folks to dinner. He said in past years Friant and San Luis Delta Mendota often beat them to it so he’d like to include some folks from those sister CVP JPAs as well. I’ve been to a couple of ACWA conferences and they can be fun and informative. But the Mid Pacific features bowling at the Taj Mahal of alleys, the 78-lane National Bowling Stadium in Reno.
Sutton also said Dan Keppen of the Family Farm Alliance is a rock star. His work with the federal government and Washington DC has been much needed. ACWA has incorporated TCCA with its dry year planning efforts. It’s good to see folks make plans ahead of time because if you wait for the enviro, Bay Area, trust funders in Sacramento you get a 2021 drought that repeats the 2014-2015 drought without having learned anything. He said one area of need is improving the transfer process. The red tape is really gumming things up. Sutton also said the Water Education Foundation held a Sac Valley tour online and that went very well.
Closed Session
The meeting went into closed session at 9:28am to evaluate Sutton’s job performance. They just did the same thing at Friant last week and CEO Jason Phillips kept his job. I suspect this won’t take too long and Sutton will also retain his position. Actually, I was getting kind of hungry so this came at a good time to get a snack. I’ve noticed the Jimmy Dean Sausage & Biscuits haven’t been available at the store for a while. Could this be a supply chain matter?
Open Session Again
The meeting came back at 9:42am and they had to take roll all over again and the report is, an ad hoc committee has been formed to evaluate the benefit packages. Also Sutton is still working there.
The next item was the 2022 draft drought budget. Of course everyone is hoping for precipitation but just in case it’s a good idea to plan ahead. Sutton said he’d like to cut the legal expense but that would be foolish in light of where we live. He said power costs reflected last year’s energy production and next year may not be as nice when it comes
time to cut checks. There was a question about travel expenses and it was low due to the virus originating from a part of the world that also has the country with the largest population creating a stay closer to home atmosphere. The board approved the item.
Sometimes I think folks in the San Joaquin Valley believe the folks in the Sacramento Valley have all the water they want. I’m not too sure this is the case. The next item was a groundwater recharge proposal, everyone needs more groundwater. A little while ago NCWA had a meeting on this subject. The report was MBK Engineering thinks 215 Water would be the most likely source if I understood, and I think I did as that would make sense. Robertson of the Bureau said GSAs could be eligible for 215 Water as well as the agencies. Good to know.
The 2022 water transfer program is undergoing contract preparations. It sounded like it
was transfers between members as opposed to south of Delta transfers and sure enough it had to do with pumping into the canal and moving water around. Kind of like the Mendota Pool Pumpers and putting Kings River water in the Friant Kern Canal.
WIIN Act contract conversions was the next item. Attorney Andrea Clark with Downy Brand reported there is litigation. There was a suit filed by the Center for Biological Diversity* claiming the contract conversions need to undergo NEPA.
There is another case against Westlands Water District filed by the North Coast River Alliance, I think, that triggered a consolidation of cases. There was a question about the Westlands case and at this time there won’t be an impact on TCCA. In fact that lawsuit gave the other contract converters a heads up and they were able to avoid the issue involved in what made the Westlands case a separate matter. If I understood correctly, it was said the fact that the contract could be litigated showed the contact was valid. Then if the contract is valid it’s just a matter of how it will be implemented. There was great pearl clutching and faintness on the part of law firms posing as environmental organizations and editorial boards at the mainstream press over the contract conversions. Even the Las Vegas Sun urged readers to write to the Bureau in
protest of Westlands getting a contract conversion. Ignoring the fact the conversion doesn’t come with any extra water supplies and is just a way for a district to pay off its debt faster the Sun was afraid it somehow Westlands would get more water from the CVP. This would in turn reduce supplies available to the State Water Project and force Los Angeles to take more Colorado River water. And horrors, Las Vegas would have less supplies for its fountains to shoot up into the searing dessert air.
Sites Project
Sutton reported the finance plan is ready to move forward. He said he believes the 75 percent mark will be met. There are what could be called serious lookers showing interest in investing in the project. Even the Bureau is pretty serious but there is the political chain to go through for them. The water rights permitting process is moving along and there will be a meeting with California Secretary of Natural Resources Wade Crowfoot and Fish & Game’s Chuck Bonham. Sounds like Sites might just become a reality.
Again With the Closed Session Thing
The meeting went back into closed session at 10:12am for eight items ranging from real estate to lawsuits actual and pending. A nice, informative and short meeting. Good be good to each other.
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TEHAMA COLUSA CANAL AUTHORITY: 5513 Highway 162, Willows, CA 95988 Telephone: 530/934-2125 www.tccanal.com
STAFF: General Manager – Jeffrey Sutton, O&M Chief – Jeff Yancy, Administration – Lisa Dicharry, Attorney – Andrea Clark
DIRECTORS: Chair – Kenneth LaGrande-LaGrande WD, Vice-Chair – Halbert Charter-Colusa CWD, Linda Hayes-Corning WD Glenn Kelley-Cortina WD, Tom Charter-Davis WD, Jonnalee Henderson-Dunnigan WD, Wade Mathis-4M WD, Sandy Denn-Glenn Colusa ID, Joel Mann-Glide WD, Ron Lee-Holthouse WD, Wade Danley-Kanawha WD, Larry Brockman-Kirkwood WD, Jim Jones-Orland Artois WD, Dan Jones-Proberta WD, Bart Fleharty-Thomas Creek WD & Blake Vann-Westside WD.
TCCA
The Tehama-Colusa Canal Authority (TCCA) is a Joint Powers Authority comprised of 17 Central Valley Project water contractors. The service area spans four counties (Tehama, Glenn, Colusa, and Yolo) along the west side of the Sacramento Valley, providing irrigation water to farmers growing a variety of permanent and annual crops. TCCA operates and maintains the 140 mile Tehama-Colusa and Corning canals irrigation water supply system. The service area is approximately 150,000 acres, producing over $250 million in crops per year, and contributing $1 billion to the regional economy annually.
