By Lisa McEwen, SJV Water
Attorneys for the Friant Water Authority and Eastern Tule Groundwater Sustainability Agency agreed to mediation on Friday in an attempt to resolve a dispute over how quickly payment for repairs to the sinking Friant-Kern Canal should be handed over.
During a status conference in Visalia, both parties told Tulare County Superior Court Judge Bret Hillman via Zoom that they will work with Gail Andler, a mediator with JAMS, Judicial Arbitration and Mediation Services, Inc., to find common ground in a breach of contract lawsuit filed in February against Eastern Tule by Friant Water Authority and Arvin-Edison Water Storage District.
When the mediation will occur is a sticking point, though. Gina Nicholls, who represents Eastern Tule, said the GSA prefers mediation as soon as possible.
David Darroch, attorney for Friant Water Authority, countered: “We are not sure if we will be ripe to mediation before the end of the year.” He cited the need for a thorough discovery process, a time in which depositions are taken and each side must produce requested records.
But he reassured Judge Hillman that both sides are “getting along fine.”
“That’s good,” Hillman said. “Communication is key. This is a complicated matter.”
To say the least.
This latest turn in the lawsuit comes on the heels of a tense two-hour meeting Aug. 12, during which Friant Water Authority board members voted to ask four Friant-member water districts within the boundaries of Eastern Tule GSA, to help pay for anticipated shortfalls in the massive canal project.
Those districts include Tea Pot Dome Water District, and the Saucelito, Porterville and Terra Bella irrigation districts. Tea Pot Dome voted in June to remove itself from Eastern Tule GSA and form its own GSA with neighboring Vandalia Water District, which is not in Friant’s crosshairs.
Some see the move as Friant’s attempt to pressure Eastern Tule into living up to terms outlined in a 2021 settlement agreement, under which Friant assumed it would receive $25 million a year from the GSA. Eastern Tule has paid $17 million thus far, not nearly what the authority anticipated and is the impetus for the lawsuit filed in February. The lawsuit alleges Eastern Tule board members gave too many groundwater credits to farmers and has allowed trading and sales of those credits so that farmers haven’t had to pay for expensive groundwater.
Meanwhile, the newly rebuilt section of the canal continues to sink due to subsidence, or land sinking, caused by overpumping of the aquifer.
Friant Water Authority operates the canal on behalf of the federal Bureau of Reclamation, and owes up to $90 million, plus interest, for its share of the project costs. A possible $5.1 million construction payment is due in summer 2026 that it may not have funds for.
The Bureau has asked the authority to explain how it will get the money to pay its share of the first phase of construction, which totaled $326 million. And it wants to make sure a funding path is lined up for the second phase of construction, anticipated to cost about $247.2 million.
Friant attorney Don Davis said if Eastern Tule would honor the tenets of the settlement agreement, last Monday’s actions to get the water districts to pay could have been avoided.
“They know what they need to do,” he said. “They have brought this on themselves. If they hadn’t given away $20 million worth of groundwater, we wouldn’t have this deficit. They chose a free program for their farmers in their water trading program.”
Davis said those four districts have 60 days to dispute the board’s decision. No disputes have yet been filed, but Tea Pot Dome attorney Alex Peltzer said Friday that conversations are ongoing with Friant to resolve that district’s exposure to the cost allocation.
Davis said he is certain the districts, which already pay to bring in surface water on the canal, will object to the board’s actions.
“We ran out of options,” he said. “We laid it out, and we don’t think it’s fair to put those costs on other people who clearly have nothing to do with this.”
As for resolving the lawsuit, Rogelio Caudillo, general manager of Eastern Tule, wrote in an email that Friant is obviously dragging its feet, pouring public funds into lawsuits and lawyers with plans to litigate the case almost all the way to trial before settling.
He also asked, “Why is it also necessary (or lawful) for Friant to punish its own member agencies that overlap with ETGSA?”
A trial date is set for June 2, 2025.
SJV Water is an independent, nonprofit news site covering water in the San Joaquin Valley, www.sjvwater.org. Reach us at sjvwater@sjvwater.org
