From the Friant Water Authority:
The Friant Water Authority (FWA) today released a Notice of Preparation announcing its intent to prepare an Environmental Impact Report (EIR) for the proposed Guidelines for Accepting Water into the Friant-Kern Canal (Guidelines). The Guidelines will define the water quality thresholds and other requirements for introducing water into the Friant-Kern Canal from a source other than Millerton Lake. FWA, the Lead Agency under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), invites agencies and the public to provide input on the potential scope and content of the EIR. Comments will be accepted until 5 PM on Monday, January 9, 2023. The NOP contains additional details about the project and comment submission information and is available at https://friantwater.org/s/
FWA has been working jointly with other Friant Contractors since 2017 to develop the proposed Guidelines, which are intended to ensure that water quality in the Friant-Kern Canal is protected for sustained domestic and agricultural use when non-Millerton water supplies are introduced into the canal. For example, these sources of supply could include groundwater pumped into the canal, surface water diversions from adjacent districts, recaptured and recirculated San Joaquin River Restoration Flows, and water delivered through the Cross-Valley Canal and up the Friant-Kern Canal. In order to ensure that water introduced into the Friant-Kern Canal meets the water quality thresholds established by the program, FWA may need to construct facilities for monitoring and forecasting water quality (e.g., construction and maintenance of water quality monitoring stations). The proposed Guidelines are available for download at https://friantwater.org/s/
FWA has been working jointly with other Friant Contractors since 2017 to develop the proposed Guidelines, which are intended to ensure that water quality in the Friant-Kern Canal is protected for sustained domestic and agricultural use when non-Millerton water supplies are introduced into the canal. For example, these sources of supply could include groundwater pumped into the canal, surface water diversions from adjacent districts, recaptured and recirculated San Joaquin River Restoration Flows, and water delivered through the Cross-Valley Canal and up the Friant-Kern Canal. In order to ensure that water introduced into the Friant-Kern Canal meets the water quality thresholds established by the program, FWA may need to construct facilities for monitoring and forecasting water quality (e.g., construction and maintenance of water quality monitoring stations). The proposed Guidelines are available for download at https://friantwater.org/s/
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FWA is a joint-powers authority formed in 2004 by a majority of the public agencies receiving water from the Friant Division of the Central Valley Project. Its primary purposes are to operate and maintain the Friant-Kern Canal and to serve the information and representation needs of its member agencies.
