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Two sides attempt mediation to settle lawsuit over sinking Friant-Kern Canal

• 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…
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Friant lawsuit over sinking canal altered but moving forward

• by Lisa McEwen, SJV Water
One of multiple charges in a lawsuit that pins blame for the perpetually sinking Friant-Kern Canal on a single Tulare County groundwater agency was recently removed. The Eastern Tule Groundwater Sustainability Agency (ETGSA) hailed the move as vindication. But plaintiffs, the Friant Water Authority and Arvin-Edison Water Storage District, said the change was simply meant…
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Second San Joaquin Valley groundwater subbasin recommended for state takeover

• by Lisa McEwen, SJV Water
The Friant-Kern Canal was called out specifically as one of the reasons the state should take over pumping in the Tule groundwater subbasin in Tulare County. The recommendation was contained in a recently released staff report to the Water Resources Control Board. While the report stated groundwater management plans covering the subbasin didn’t adequately address…
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Sinking canal has “everyone’s attention” and could put entire Tule subbasin under state control

• by Lois Henry and Lisa McEwen, SJV Water
Fallout over the ever sinking Friant-Kern Canal could affect growers throughout the Tule subbasin regardless of whether they get water from the canal. The state Water Resources Control Board already has the subbasin in its cross hairs for neglecting to create a coordinated plan to bring aquifers into balance under the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act…
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Courts keep ruling against action tied to Westlands’ federal contract but it doesn’t mean much. Why not?

• by Lois Henry
The Center for Biological Diversity trumpeted a court ruling Monday that denied an appeal by Westlands Water District of a previous ruling that kiboshed the district’s “validation” action to have its contract for federal water converted from a term contract to a permanent one. “Once again the courts have ruled that these schemes to lock…
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Water tour showcases San Joaquin Valley flood damage; preparation for incoming snow melt

• by Jesse Vad, SJV Water
Throughout a recent tour of key water sites in the San Joaquin Valley, flooding, historic wet conditions and preparation for runoff from record-breaking snowpack were the main topics at almost every stop. The tour is one of several offered by the nonprofit Water Education Foundation. San Luis Reservoir The first stop was San Luis Reservoir…
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Damage from “severe breach” of Friant-Kern Canal construction at Deer Creek difficult to assess

• by Lois Henry
An unfinished section of the new Friant-Kern Canal suffered a “severe breach” at Deer Creek in Tulare County Friday night as the normally dry creek swelled with rain and snowmelt and overran its banks into the construction zone. “This was worse than the one before,” said Johnny Amaral, Chief Operating Officer of the Friant Water…
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