Irrigation districts rejoin Friant Water Authority after drought strains the relationship

Madera Irrigation District and Hills Valley Irrigation District have joined Friant Water Authority, which operates and maintains the Friant-Kern Canal. Additionally, the board of directors Thursday selected three new officers.

Both districts once belonged to the authority, but Madera left two years ago when Friant Division contractors of the Central Valley Project received no water in the drought.

With the districts rejoining, the Friant Water Authority now represents the largest portion of the Friant Division federal water contractors in both acreage and amount of water.

For officers, Kent Stephens of the Kern-Tulare Water District was named chairman, Chris Tantau of Kaweah Delta Water Conservation District will serve as vice-chairman, and Georgeanne White, representing Fresno as the designated alternate for Mayor Lee Brand, is secretary-treasurer.

This story was originally published January 26, 2017 at 6:29 PM with the headline "Irrigation districts rejoin Friant Water Authority after drought strains the relationship."