California Ag Network

Tag: Friant Water Authority

  • Friant Water Authority Announces Johnny Amaral as CEO

    Friant Water Authority (FWA) announced the appointment of Johnny Amaral as its new Chief Executive Officer, following years of service and leadership within the organization.

    Amaral joined Friant Water Authority in March 2019 as Chief of External Affairs and was appointed Chief Operating Officer in early 2022. In these roles, he has overseen FWA personnel and day-to-day operations, while leading FWA’s engagement on water supply reliability, water policy, legislative advocacy, and communications. As Chief Executive Officer, Amaral will focus on protecting the Friant water supply, safeguarding critical infrastructure such as the Friant-Kern Canal, strengthening trusted partnerships across the region, and leading FWA’s experienced and dedicated team.

    “We welcome Johnny in his new role as he brings a strong understanding of Friant operations, water policy, and the needs of Valley farmers and communities,” said Rick Borges, Chairman of the Friant Water Authority Board of Directors.

    During his time at FWA, Amaral has played a central role in advancing initiatives critical to the region’s water future. His work has included expanding opportunities for groundwater recharge for San Joaquin Valley farmers and leading the Friant-Kern Canal Capacity Correction Project as FWA’s staff lead on construction activities. In this role, Amaral has worked to secure funding and develop partnerships to support long-term repairs to this vital facility, helping protect both water deliveries and the communities that rely on them.

    Amaral has also led FWA’s efforts to build and maintain strong working relationships with Groundwater Sustainability Agencies, community representatives, farm bureaus, commodity groups, advocacy organizations, and other water agencies, recognizing collaboration as essential to achieving long-term water sustainability in the San Joaquin Valley.

    Prior to joining Friant Water Authority, Amaral served as Deputy General Manager for External Affairs at Westlands Water District for more than four years. He began his career in public service as Chief of Staff to Congressman Devin Nunes, where he worked on water and public policy matters for over 13 years.

    A native of Tulare, Amaral lives in Exeter, California with his wife, Stephanie. They have two children: Taylor, a senior at Baylor University, and John Tomas, a sophomore at San Diego State University.

  • Friant Water Authority Appoints Julie Gantenbein to Serve as General Counsel

    The Friant Water Authority (FWA) announced the appointment of Julie Gantenbein, a respected water law expert and longtime advocate for effective water management in California, to serve as its General Counsel. Gantenbein has spent nearly 15 years as a shareholder at the Water and Power Law Group, where she built a strong reputation for her expertise in water rights, regulatory compliance, and statewide water policy.

    The decision was made at the December 12, 2025 meeting of the FWA Board of Directors and the appointment is effective immediately.

    “We are pleased to welcome Julie to the Friant Water Authority,” said Rick Borges, Chairman. “Her experience, approach to problem solving, and proven track record, will be a tremendous asset to the FWA Board of Directors.”

    Gantenbein’s legal career includes extensive experience in non-federal hydropower licensing and compliance proceedings before the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), natural gas certificate and compliance matters before FERC, and regulatory proceedings for federal water control facilities before the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation.

    She has also represented public agencies and conservation groups in cases involving hydropower, water rights, and the protection and enhancement of environmental and recreational benefits of public waters. In addition, she is a certified mediator with appellate experience.

    Gantenbein earned her J.D. from the University of California, Hastings College of the Law (2002) and her B.A. in International Studies (magna cum laude, 1998) from California State University Monterey Bay.

    Her expertise will help strengthen the Authority’s efforts to support the Friant Division’s water users, advance critical projects, and promote sustainable water management throughout the region.

  • Partnership, Funding Award to Advance South of Delta Drought Resiliency Pilot Program

    The United States Department of Interior, United States Bureau of Reclamation, along with the Friant Water Authority (FWA), San Luis & Delta-Mendota Water Authority (SLDMWA), and the San Joaquin River Exchange Contractors Water Authority (SJRECWA), are pleased to announce the execution of a groundbreaking Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to establish a South of Delta Drought Resiliency Framework. This partnership establishes a program and advances projects that increase regional climate resilience in the San Joaquin Valley, and its implementation is being advanced through funding provided by the United States Bureau of Reclamation from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (“IIJA”) and the Inflation Reduction Act (“IRA”), which nearly doubled the annual funding provided to the Bureau of Reclamation over eight years. Today marks a significant milestone to improve climate resilience for the communities, farms, and ecosystems served by the Central Valley Project (CVP) contractors south of the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta. ​

    Over the past decade, California has experienced unprecedented hydrologic variability, recording six of the driest years as well as two of the wettest years in California’s nearly 100-year historical hydrologic record.  While the historic unpredictability of hydrology in the state is the reason the CVP was built to begin with, the impacts of ever growing regulatory constraints on project operations has exacerbated the hydrologic variability, resulting in significantly reduced reliability of CVP water supplies for the Water Authorities’ member agencies. The Authorities involved in this MOU have collectively identified projects and potential actions aimed at enhancing drought resiliency south of the Delta, which will be referred to as the “South of Delta Drought Resiliency Framework.”

