By Don A. Wright
The Tulare Irrigation District held its board of directors meeting on Tuesday, September 10, 2024 at its headquarters west of Tulare. TID’s General Manager Aaron Fukuda attended a SGMA event at UC Davis last week and I’m interested to find out how it went. The agenda was full of law school faculty and non-governmental organizations, not usually friendly to farming. Who knows why? Maybe they think their food just appears in the grocery store and restaurants.
The Meeting
The meeting began at the scheduled 9:00am with President David Bixler calling it to order.
Fukuda reported he was on a panel at UC Davis to speak about how the Groundwater Sustainability Agencies are formed. To his surprise a lady from the Community Water Center told the well-attended assembly she’d give the Kaweah Subbasin an “A” grade. If I understood she said the greatest threat to the Kaweah Subbasin is being placed on probation. Fukuda said another panel he listened to was focused on the future of SGMA. It was brought out the State Board’s only tool is to cut back on pumping if a subbasin is placed on probation. There were also systemic problems with the original legislation dealing with boundaries and how much a special district like an irrigation or water district can take on under established law. He was able to explain how SGMA isn’t about groundwater – it’s about surface water. You can’t pump what isn’t recharged.
Fukuda said it was disheartening to see only one farmer attended the event. And I echo that concern. Irrigation and water districts are political subsets of the State of California’s government. They try hard and do a good job of representing their constituents. But they can only do so much. The district was formed before the state became an adversary to farming and were not designed to battle the bureaucracy. Farmers have to tell their story at these kinds of events if they want any impact beyond what is occurring now.
Water Report
The minutes were approved and Water Master Marco Crenshaw gave his report saying there isn’t much happening on the Kaweah River this time of year. The storage at Lake Kaweah and the drawdown is low. Lake Millerton is rising. Evidently the utilities upstream are releasing more water into the San Joaquin River. This could result in another allocation, but when? For most harvest is going on or soon to start and you don’t want to work in a muddy field.
O&M
Superintendent Wayne Fox reported crews have been working hard. Erosion control has been a focus for the past month. The more the water runs the more dirt can flow away.
Weeds are concern and crews have got a battle on their hands. Fox said they started the season strong and that has paid off. This is summer in the San Joaquin Valley and with or without climate change it gets hot. Crews have been starting early in the morning to avoid the heat of the day. Amen. Fox said the goal is to get as much work as possible completed before Thanksgiving. That gives flexibility to allow the crew to take vacation time around then and capitalize on the three day work week for that holiday.
Well, the insanity is here. In their posturing the true believers in the Pyongyang, I’m sorry, Sacramento government, are bravely forging ahead on their plans to electrify California regardless of supply, infrastructure or technology available. They are starting with state vehicles and mandating special districts convert to electric vehicles.
It was said ACWA is trying to fight this but the ship has left port and very soon something that is spelled much like ship will hit the fan. Fox said the requirements are getting to the point all gas and diesel will be forced off the road. TID needs two trucks; a Ford F250 and an F350. The district has two chargers right now. By 2027 the district’s fleet will have to be replaced with electric. There are limited exceptions for special duty like cranes.
Another consideration is not all the truck manufacturers are making electric trucks that meet the needs of the district. Fords have always been popular with districts and since GMC
isn’t ready for this market, Fords will continue to dominate for now. And as it stands, Ford has a limited ordering timeline. You can’t just go buy one at any old time of the year. Fox said the district can’t retro fit a vehicle the way it does now. If you want to mount a spray rig on a chassis it has to be installed by a third party, at a substantial increase in costs over doing the work inhouse.
Finances & Engineering
Kathi Artis reported to the board the district’s costs and income. Fukuda said there is a $9 million bill from 2022 as a result of a true-up at San Luis Delta Mendota owed by the Friant Water Authority. TID’s share of that is about six percent or $540,000. Ouch.
Fukuda reported there has been a problem with the Tulare Adult School and the City of Tulare helped out with an inspection. There was no immediate damage but for some seepage impacting the outside of the building. Resolutions are being figured out.
