Negotiations focusing on how Friant Water Authority will repay the Bureau of Reclamation for a $22.2 million study mapping out how to fix the northern and southern portions of the sinking Friant-Kern Canal began Wednesday in Fresno.

Lisa McEwen

SJV Water

“We anticipate these talks should go smoothly, and we look forward to the conversation,” Wilson Orvis, Friant’s chief financial officer, said at the beginning of the meeting, which went on for another three hours as both sides scoured the draft contract line by line.

The details are vitally important, said one observer who is involved in multiple legal actions over how to pay for already completed repairs on one section of the canal.

“Clarity would have and will avoid further disputes as has occurred with Phase 1 of the Middle Reach Capacity Correction Project,” said Sean Geivet, General Manager of the Terra Bella, Saucelito and Porterville irrigation districts.

Those districts are suing Friant over fees assessed to them for earlier canal repairs and Friant is suing a groundwater agency where the districts hold board seats for not paying what Friant said it owes toward repairs.

So, every comma in this new round of canal repair agreements will be heavily scrutinized.

Wednesday’s negotiations centered on repayment for the study that was funded in March 2023. The study, which Friant will conduct, will take at least two years to complete, and will address how to restore 23 miles of canal in what has been dubbed the “Upper and Lower Reach Project.”

Related Story: Friant Agrees to Hold Water Board Retreats in Valley, Not Distant Swanky

Friant is seeking to have its repayment obligations rolled into a separate construction contract to pay back only what they spend of the $22.2 million. Johnny Amaral, Friant’s Chief Operating Officer said that may lower Friant’s cost as “we have a history of coming in under budget on the Middle Reach,” the section where repairs were completed last summer.

Negotiations on the draft contract will resume in January.

Once approved by both parties, the draft contract will go out for public comment.

This is just the start of this second phase of repairs, which are expected to cost $250 million. What Friant’s share of that $250 million will be, and where it will get the money, also still have to be hammered out.

Repairs were completed earlier this year on the Middle Reach, a 10-mile section that runs from about Pixley in southern Tulare County to the Kern County line.

Subsidence, or land sinking, in that section was so bad it cut the canal’s carrying capacity by 60%. An entirely new canal was built to the east of the existing one. But Friant discovered last summer that the land around the new portion of canal is still sinking due to excessive groundwater pumping.

Related Story: ‘Extortion’ and ‘Bullying’ Accusations Fly: Who Should ...

Friant authorities are working on how to address the newly discovered sinking as well as how it will make up a $90 million shortfall for what it owes Reclamation on the already completed repairs, which cost about $326 million in total.

Geivet said his districts will “absolutely” continue watching negotiations on the draft contract for this next phase of repairs.

“I think it is important to stay involved in all negotiations that may financially impact my districts,” Geivet wrote in an email. “The repayment contract being negotiated obligates Friant for a large sum of money. Friant in turn must receive funding from its members to cover those obligations.”

Geivet’s districts are embroiled in a lawsuit against Friant, which charged them up to $295 million in fees last summer intended to help make up that $90-million shortfall and pay for upcoming canal repairs.

Geivet called the fees “extortion,” in reference to the fact, his districts hold seats on the Eastern Tule Groundwater Sustainability Agency board, which is also in a lawsuit with Friant.

In that case, Friant accused the Eastern Tule board of breaching a 2021 settlement agreement to help pay for canal fixes by giving its growers too many groundwater credits.

The excessive credits, Friant has argued, meant Eastern Tule growers were charged less for pumping, which meant less money went to canal repairs. Instead of the anticipated $75 million over three years, Friant only got $17 million toward repairs.

Eastern Tule has countered that a set amount of money was never promised and it’s in compliance with the settlement agreement.

Geivet pointed to those disagreements for why he and his districts will be watching the current negotiations closely.

“It will be of utmost importance to all parties including Friant and Reclamation to be absolutely clear (about the) financial obligations imposed on contractors by any extraordinary maintenance and repair contract,” Geivet said.

About the Author

SJV Water Reporter Lisa McEwen grew up in Tulare County. She has reported on agriculture and other issues for a wide variety of publications, including, Ag Alert, Visalia Times-Delta, the Fresno Bee and the Tulare and Kings counties farm bureau publications.

About SJV Water

SJV Water is an independent, nonprofit news site covering water in the San Joaquin Valley, www.sjvwater.org. Email us at sjvwater@sjvwater.org.