San Luis & Delta-Mendota Water Authority

What San Luis & Delta-Mendota Water Authority does

San Luis & Delta-Mendota Water Authority (SLDMWA) is a California joint powers authority founded in 1990 and headquartered in Los Banos, California. Per its published description, it provides "assured, reliable, and affordable water supplies for the agricultural and industrial" users within its service area. The Authority contracts with the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation for water from the federal Central Valley Project (CVP) and operates the regional conveyance system — including the Delta-Mendota Canal — that delivers CVP supplies to irrigation districts, agricultural users, and municipal/industrial customers across the western San Joaquin Valley, Santa Clara Valley, and adjacent areas of California's Central Valley.

The Authority's core service is wholesale water delivery and the associated infrastructure, contract administration, and regulatory representation functions that a CVP contractor must perform. Its product surface encompasses water conveyance scheduling, long-term water service contracts, groundwater banking and water transfer facilitation, and member-agency cost allocation for shared capital projects (e.g., Delta-Mendota Canal subsidence correction and Jones Pumping Plant improvements). Physical assets — canals, pumping plants, and forebay exchanges — are sized for basin-scale deliveries and are not replicable by individual member agencies.

As a non-profit joint powers authority, SLDMWA does not operate a conventional revenue model. Its operations, maintenance, debt service, and capital programs are funded through assessments levied on member agencies in proportion to allocated water volumes, supplemented by reimbursements and grants for specific infrastructure work. Pricing is therefore volumetric and assessment-based rather than market-priced. Customer segments are exclusively institutional: member irrigation districts, municipal agencies, and similar public water contractors holding CVP service entitlements.

Name

San Luis & Delta-Mendota Water Authority

Website

https://sldmwa.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1990

Short description

San Luis & Delta-Mendota Water Authority is a California joint powers authority that contracts with the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation for Central Valley Project water and delivers it to agricultural and industrial member agencies across the western San Joaquin and Santa Clara Valleys.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Water Supply Services

NAICS

Water Supply and Irrigation Systems (22131), Water Supply and Irrigation Systems (221310), Water, Sewage and Other Systems (2213)

SIC

Water Supply (4941)

akta.pro primary industry

Water Supply & Wastewater Utilities Administration (BPAIACAG)

akta.pro secondary industry

Water Source Development & Conveyance (Intakes, Canals, Pipelines) (AFACAFAH)

Keywords

• Water supply services
• Agricultural water delivery
• Water resource management
• Irrigation water delivery
• Water infrastructure operations

Headquarters

HQ city

Los Banos

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Operations, Infrastructure, Personnel, Others

Core offering

San Luis & Delta-Mendota Water Authority is a public agency that delivers assured, reliable, and affordable water supplies to its member agencies for agricultural and industrial uses within California's Central Valley. It operates and manages water conveyance infrastructure to distribute Central Valley Project water to irrigation districts, water districts, and other contracting entities.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Central Valley Project Water Delivery

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Expansion highlights3 records

Direct peers

• Kern County Water Agency: Public agency contracting for State Water Project and other supplies to serve Kern County agriculture and municipalities; comparable California water wholesaler serving San Joaquin Valley growers.
• Friant Water Authority: California public authority contracting for and distributing Friant Division CVP water to irrigation districts across the San Joaquin Valley; structurally similar to SLDMWA as a CVP water contractor.
• Westlands Water District: The single largest agricultural water contractor in the western San Joaquin Valley and a direct counterparty / member of the SLDMWA. Operates the same conveyance system to deliver CVP water to farms.
• Metropolitan Water District of Southern California: Large California public water authority delivering imported water to member agencies; comparable as a publicly governed, non-profit water wholesaler with multi-decade infrastructure obligations similar in structure to SLDMWA.
• Tulare Irrigation District: Central Valley irrigation district receiving CVP water through the Delta-Mendota Canal system; functionally a downstream peer and member/contractor relationship analogous to SLDMWA's customer base.

Broad incumbents

• U.S. Bureau of Reclamation – Central Valley Project: Federal operator of the CVP whose facilities (including the Delta-Mendota Canal) SLDMWA contractors depend on. Functions as the upstream counterpart and policy partner for the authority's daily operations.
• California Department of Water Resources: State agency that operates the State Water Project and sets much of the regulatory backdrop for Delta operations. Adjacent as the broader incumbent governing California surface water infrastructure.

Regional players

• Oakdale Irrigation District: Northern San Joaquin Valley irrigation district with a similar agricultural-water-delivery mandate; comparable as a peer public water provider but on a different hydrologic system than SLDMWA.
• South San Joaquin Irrigation District: Irrigation district in the same San Joaquin Valley region delivering water primarily to agricultural customers. Comparable as a regional agricultural water supplier, though it relies on different source water.

Others

• Sacramento–San Joaquin Delta Conservancy: California state agency focused on ecosystem health and sustainability of the Delta that supplies SLDMWA's water. Comparable as an institutional stakeholder in the same hydrologic system, though focused on environmental rather than water-supply delivery.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights4 records

Customer concentration

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about San Luis & Delta-Mendota Water Authority