Three Tulare County water districts are suing the federal government and the Friant Water Authority over who should pay for repairs on the Friant-Kern Canal.
The Terra Bella Irrigation District, the Saucelito Irrigation District and the Porterville Irrigation District – all part of the Eastern Tule Groundwater Sustainability Agency (GSA) – filed the lawsuit in federal court on Monday. Along with Friant, they are suing former Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland, Reclamation Regional Director Carl Stock and Friant CEO Jason Phillips.
The backstory: The core of the issue dates back to 2018, when the Friant Water Authority and the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation found a severe subsidence issue at the Friant-Kern Canal.
- The canal lost 60% of its capacity due to a 33-mile stretch that was impacted by subsidence.
- Phase 1 of the project was completed last year, repairing a 10-mile stretch of the canal, with the remaining 23 miles to be fixed in future phases.
Driving the news: Friant owes $90 million to Reclamation for the Phase 1 repairs, and over $247 million for Phase 2.
- Friant and the Eastern Tule GSA agreed to a settlement in 2021, which would see the Eastern Tule GSA pay either a lump sum of $125 million to Friant or $200 million in a long-term process.
- Two years ago, Friant sued the Eastern Tule GSA to recover the $200 million from the settlement. A judge issued a ruling last year in that case stating the settlement did not guarantee that the GSA would pay $200 million.
The big picture: The three water districts alleged that Friant violated the Water Infrastructure Improvements for the Nation (WIIN) Act by not having the money to pay for its share of the project.
- The three water districts claim Friant imposed a so-called unilateral extraordinary maintenance charge – a cost recovery methodology – on them to recover $95 million to $200 million while not requiring any of the other beneficiaries of the repair project to contribute. The maintenance charge was ratified by Reclamation’s Stock on Jan. 17.
- The plaintiff water districts alleged that Friant committed “civil extortion” by imposing the unilateral charge without negotiating terms with the districts.
- They claim that Friant imposed the unilateral charge with the goal that the districts would apply pressure on Eastern Tule GSA to increase payments to Friant.
- “In essence, because FWA predicts a shortfall in funds coming from the Settlement Agreement (in the ballpark of $200 million) that FWA pledged as the non-federal cost share for the project, FWA wants Plaintiffs to pay the difference due to their membership in the ETGSA joint powers authority,” the lawsuit reads. “As Central Valley Project, Friant Division contractors that receive the vast majority of their irrigation water from the FKC, Plaintiffs are predominantly users of surface water and, thus, have not substantially contributed to land subsidence impacts to the FKC – and certainly not to the degree that would warrant FWA’s Unilateral Charge.”
The other side: Friant responded to the lawsuit in a statement to The Sun, calling it meritless.
- “This lawsuit is yet another desperate and meritless attempt to oppose a cost allocation policy for the Middle Reach Capacity Correction Project that the FWA Board approved and, just days prior to the filing of this petition, the Bureau of Reclamation issued a written determination upholding the Policy,” Friant said. “The districts would be better off focusing on fixing the mess they have created for themselves, instead of paying attorneys with their landowners’ money.”