Another Sacramento 'snub': Friant-Kern Canal fix stalled again after Newsom vetoes bill

Visalia Times-Delta

Senator Melissa Hurtado (D-Sanger) and other state and local officials tour a key section of the Friant-Kern Canal on Friday, March 1, 2019. She introduced Senate Bill (SB) 559 on Feb. 20 to help secure California’s water supply by investing $400 million towards restoring lost conveyance capacity on the Friant-Kern Canal, one of the San Joaquin Valley’s most critical water delivery facilities.
The bill will restore the canal’s ability to convey water for groundwater storage, provide access to clean water for some of the state’s most vulnerable communities, and deliver irrigation for more than 1.2 million acres of family farms in California.

Much like the waterway it intended to repair, Sen. Melissa Hurtado's proposed Friant-Kern Canal fix, Senate Bill 559, has officially sunk in the California legislature.

Gov. Gavin Newsom put the final nail in the bipartisan bill's coffin on Wednesday when he vetoed the legislation, arguing that the bill was too focused on one canal project: The Friant-Kern.

"As we address California's water needs in the coming months and years, we need to identify, develop and identify solutions and funding that provides water supply and conveyance for the entirety of the state, not one project at a time," Newsom wrote in his veto statement.

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Hurtado announced the bill during a splashy 2019 press conference near Terra Bella, where groundwater overpumping during the drought caused the canal to sink as much as three feet in three years. The sagging land — a phenomenon known as subsidence — has reduced the Friant-Kern's ability to deliver water to farmers and communities by 60%.

Friant-Kern Canal delivers 1 million acre-feet of water to farmers throughout the San Joaquin Valley. It is sinking at a dramatic rate, but Proposition 3 could help fund necessary repairs.

"Subsidence of the Friant-Kern Canal is further proof that climate change is real, addressing the threat of climate change on our water infrastructure systems is not a red or blue issue — it is a human rights issue, and not unique to the Central Valley or the Friant-Kern Canal," Hurtado said. "While I am disappointed SB 559 was vetoed, I urge Democrats and Republicans in Washington D.C. and Sacramento to take immediate action before it is too late.”

In reality, the bill was hobbled beyond recognition long before it reached the governor's desk. Hurtado's colleagues on the Senate Appropriations Committee stripped the bill of its proposed $400 million funding last month, turning the legislation into a study bill.

If signed into law by Newsom, the gutted bill merely would have required the California Department of Water Resources to report on other sources of funding for Friant-Kern repairs and to create a non-binding proposal for the state to cover a portion of the cost.

Nevertheless, the bill's defeat comes at a tough time for the agricultural powerhouse's main irrigation artery, which feeds water from the Sierra Nevada snowpack to the thirsty Valley floor. Friant-Kern CEO Jason Phillips called the veto "just the latest in a long history of snubs from Sacramento."

"The Governor’s message of needing to step back and take a more holistic approach rings hollow to the San Joaquin Valley; the real message this veto sends to the Valley is loud and clear, yet again: 'Nope.'"

A woman shows the levels of the Friant-Kern Canal over the years.

The federal government has contributed some funding to study the feasibility and environmental impacts of repairing the canal. Last month, the Bureau of Reclamation completed the environmental review process, recommending a parallel canal along a 20-mile stretch of the Friant-Kern to restore flows.

However, no major funding sources yet exist to construct the repairs, which could cost as much as $500 million, according to the bureau.

Meanwhile, the Creek Fire in the Sierra Nevada is posing an existential threat to water managers across the eastern Valley floor. That's because much of the water that reaches vineyards and almond orchards in Tulare and Kern counties comes from reservoirs above Southern California Edison's Big Creek facility.

When the historic fire — now California's largest-ever — ripped through Big Creek, employees set the lakes to minimum releases before evacuating the burning forest.

“Since the start of the fire, we’ve been living off storage,” Eric R. Quinley, general manager of Delano-Earlimart Irrigation District, told SJV Water.

As a result, the valves that feed water from Millerton Lake to the Friant-Kern could run dry for the first time in the canal's 70-year history.

Joshua Yeager covers water, agriculture, parks and housing for the Visalia Times-Delta and Tulare Advance-Register newspapers. Follow him onTwitter @VTD_Joshy. Get alerts and keep up on all things Tulare County for as little as $1 a month. Subscribe today.