Next phase of Friant-Kern Canal repairs begins with in-depth study contract review

Negotiations over how Friant Water Authority will reimburse the Bureau of Reclamation for a $22.2 million study determining how to repair the north and south portions of the sinking Friant-Kern Canal began Wednesday in Fresno.

“We expect these negotiations to go smoothly and we look forward to the conversation,” Wilson Orvis, Friant’s chief financial officer, said at the start of the meeting, which lasted another three hours as both sides went through the draft duplicate contract.

The details are vitally important, said one observer involved in multiple legal actions over funding for repairs already completed on a section of the canal.

“Clarity would have and will avoid further conflicts, as occurred with Phase 1 of the Middle Reach Capacity Correction Project,” said Sean Geivet, general manager of Terra Bella Irrigation Districts, Saucelito and Porterville.

Those districts are suing Friant over fees they were charged for past repairs to the canal, and Friant is suing a groundwater agency where the districts hold board seats for failing to pay what Friant said he owes for repairs.

So every comma in this new series of canal repair agreements will be carefully scrutinized.

Wednesday’s negotiations focused on paying off the funded study in March 2023. The study, which Friant will conduct, will last at least two years and will focus on how to restore 23 miles of canal in what has been dubbed the ” Upper and Lower Reach Project.

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Friant is seeking to consolidate its repayment obligations into a separate construction contract to repay only what it spent of the $22.2 million. Johnny Amaral, Friant’s chief operating officer, said this could reduce Friant’s costs because “we have a history of going over 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 be subject to public comment.

This is just the beginning of this second phase of repairs, which is expected to cost $250 million. It also remains to be determined what Friant’s share of that $250 million will be and where the money will be obtained.

Repairs were completed earlier this year on the Middle Reach, a 16-mile section that extends from about Pixley in southern Tulare County to the Kern County line.

The subsidence, or subsidence of the land, in this section was so severe that it reduced the carrying capacity of the canal by 60%. An entirely new canal was built to the east of the existing canal. But Friant discovered last summer that the land around the new portion of the canal continues to sink due to excessive groundwater pumping.

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Friant officials are working on how to remedy the recently discovered shipwreck as well as how it will make up a $90 million shortfall for what it owes Reclamation from already completed repairs, which cost about $326 million. dollars in total.

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

“I think it is important to stay involved in any negotiations that may have a financial impact on my districts,” Geivet wrote in an email. “The reimbursement contract currently being negotiated binds Friant for a large sum of money. Friant, in turn, must receive funding from its members to cover these obligations.

Geivet Districts are embroiled in a lawsuit against Friant, who last summer charged them up to $295 million in fees intended to make up that $90 million shortfall and pay for upcoming repairs to the canal .

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

In that case, Friant accused Eastern Tule’s board of directors of violating a 2021 settlement agreement to help fund canal repairs by giving its producers too many groundwater credits.

According to Friant, excessive credits meant that eastern Tule producers had to pay less for pumping, which meant less money was spent on repairing the canal. Instead of the $75 million expected over three years, Friant received only $17 million for repairs.

Eastern Tule countered that a fixed amount was never promised and was consistent with the settlement agreement.

Geivet highlighted these disagreements to explain why he and his districts will closely monitor ongoing negotiations.

“It will be of the utmost importance for 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, Fresno Bee and the Tulare and Kings County 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 [email protected].