Also, there is an opportunity to move a canal underground by piping it. There are EPA grants available for this.
SGMA
Fukuda reported the Kaweah Subbasin recently met with the State Water Resources Control Board over the State Board draft report regarding the Kaweah Subbasin Groundwater Sustainability Plan. He said there is no guidance about interconnected surface water. The Mid Kaweah GSA doesn’t have any interconnected surface water with any streams. All the subbasins are awaiting some word from DWR. He said the State Board didn’t know either so that should be taken into account.
Fukuda said the Kaweah Subbasin’s GSP is well on its way to meeting all the State Board staff’s criticism. There is a Kaweah Oaks preserve that gets some groundwater from a stream but during the drought the trees suffer because of low river flows. Yet the oaks along the TID canals are strong during all conditions. There are probably two different root structure adaptations.
Fukuda said the Kaweah Subbasin is expects to avoid probation. He said he wants a bus full of farmers to join him during the State Board probation hearing. Fukuda said there are new State Board staff working and they are more receptive to avoiding needless hassle.
The Mid Kaweah GSA have some new policies. As an example schools often have ag farms and since they are nonprofits they don’t have a way to pay. The MKGSA board has granted an exemption provided the schools implement a water segment to their curriculum. There is also now a provision for a one time debt forgiveness based on a provable emergency.
This may be modified because sometimes big, absentee landowners may be late due to internal paperwork inertia within their organization. That may not qualify in the future. The recent state mandate for urban water use has intensified the Cities of Visalia and Tulare’s efforts to support the Subbasin. Not that they weren’t.
Friant Water Authority
Fukuda said there are many concerns over the Friant budget and it is being retooled by the FWA staff. The draft provisions will focus on including the cost of the lawsuit against the Eastern Tule GSA in the O&M budget.
The other concern Fukuda mentioned is the comments on the Long Term Operations of the Delta, such as the Fall X2 line and other matters like adaptive management versus old fashioned, nonproductive calendar management of the Delta.
Fukuda said the McKay Point Reservoir project, not related to Friant, will need a slurry wall. The Seaborn Reservoir draft feasibility study was turned in to the US Bureau of Reclamation. The Bureau’s small storage grant could yield $10 million.
GM Report
Fukuda said there is no legislative report today. He talked about the Maddy Institute/FSU California Water Institute event last week. He said it was well attended and he spoke on a panel about the intended and unintended consequences of SGMA. A local farmer named Stephen Fagundes was on one of the panels and gave a grower perspective. He advocated for better leadership and was hopeful the next generation understand the issues much better. Fukuda said Fagundes stole the show.
Fukuda plans on driving up to Sacramento for the Tule Subbasin Probation Hearing before the State Board and warned anyone attending it will be a long day. Other events include the American Pistachio Growers event at the World Ag Expo in Tulare to cover water amongst other topics.
TID has signed on to a letter with the Mid Kaweah GSA Contractors to the USBR about the Delta operations under review. There are many reasons for TID joining forces with MKGSA. If the Exchange Contractor’s supplies from the Delta are cut back so are Friant’s supplies. That directly impacts how much this will harm groundwater. It is important to be sure the regulators understand this and don’t carry the idea that somehow groundwater can substitute for lack of surface supplies. [Note: An earlier version of this report referred to the Exchange Contractors as cosigner on the letter instead of MKGSA. Sorry, Red-Face-O-Rama.]
Action Items
The first issue was a quitclaim to property that wants to switch its plumbing around to a better route. Valov Brothers Farms has agreed to participate by accepting the claim and help out a neighbor. Consult your real estate attorney if that didn’t make sense. The map showing the property looks like it is in the path of development. A matter impacting
farming more and more as the Valley’s comparative housing costs are much lower and creating a demand for urban expansion. The board agreed to allow the claim.
The next matter was a contract award for a monitoring well for the Okieville Project. Fukuda said the original construction came in under budget and this will allow the financial opportunity to install an additional nested well. The board approved.
Closed Session
At 11:10am the board when into closed session for eight matters dealing with property, personnel or lawsuits. Go be good to yourself and each other.
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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 & 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
