California IN BRIEF : VISALIA : Water Users Balk at Contract

Some Friant water users in three Tulare County irrigation districts may not renew contracts for fear that a new clause would let the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation unilaterally change deliveries after an environmental study is completed. Officials of the Lindsay-Strathmore, Lindmore and Ivanhoe districts, where 40-year irrigation contracts expire next month, have expressed concern about a new paragraph the federal agency has inserted in renewal contracts. The districts fear that the new language would let the bureau change water delivery agreements without further negotiations. The paragraph says a contract can be changed after completion of an environmental impact statement designed to show how the Friant Dam and canal system would affect waterways such as the San Joaquin River.