    The MOU establishes a cooperative and collaborative approach to implement drought resiliency projects and provides a framework for the Parties to work together, set short and long-term goals, and ensure successful implementation. The MOU is a living document that will evolve and change over time, with periodic updates to reflect progress made and new components identified. ​

    Key components of the Framework include: ​

    1. The development and implementation of a Drought Plan that allows participating entities to voluntarily conserve and securely store or exchange a portion of their CVP south of Delta deliveries for use in future years with lower supplies, in addition to supporting the advancement of the San Joaquin River Restoration Program.
    2. Allocation of Costs for Large Extraordinary Maintenance (XM) Projects, including the Delta-Mendota Canal (DMC) Subsidence Correction Project.
    3. Commitment by the Bureau of Reclamation and SJRECWA to develop processes to ensure that the San Joaquin River Restoration Program can provide specific flows past Sack Dam via the San Joaquin River to Mendota Pool.
    4. Resolution on the Del Puerto Canyon Reservoir Project by FWA and the Exchange Contractors to ensure it supports the objectives outlined in the Drought Plan.

    “It is critical that we not only continue to invest in new infrastructure to capture and store water to prepare for future dry years, but that we work collaboratively to make the most of the resources we currently have. This agreement marks a new level of cooperation that will help to mitigate the impact of droughts on urban, agricultural, and environmental water users in our region, and to advance the goals of the San Joaquin River Restoration Program while maintaining water rights. We appreciate the collaboration of our partners as well as the Bureau of Reclamation for their commitment and resources for this effort,” said Chris White, Executive Director of the San Joaquin River Exchange Contractors Water Authority.

    “As water operations certainty continues to decrease, and once reliable supplies become less so, it’s critical for water agencies and water managers to work together to find creative ways to meet our common goals”, said Jason Phillips, CEO of the Friant Water Authority.  “The agreement between our neighbors in the Valley, the San Luis & Delta Mendota Water Authority and the San Joaquin River Exchange Contractors Water Authority, as well as our partners at the Bureau of Reclamation, will help bring some predictability to water allocations and will help to provide certainty for the farms and communities we represent.  These efforts and outcomes are not easily achieved, but are a welcomed development and hopefully a sign of more partnering in the future.”

    “Today’s announcement is a positive step forward to improve climate resilience for the urban and rural communities, wildlife and wildlife enthusiasts, and agricultural productivity that the Water Authority’s member agencies support,” said Federico Barajas, Executive Director of the San Luis & Delta-Mendota Water Authority. “This partnership – coordinated between the federal government and south of delta water users – and associated funding award will allow us to implement projects to improve our ability to manage water supplies across the dry years we know will come. This year’s allocation highlights the water supply reliability challenges that impact our members across all year types and further reinforces the need to develop proactive solutions to improve reliability. Today’s announcement advances one such solution and establishes a framework for south-of-delta water users and Reclamation to work together to improve outcomes for the San Joaquin Valley.”

    The South of Delta Drought Resiliency Framework represents a significant step towards ensuring a more reliable water supply for communities, farms, and ecosystems dependent on the Central Valley Project.

    The Exchange Contractors Water Authority, Friant Water Authority, and San Luis & Delta-Mendota Water Authority express their gratitude for the funding provided by the United States Bureau of Reclamation and emphasize the need to secure additional funding to move these projects forward.

    About the Project Area
    The CVP water supplied by the Water Authorities member agencies serves approximately 2.5 million acres of agricultural lands within the San Joaquin, Santa Clara, and San Benito Valleys, a portion of the water supply for nearly 4 million people, including in urban areas within Santa Clara County referred to as the “Silicon Valley,” Fresno and Kern Counties, and millions of waterfowl that depend upon up to 200,000 acres of managed wetlands and other critical habitat within the largest contiguous wetland in the western United States.

    FWA is a joint-powers authority formed in 2004 by public agencies that receive 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.

  • The Facts on San Joaquin Valley Water Use & Realigning Priorities Amidst Drought

    In a panel discussion titled, “Water: What Real, What’s Not, What’s Next” at the Annual Convention of the Almond Alliance of California, Friant Water Authority CEO Jason Phillips shares his views on solutions to California’s water crisis based on the reality of the San Joaquin Valley’s water supply and use.

