“No man is allowed to be a judge in his own cause, because his interest would certainly bias his judgment, and, not improbably, corrupt his integrity.” James Madison

In a stunning moment during which he was permitted to vote against further inquiry into the virtually certain probability he pumped Modesto Irrigation District (MID) surface water onto property outside the district, Larry Byrd at least temporarily ended further investigation into his irrigation practices on the AB La Grange Ranch, where he is partners with his brother Tim and Tyler (Ty) Angle.

Byrd was voting against a motion to continue fact-finding after MID Director Chris Ott said he favored further inquiry into Byrd’s irrigation practices because, “We don’t know enough.” Ott almost certainly meant that MID did not and still does not know how much MID water Byrd put onto his out-of-district almond trees. That he must have applied MID surface water to those same trees was established after a long and granular investigation into Byrd’s irrigation practices concluded he could not have irrigated the orchard with groundwater, as he had previously claimed.

In fact, Byrd’s claims that he irrigated with water from “deep wells” were mathematically determined to be false after exhaustive studies by 4Creeks engineering firm revealed he could not possibly have irrigated the out-of-district trees with available well water. The only other available water was the MID surface water he pumps from the MID main canal.

The 4Creeks investigators also concluded they could not determine whether or not Byrd had used MID surface water outside MID boundaries. This may seem at first to be a flaw on the part of the investigators; however, the fact is the data the investigators needed in that case could only have been gathered from Byrd or from MID itself. Neither source could or would show whether or not Byrd pumped MID water across district boundaries.

Byrd’s failure to provide such data is easily explicable. If he had such data, he would have provided it. He could not provide it.

Reasons for the district’s failure are less clear, but almost certainly due to inadequate safeguards district management prefers remain unexamined. Results of the investigation therefore put a dark shadow over both Director Byrd and MID itself, especially MID management.

The investigation was precipitated by claims from Todd Sill — Byrd’s former ranch manager — that Byrd “seldom” used the deep well diesel pump he has said he uses to irrigate out-of-district trees. Sill’s claims are supported by seven years of meticulous journals he kept while working for Byrd as well by verbal corroboration from another eyewitness who worked on the ranch at the same time Sill did.

The 4Creeks investigation confirmed Sill’s and his fellow employee’s claims. In fact, it appears investigators chose to believe Byrd’s own claims that the registered hours on the diesel pump were for irrigation; Sill claims that what little use the diesel pump got was often for frost control during the winter, not irrigation. Thus, even with an overgenerous regard for the claims of a proven liar, investigators concluded Byrd could not have irrigated the out-of-district trees with groundwater.

As a consequence of the investigation, both Larry Byrd and MID management have chosen to avoid further fact-finding in a case involving almost certain misuse of MID surface water and thereby confirmed Director Ott’s fears that failure to investigate could be seen as, “a cover up.”

When MID attorney Frank Splendorio and General Manager Jimi Netniss sat on their hands and sealed their lips while Byrd was permitted to vote in an inarguable conflict of interest, they made it clear that they too feared further fact-finding, a fear that could easily be construed as motivation for a cover up. If they continue to resist the investigation necessary to establish proper safeguards for ensuring the security of MID ratepayers’ most precious asset, both men should resign.

There’s no defensible reason for arguing that an investigation into whether or not Director Byrd applied MID water out-of-district is over when there are mathematically conclusive results Director Byrd couldn’t possibly have used groundwater to irrigate his out-of-district trees. The only available alternative was MID surface water.

MID ratepayers need to know how much water is involved and what MID has done to safeguard their interests going forward. Failure to act only enables the dark stain of Director Byrd’s pernicious lies to spread into MID’s inner workings and even upward onto MID management and governance. The inescapable inference stemming from the 4Creeks investigation isn’t whether Director Byrd used MID water out-of-district but how much.