-July 27,2022-
For the second time in a few weeks the federal Bureau of Reclamation has increased Friant Water’s allocation of water available to be sent down the 150-mile Friant Kern Canal to thirsty farms and communities from Fresno to Arvin.
The latest good news is that as of July 20th, Reclamation announced that the Friant water supply allocation was increased from 20% Class 1 to 30% Class 1, effective July 20th.
The east side water contractors, many from Tulare County, had been advised earlier there wasn’t enough water to allow more than 15% supply. A full allocation would be 800,000 acre feet.
Caption: Work on the parallel canal is underway this summer
It has now been increased twice as Friant lobbied and has convinced the federal agency that there was enough snowmelt stored in dams above Fresno to allocate additional supply. At the same time, Friant was relieved of the obligation to send more water down the river to the San Joaquin Exchange Contractors since Reclamation found enough water north of the Delta to meet those contractors’ needs. The unexpected supply apparently came from heavy spring precip in the greater Sacramento mountain area.
With a 30% allocation, up from the original 15%, the supply of 120,00 acre feet has now been doubled to 240,000 acre feet.
Also on July 15th, the San Joaquin River Restoration Program notified Friant Contractors of the availability of an additional 31,450 AF of Tier 2 water available to Class 1 Contractors. The water is priced at $188.87, which goes into the SJRRP Reclamation Fund and must be paid at the time of scheduling.
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Work to build a parallel canal along the Friant Kern continues this summer
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