By Don A. Wright
The Tulare Irrigation District held its Tuesday, August 11, 2026 board of directors meeting at its headquarters west of Tulare. The board is meeting in a smaller room as the district is remodeling the boardroom into more offices and constructing a new, larger boardroom. I could be wrong but the rumor is there will be a special massaging recliner for the press installed in the new room. Also, the expected Central Valley Project increased allocation for south of Delta agriculture was announced by the US Bureau of Reclamation. The allocation was increased from 25 percent to 28 percent.
The Meeting
Things began with Chairman David Bixler calling the meeting to order at 9:03am. There was no public comment and the minutes were approved.
Water Report
Marco Crenshaw gave his report saying Lake Kaweah is down to 27,000 a/f storage. He sees it dropping slowly to 15,000 a/f by November. Millerton Lake is trending at least average for this time of year. TID is getting 100-percent of its Class I Central Valley Project allocation. That adds to the total of 110,000 a/f of supplies for this year. You’ll recall we had a very early snow melt this spring but the reservoirs were able to fill and this has been helpful.
Director Dave Martin asked about the super El Nino. Fukuda said the Friant Water Authority staff has been very good about sharing the complicated science that goes into this. They are comparing past years’ runoff to corresponding El Nico measurements. This year, 2026 is an anomaly, record Pacific Ocean surface temperatures at the equator. Fukuda said there are indications Southern California will receive warmer tropical rainfall that could head north into the San Joaquin Valley.
Fukuda said unlike past years’ news reports there is little mention of the possibility of a dry year. That happens sometimes during an El Nino year. Martin said there is no telling if it will be wet or dry. Someone he knows predicts precipitation based upon how high the ants build their mounds. Fukuda said his advice is to prepare early for more water if it comes. Of course, there is Tom Barcello’s pig spleen report and the Weather Tools reports to come.
O&M
Fukuda gave Wayne Fox’s report for him as Fox is having a family health concern if I understood correctly. Prayers for Wayne and his family. It was a short report. Crews are out prepping and it sounded like things are moving forward as usual for this time of year.
Financials
Oh my, Kathi Artis’ report was also given by Fukuda as she’s having some health problem too. Prayers for Kathi. Fukuda said the federal government owes TID $1million for over-payments but it wants to ladle it out over four-years with no interest. Fukuda said this happens most years and he’s working to get this changed.
Another change is the new vehicles mandated by the state is causing new repair and maintenance challenges. New tools are equipment purchases are needed. The good news is just a couple of diagnostic tools will pay for themselves. Fukuda said the mechanics are doing a good job of keeping the district’s fleet running. He said you won’t see a dump truck sitting around waiting for repairs.
Fukuda said the investments are doing well this year. The district’s cash flow is healthy and assets are also in good shape. Even without Artis in the room the board approved the report.
Engineering Report
Next George Munoz gave his report and showed photos of ongoing projects. There is a Cameron Creek Recharge Project and Fukuda pointed out Rubicon is accelerating its manufacturing schedule to get the new gate to the project by changing the freight from ship to air transport. Rubicon is based in Australia. Most of the cost of this project is covered by grants and to stay eligible for this funding the gate had to show up this September.
Staff Reports
The first report given was about the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act. Fukuda said there have been some very productive meetings with the Department of Water Resources. Of major concern has been subsidence. There is a new term with a corresponding abbreviation – critical head, CH, this is when subsidence actually occurs, but it’s a moving target and complicated to keep track of these changes. This comes from the Best Management Process issued by DWR. He said the message to the state was that Kaweah Subbasin is proactive in dealing with subsidence. Fukuda said this was a two-way conversation with both the Groundwater Sustainability Agencies and DWR listening and interacting. He said DWR understands the problems are also coming from outside the Kaweah Subbasin.
Damage to the Friant Kern Canal has been a big point of concern. Director Rick Borges, also Chairman of Friant, said the subsidence along the canal is happening quicker than Friant’s repairs can keep up. Fukuda said there will be a moratorium on pumping along the FKC for two miles on each side. There has been talk about extending this to three or even four miles on each side. This moratorium will encompass the entire length of the FKC within the Tule Subbasin. How that will be enforced isn’t clear at this time.
One option is to find a well and seal off the lower aquifer screens. Then see what happens. Another concern is injection well operations. This can lead to water quality problems. One way of dealing with this is being used along the Sacramento River. The temperature is measured and when the injected water reaches the same temperature as the groundwater it’s pumped to keep it from mixing into the aquifer. Orange County has a closed loop system that takes sewer water, cleans it and injects it to prevent seawater intrusion.
Fukuda said the plan is to fill the water column in an injection well and allow head pressure to push the water by gravity. This will save on power more than pressurized injection. It seemed DWR is good with this and thinks that will work.
The Greater Kaweah GSA has some overdraft allocations. TID is in the Mid Kaweah GSA and the idea is send water to the Greater Kaweah to keep from more problems developing in the Subbasin. Chris Tantau is Chair of the GKGSA and sits on the Kaweah Delta Water Conservation District and the Friant boards. Tantau is well educated on these issues and a proponent of doing away with overdraft allocations.
This is a Kaweah Subbasin wide issue and at a recent meeting a white area grower spoke against doing away with overdraft allocations. The grower said the Tule Subbasin is a mess and if the state isn’t putting immediate pressure on the Kaweah Subbasin it shouldn’t change things. Fukuda said the Tule Subbasin shouldn’t be used as an example of what to do.
The Mid Kaweah GSA is reviewing its Joint Powers Agreement and City of Visalia and County of Tulare are changing how they appoint representatives. There will also soon be a cash call.
