-December 11,2019-
Without naming the canal he wants to fix in the bill, Democrat Congressman TJ Cox has introduced new legislation last week- the Move Water Now Act, H.R. 5316 – that would provide $200 million in funds to “provide for the restoration of the original carrying capacity of canals impacted by land subsidence, and for other purposes.” That amount is considered about half the dollars needed to do the job.
In a news release Cox does identify the money is aimed to repair a 33 mile section of the Friant Kern Canal that delivers surface water to a million acres of farmland in Central California.
South Valley water manager Dan Vink says the canal is not named in the legislation because of federal rules that don’t allow specific earmarks.
But Cox who represents Fresno and Kings Counties ,makes no bones about the notion the funds will be used to fix the Friant Kern.The canal has been highly impacted losing 60% of its original carrying capacity due to land subsidence over the years.
The subsidence is caused by over-pumping of groundwater sinking the canal so water does not flow by gravity, as the 1950 hydraulic structure was designed.
“Land subsidence has literally strangled most of the flow of water through the Friant-Kern Canal” said Rep. Cox in a news release. “Because of this, communities aren’t getting the water they pay for and farms aren’t getting the water they need to feed the world.”
Jason Phillips, CEO of Friant Water Authority said “This bill would provide additional federal authorization to help restore the conveyance capacity of the Friant-Kern Canal, that is desperately needed to achieve long-term sustainability in the valley.
“On behalf of Friant Water Authority, along with the dozens of Friant Division water districts, Eastside communities, and 15,000 farms who rely on the canal’s water deliveries and the groundwater aquifers they support, I want to thank Congressman Cox for introducing legislation that addresses the needs of the valley’s people and ecosystems. We look forward to the quick passage of this important legislation and the effort to secure the federal appropriations needed to complete the project.”
“There is no doubt these funds will be used for the Friant Kern” says Vink. The meeting to launch an EIR to build improvements on the canal is being held in Porterville next week.
The money is given a good chance to be allocated with both Valley Democrats and Republicans including GOP leader McCarthy along with President Trump all supporting it.
California’s Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA) has limited groundwater pumping to reduce land subsidence.But its implementation makes it even more necessary that surface water infrastructure like Friant-Kern Canal be restored to full water conveyance capacity say supporters.
A state bill to allocate $400 million to the repair of the Friant Kern in Sacramento has been sidelined and Vink, for one, does not believe it has a strong chance to be signed into law. A state Proposition in 2018 failed at the ballot box that was hampered by criticism that farmers should help pay for the fix that they caused.Other say that is not fair given the extent of the drought years.
“We are looking at some sort of sharing in the cost to pay for this” suggests Vink ,including Feds, State and locals, he predicts. Design work on the project is likely to start early next year.
Fixes are slated on approximately 10 miles of the northernmost and southernmost segments of the canal as well as include construction of a new 23-mile-long realigned canal from MP 95.7 to MP 119 east of the existing canal.This has been called a parallel canal. Construction of the project would take up to 3 years and would be continuous says a report. Improvements would be made from near Lindsay in the north to close to McFarland on the south end.
A scoping meeting to begin formally assessing the proposal’s potential impacts is scheduled for 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. Dec. 18 at the U.S. Forest Service’s Sequoia National Forest office in Porterville.