Signed, Sealed — To Deliver
ETGSA board approves settlement with FWA
The Eastern Tule Groundwater Sustainability Agency took another step on Thursday to contribute to all the funding that’s needed for much needed repairs of the Friant-kern Canal.
The ETGSA Board unanimously approved a settlement with the Friant Water Authority that oversees the Friant-kern Canal at its meeting on Thursday. The board met in closed session to discuss the matter the resumed the open session of its meeting on
Thursday to approve the settlement.
The ETSGA and FWA negotiated the settlement and it needed approval from the ETSGA board on Thursday.
The Friant-kern Canal is already receiving $206 million from the federal government for the much needed repairs.
The settlement between the ETSGA and FWA could provide up to another $200 million for the project, bringing the total funding close to what’s needed to fund the repairs.
The project involves the repair of the 33mile stretch of the canal known as its Middle Reach to stop the decreasing water level of the canal known as subsidence. Because of the subsidence the canal’s capability of delivering water — its conveyance capability — has decreased by 60 percent.
Repairs on the portion of the canal from Avenue 208 between Lindsay and Strathmore to north Kern County are set to begin in 2021.
The $206 million is part of the 2021 appropriations spending package.
As far as subsidence it’s been caused by over pumping of groundwater. FWA and ETSGA recently entered into a settlement to deal with that issue. And the repairs of the canal are expected to significantly improve the area’s ability to meet the requirements of the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act which requires the use of groundwater to be reduced by a certain level by 2040.
“We’ve been going back and forth for quite a while,” said Tulare
County Supervisor and ETSGA board member Dennis Townsend about the negotiations. “There was a great deal of technical work that needed to be done to get to this point.”
The ETGSA will pay anywhere from $125 million to $200 million for the canal’s repairs in the settlement. “I think we got to a place where it’s a fair settlement,” Townsend said.
The amount the
ETGSA has to pay decreases based on how much it can pay in one lump sum. It’s hoped a source such as Proposition 68 could provide a bulk of that funding.
It’s also likely the ETGSA will have to hold an election of those who use groundwater in the district in which they would have to approve a fee that would be charged to them. Townsend said the board is still considering how to provide the funding for the settlement. He said it’s expected the funding is expected to
come from a combination of sources such as Prop. 68 funding and fees charged to those in the district. The district essentially covers the Southeastern Tulare County area.
“We think it will be a combination of all the entities that are involved,” said Townsend about how the settlement will be funded.
FWA stated the canal’s decrease in conveyance has resulted in as much as 300,000 acre-feet of water remaining undelivered in some years.