Friant Water Authority
At the last Friant Water Authority meeting the board voted to delegate authority to its CEO, COO and CFO to negotiate payments from overdue Eastern Tule GSA members. The FWA offsite board meeting will be in Bakersfield at the El Padre Hotel on November 17-19. Friant will also contract with an investment fund manager to help with managing its investment funds. That’s not how Fukuda put it, but the Captain Obvious explanation is what I got.
The Office Remodel
Mark Limas said completion date for the new offices is December 1st and there’s a $1,000 per day penalty if it isn’t finished by then. Limas expects the deadline will be met. The new boardroom annex has begun with TID’s crew starting demolition. It is expected to be ready for occupancy by March of next year.
Legislation
Fukuda gave a quick update on AB 2026, Laura Friedman had some edits requested and it looks like the language is good so a “watch” position has been taken. This bill will streamline recharge and flood water permitting to get more water into the ground. If an agency determines there is a flood risk down stream water can be taken for recharge without as many hoops.
CEO Report
It was reported Limas will be partaking in the Association of California Water Agencies leadership program. He’ll be doing this on grant money, no cost to the district. Good for him. Fukuda said Limas has introduced him to many of the ACWA JPIA team and TID has found some great cost cutting and benefits.
Fukuda met last week with Joaquin Esquivel, Chair of the State Board to discuss domestic well mitigation and the redundant payments taken from growers from both GSAs and the Irrigated Lands Program. It was agreed a pilot program will be implemented in the near future.
Congressman David Valadao stopped by the offices earlier in the month and should be attending the TID meeting in October or November.
The Urban Water Institute wants Fukuda and that’s a good thing. There will be meetings of the California Water Plan in Los Angeles and in November there will be a meeting here in the Valley hosted by TID and the Mid Kaweah GSA. The budget is thin so growers will be invited to provide fruits, nuts and such for the meeting.
Action Items
Fukuda said the district has been operating its internet system under duck tape and bailing wire. Local agencies have been targeted by hackers including Friant and TID. How vulnerable is TID’s system? He’d like to see an upgrade.
Limas said four vendors have submitted proposals. He said Grapevine MSP’s bid is at $3,145 a month and the ACWA JPIA’s cyber security service reviewed the proposals and rated Grapevine as the best choice. One feature is to take onsite data and back it up offsite daily and its all encrypted. Security training will also be ongoing under this package. Grapevine’s proposal was inclusive and not just time and material. The board went with staff’s recommendation and hired Grapevine MSP.
Other Items
TID has to evaluate its illness and injury prevention plan annually. There are new heat illness regulations and they have been included in this version. The board approved.
Next the board considered a pump rental program. Limas said the district has pumps purchased under some government program. He recommends the district provide a pump rental service for TID’s clients during potential flooding, if a grower’s turnout is damaged, or some other necessity. Only TID staff will deal with the pumps. Limas presented the board with a complete plan taking into account eligibility, rates, equipment compliance and other matters. This has been reviewed by the attorney. The board approved.
Caltrans wants to improve the intersection of Paige Avenue and Highway 99. Fukuda said this will require moving a TID canal. As it goes TID will hold a competitive bid process with the designs and specs approved by Caltrans. Caltrans will pay invoices submitted to them within 45-days. Also as it goes Caltrans hasn’t been proactive with noticing any of the entities impacted. TID didn’t even know this project was being considered until the EIR
went out and neither did the electric company with the high power lines running over the sight. After consulting with TID and utilities the price has doubled. The cost to Caltrans is $14 million plus contingencies with a125 percent exceedance without any amendments. Construction could have been started months ago but with the state’s inactivity and a pending wet year it may not begin until 2028. This has been reviewed by legal and the board approved.*
Board Member Reports & Closed Session
This is the opportunity for board members to report on what they’ve been up to. They didn’t have much to say and the meeting went into closed session at 11:42am. That was that for TID. Go be good to yourselves and others.
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*Is there any project the state’s involved in that doesn’t cost an outrageous amount of money? High on Speed Rail, the wildlife overpass to nowhere, rebuilding after the Los Angeles fires – it’s beyond nonsense.
TULARE IRRIGATION DISTRICT
6826 Ave 240, Tulare, CA 93274 Office: 559/686-3425
Board: David G. Bixler- President, Richard S. Borges, Jr.-Vice President, Scott Rogers, Dave Martin & Michael Thomas
Staff: Aaron Fukuda-General Manager, Kathi Artis–District Controller, Wayne Fox–Superintendent, Marco Crenshaw–District Watermaster, George Munoz-Assistant Engineer & Alex Peltzer-Attorney.
About: The Tulare Irrigation District was organized September 21, 1889. The original proposal for the formation of an irrigation district covering 219,000 acres, extending from the Sierra Nevada foothills to Tulare Lake, was eventually reduced to 32,500 acres. The District continued in this status until January of 1948 when the so-called Kaweah Lands” (approximately 11,000 acres) were annexed. In October of 1948, approximately 31,000 acres, compromising the area served by the Packwood Canal Company were annexed to the District. A U.S. Bureau of Reclamation contract was signed in 1950 providing an annual supply of 30,000 acre-feet of Class 1 water, and up to 141,000 acre-feet of Class 2 water from the Friant-Kern Canal. The District and the Kaweah Delta Water Conservation District have coordinated efforts to enhance the recharge of groundwater within the Kaweah Basin. During high flow times KDWCD may use the recharge basins with the District for recharge purposes. Further, KDWCD has historically provided for a financial incentive program through which the District sustains the level of groundwater recharge from supply sources into the District. This historical program was recently reinstated by both districts in lieu of the District’s plans to concrete-line this canal to conserve the surface water. TID is a member of the Mid Kaweah GSA DWR#-5-022.11