    Please thank this video’s sponsor Suterra for their industry support.

  • California Invests $100 Million iN 2021/2022 Budget Toward Restoring Water Conveyance Capacity

    On Monday, July 12, Governor Gavin Newsom signed a bill that provides $100 million in initial budget funding toward restoring the capacity of the Friant-Kern Canal and the other major canals named in Senate Bill (SB) 559. A significant portion of this funding will be available for the Friant-Kern Canal Middle Reach Capacity Correction Project, which the Friant Water Authority (FWA) and Bureau of Reclamation are expected to initiate construction on this year.

    “This investment comes at a critical time for all of the sponsors of SB 559, and especially for FWA, as we’re poised to award a construction contract this summer for fixing the Friant-Kern Canal’s middle reach,” said Jason Phillips, Chief Executive Officer of FWA. “We thank the Newsom Administration and Legislative leaders for recognizing the opportunity before them to make use of California’s historic budget surplus for the benefit of the communities and businesses in the San Joaquin Valley – a region often left behind or dismissed when the rest of California moves forward. We urge our leaders to build on this historic investment next year by working towards funding the full state cost-share as intended in SB 559.”

    “We would also like to extend special thanks and gratitude to Senator Hurtado for being a champion on water supply and conveyance in the San Joaquin Valley and SB 559’s co-authors, including our valley delegation and members from Southern California,” continued Phillips. “The push for this funding shows the value of strong bipartisan, bicameral leadership from throughout the state on an issue that affects water supplies of more than 31 million Californians.”

    “Farmers have had fallow some of the world’s most productive farmland and communities are without water,” said Senator Melissa Hurtado (D-Sanger.) “Western States are facing a climate crisis, with extreme heat and drought bearing down on them. California is at a critical point, which will determine whether or not 31 million Californians will face a water shortage. SB 559—the State Water Resiliency Act of 2021–is a unique federal and state effort that seeks to prevent a food and water catastrophe. To protect human security, further investment is needed now.”

    The bill, SB 129 (Skinner), contains $5.1 billion in drought and climate resilience investments, many of which the Governor proposed in his May Revise Budget. The funding was appropriated to the California Department of Water Resources for California’s 2021/2022 fiscal year, which began July 1.

    The Friant-Kern Canal’s middle reach has lost 60% of its capacity to convey water, resulting in as much as 300,000 acre-feet of water going undelivered by the canal in some years to farms and communities in the southern San Joaquin Valley, all of which are being hit hard in the beginning of what could be a multi-year drought. The Friant-Kern Canal Middle Reach Capacity Correction Project’s estimated cost is more than $500 million, and the cost to restore the canal’s full design capacity is estimated as $924 million.

  • Be Sure to Manage these Insect pests in Young Pistachio Orchards

    Growers likely have heard a lot about the damage leaf footed bugs and navel orange worm can cause to their pistachio crop, but what about integrated pest management practices in the early nonbearing years of an orchard?  When there’s no crop, growers may overlook the impact that some insect pests can have their young trees that are in their critical years of establishment.  These pests should not be ignored; but what are these pests, and how does a grower go about managing them?  Watch this brief interview with Entomology Farm Advisor from the UC Cooperative Extension David Haviland as he explains and read more about it in Pacific Nut Producer Magazine.

     

    Please thank our sponsor Duarte Nursery for their industry support by visiting them at their booth at the following November Events: Tree & Vine Expo, the Grape, Nut & Tree Fruit Expo & Blue Diamond Growers Annual Membership Meeting.

  • Friant Water Authority Shares Blueprint to Save Central Valley Farmland & Water

    With the tasking demands of Sustainable Groundwater Management Act coming down on California farmers, a considerable amount of farmland will have to be retired and will have a severe economic impact on the Central Valley.  But there has to be a way to meet the demands of the state without devastating our farming communities.  Watch this brief interview with Friant Water Authority CEO Jason Phillips as he shares their Water Blueprint initiative to meet both the State’s demands without robbing our critical farming communities of the water they need to continue feeding the world.  Read more about it in Pacific Nut Producer Magazine.

    Please thank our sponsor Duarte Nursery for their industry support by visiting them at their booth at the following November Events: Tree & Vine Expo, the Grape, Nut & Tree Fruit Expo & Blue Diamond Growers Annual Meeting.

  • American Pistachio Growers Crop Update & Summer Luncheon

    How is the 2019 pistachio crop looking?  What’s on the agenda for American Pistachio Growers Summer Luncheon coming up on July 26th?  Check out this brief interview with Executive Director Richard Matoian for some answers.

    Please thank our sponsor Duarte Nursery and attend one of their upcoming Bennett Hickman Almond Field Days in Pixley or Modesto.